Hoop Tunnel

[liquidmonkey]

Not sure if a hoop tunnel is a greenhouse but hopefully you let this thread live here

After having a terrible year in 2017, i've decided to go with a hoop tunnel. I live in the middle of Sweden, a little bit in the hills so we have a different climate zone which is generally 5 degrees cool than in the nearby city.
After watching many youtube vids i'm all good to try it out but have a few questions:

1) i'll cover the hoops with a fiber cloth which says it lets in 90% of the sunlight but realistically, how much temperature increase can i expect? There is a bit of shade where the hoop tunnel will be, perhaps 30% of the time the sun shines.
2) would clear plastic be better? whats really the difference here between the clear plastic and fiber cloth?
3) i use drip hoses for watering so having rain water fall on the garden is not crucial. will condensation be an issue?

i like to grow a variety of vegetables, carrots, peas, radishes, lettuce, potatoes and tomatoes.
i also have loads of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries.

4) will it help the fruits along to loosely cover them with the fiber cloth?

thanks for any help

 

[Silentrunning]

Welcome to the forum! Could you expand on exactly what went wrong with your 2017 garden? What were you growing and what were the results? You may be applying a cure for an illness that doesn’t exist. At your latitude a 10% decrease in sunlight could very much reduce your yield. On the other hand, if you are covering the crop for pest control it may be necessary.

 

[Gardening Girl]

I do not really know much about the fiber cloth. You say it lets in 90% of the sunlight. I mean, that really isn't cutting down that much from what you already have. But you say you gets lots of shade. Is the issue maybe the spot you have chosen? Maybe that is your only option. I have used the low tunnels with the clear covering before. They do increase the temperature quite a bit. Sorry, I don't have any specific numbers on this. In the States we have a slitted and a perforatted clear cover available. The slitted will allow more ventilation, the perforated will keep it the warmest of the 2 options. One thing I did find out. I had the slitted cover on my strawberries, but when it came time for blooming, I had to hand pollinate everything. I got tired of that in a hurry and took the cover off. It was warm enough where I live that I didn't have an issue.

 

[liquidmonkey]

Thanks for the welcome, i'm happy to be here and get info from the experts
The summer of 2017 was a bad one in terms of weather here in sweden. It was much cooler than normal and lots of clouds so nearly everyone had a very poor crop. Although those with a greenhouse had an ok summer.

my main purpose with the hoop tunnel is to get the temps up to around 28 for most of the summer as i read this is a good target temp for growth.
then once flowers start to come out and need pollination, i'll take off the cloth to let the bees do their thing.
will also remove the cloth if we get a very warm day too.

the spot i've chosen is pretty much the only spot available but having a bit of shade is a good thing IMHO.
another thing to remember is that it is light out where i live from 3am to midnight at the peak (June 21st) so a bit of shade is good.

i might actually but a roll of plastic and make one hoop with cloth and another with plastic and compare
thanks for the answers!

 

[Silentrunning]

You are wise to experiment. And it can be a lot of fun too. You should keep a note book to record successes and failures, temperatures, rainfall and humidity. I also note where I purchased the seed from and the particulars of the plant. If you have an extension agent check to see if they will do a soil test. When I have mine tested I tell them what crop I am going to plant and they give me a computer printout of what I should add to the soil. Gardening is far more fun when you get to feast on your success.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Welcome to the forum @liquidmonkey