How do Mini Hoop Tunnels Work?

Today, my awesome friend is sharing her experience with mini hoop tunnels in her garden! Enjoy!

How do Mini Hoop Tunnels Work? Are Mini Hoop Tunnels Worth the Effort?

mini hoop tunnels

Springtime is in the air! Some lucky people hardly get any snow (if any at all!) but for many gardeners this time of the year is spent wandering the garden waiting patiently for the dirt to show itself again. If you live in a climate that has a shorter growing season, you might be wondering if there’s anything you can do to help spring planting come a little earlier. Yes! There is! But how much effort is too much effort for what you gain?

My mini hoop tunnel journey:

how do mini hoop tunnels-work

I began using mini hoop tunnels 3 years ago. I picked some up at my local gardening store for a little over $20, and they’ve gone through many frosts and even a few dumps of snow. At first I started using them in the fall to keep plants warm and to gain just a week or two more of gardening for the year.

They usually keep plants just warm enough to withstand a light freeze (for heavy freezes we use heavy weight row cover fabric). The following spring I thought we’d try and extend our gardening season further by protecting transplants from those spring winds and temperature fluctuations.

We had a mild February that year with hardly any snow, and the ground was unthawed, so by mid March in some peas and fava beans went. I thought this is great!

are mini hoop tunnels worth the effort

Then we got a dump of snow end of March that just kept on coming. I was out there shoveling snow on the hour some days just so the tunnels didn’t break. I was determined to keep those peas alive! Then we had a 17.6F/-8C day in April and there I was running outside to protect them with frost protection fabric. Wow, that’s A LOT of work just for some early planting.

Is that extra work worth it?

how do mini hoop tunnels

I think my mini hoop tunnel gardening can be called borderline insanity. The time spent out there in crazy weather conditions to attempt to grow food weeks before the ‘regular’ gardeners do so is definitely extreme. Did I get an earlier harvest? Oh yes. I enjoyed having peas and fava beans 2-3 weeks earlier than others. Was it worth it when determining the ‘dollar value’ of the produce to the effort put in? No, definitely not, but in my humble opinion there are things more important than money. Would I do it again? Oh yes, I’m doing so right now for this spring.

Using mini hoop tunnels (or any season extenders) means your gardening before it’s time to garden with the natural rhythm. You’re helping tender young plants with some modern conveniences. Those conveniences require your own energy input and only you’ll know what your willing to do for an earlier harvest.

Things to consider when using mini hoop tunnels:

How crazy do you look to the neighbors?!
Kidding! Who cares about that?

Some vegetables do much better than others for withstanding extreme temperature changes in the springtime. I’ve found that the peas and favas did fantastic with season extending. I started them inside and transplanted them after they were a few inches tall. Apparently they’re not supposed to transplant well but I had no problems. The mustard greens I tried did not do well at all, they didn’t handle the below zero temperatures and didn’t grow tall at all. They did make great micro greens but who wants to shovel snow off beds for micro greens? (I have to draw the line somewhere!).

Do you often get dumps of snow in March or April.. or even May (I feel for ya!)? Heavy snow will break the mini hoop tunnels and you have to be willing to be outside non-stop during snowfalls to clean them off. How cold does it get in your area? Temperatures below 26.6F/-3C will require heavy weight row covers to protect against the frosts. If temperatures get warm quickly in the spring the hoop tunnels will need to be vented as well, because otherwise it gets too hot. I was taking the hoop tunnels off completely on many days and then putting them back on at night because the temperatures dropped significantly.
If your weather is extreme in the spring you may want to wait a little bit, but I’ve found that even using them a week or two before ‘suggested’ outdoor planting time really helps.

how do mini hoop tunnels really work

In the end, only you will know what your willing to do to extend the gardening season.
Have you used season extenders before? Was the input worth the output?

Isis is a homesteading mama to 2 beautiful girls and lives in the Canadian mountains.

The little family of four is experimenting with winter gardening and permaculture and they’re aiming to grow mostly heirlooms to help preserve seed genetic diversity. They spend their spare time preserving the harvest, homeschooling and enjoying outdoor adventures. They keep chickens, forage for wild free food and aim for a natural family lifestyle. Follow their journey towards self-reliance on the blog Little Mountain Haven.

22 thoughts on “How do Mini Hoop Tunnels Work?”

  1. I am so not cut out to be a gardener. I can’t even keep houseplants alive! I love reading your posts though, because I can live vicariously though you and your guests.

  2. So hubby and I live here in Northern Lower Michigan and the weather is brutal. We’ve done above ground gardening before and
    I love it. However right now we have a very large ground level garden (covered by snow right now) and I find it tiring. I would love
    to do this and think it would be worth the investment. Thank you for bringing attention to this it’s a great way for people in the north country to get a jump on a bit of gardening.

  3. Here is one more thing to take into account: climate change causing more erratic weather.
    This will only get worse and may demand more tricks from us gardeners.
    I got so frustrated waiting one spring that I pre-started some peas, To my surprise they transplanted
    just fine. The same with green beans. From now on I will always start some of those in the greenhouse.

  4. April @Pixie Dust Savings

    I am one of those lucky ones who gets no snow and can pretty much grow anything anytime. I never saw anything like that but I appreciate your honest review.

  5. We’re just starting to plan our garden. We were wondering about tents or coverings when we grow our seedlings, we might have to do this.

  6. Wow! That is some serious dedication. But I can see how outsmarting winter could feel very good in a place like Canada. I, myself, live in No. Cal. and have no excuse for my lack of gardening results.

    1. Anna@GreenTalk

      I used something similar in the fall. The kale stayed alive. We still have snow in my beds so I would need to construct something that would last the whole winter and very strudy.

  7. Jen @ Go Green

    I think this idea would work well if you get a small amount of snow typically in the winter. We currently have over 3 feet of snow on our lawn so totally not something that would work in our area for a year round thing but I can see it being effective for extending the gardening season.

  8. Your idea that some things are more important than money is a valuable one. It is important for children to learn that some things are well worth the extra effort.

  9. Merissa @ Little House Living

    Very interesting. I’ve never considered hoop gardens because it’s far too windy in our area but I can see the benefits!

  10. I wish I could find mini hoop tunnels at our garden store! I used to use them years ago, and loved them – definitely worth the work here where we get very little snow – but they wore out, so I now improvise with various materials.

  11. Chrystal @ Happy Mothering

    That is a great idea. When we have space for a real garden (hopefully in one more year), I’ll definitely use this idea because we have a short growing season (a couple years ago we got snow in June then again in September!).

  12. Great article. Thank you for the honest post! We are actually investing in a hoop tunnel for one of our gardens this year (built by my hubby, it will be 8 X 16 ft on hinges to open and close) and think it will be worth it. Maybe not for starting that much earlier (we are 4A here, you just can’t start anything until the ground thaws) but more for keeping in going well into fall an early winter. We are hoping to harvest brussel sprouts, carrots, greens and beans well into November. 🙂

  13. You gave me some good things to think about. I am going to try to make some grow pot covers for plants on my deck. We get cold winters, but limited freezing. I experimented a bit last year with plastic over pots, but the design make it hard to reach down far enough to harvest the greens I was growing. I’ll try again with a new design this year with an opening on one side. Now I only need to get the seeds planted soon enough so they have a change to grow before the cold, cloudy weather sets in. – Margy

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *