Hello everyone, we have PVC pipe hoop greenhouse in place for our many pineapple plants. It is uncovered and open until the weather turns cold. (We are in zone 9a, Pensacola.) I have been enclosing the greenhouse with 6 mil plastic sheeting which is usually sufficient unless the weather drops into the 30s or lower. Then we have to break out heaters to protect the pineapples. I am thinking about replacing the 6 mil sheeting with clear vinyl bubble solar pool cover. Has anyone here tried using a pool solar blanket as a greenhouse covering? Your thoughts? Thank you.

I've never tried a pool cover on my hoop houses but I think you should check out some of the hoophouse plastics at the online greenhouse suppliers. They are engineered specifically for hoophouses and give good performance and durability. I usually buy this type of thing from www.greenhousemegastore.com but there are other suppliers out there.

And its hard to tell from your picture but you might want to install some padding on your hoops. PVC pipes in contact with plastic sheeting produce chlorine gas which eats up the sheeting fairly quickly.
Here's the product I use:
https://www.greenhousemegastor...

Of course if you only have the plastic sheeting on for a few weeks a year it might not be necessary.

Good luck and if you decide to use the pool cover let us know how it works!

The contact between the plastic sheet and PVC pipes is quite minimal and the plastic is in place for just 2-3 months of the year. I'm thinking the pool cover, which is thicker than standard plastic sheeting, will retain heat in the greenhouse more efficiently. This past winter we had some fairly cold (for us) nights and had to run heaters in the greenhouse. I hope the thicker cover will be enough to not have to run the heaters.

The hoop house will hold the heat longer than just having your plants sitting outside and daytime sun will give that a boost. But if the temperatures stay low, eventually your hoop house and the outside air will be the same temperature and you will need an external heat source.

Without heat even a well built house will eventually be the same temperature inside and out.

Jaspen...can you post a clearer pic of the door you have on your hoop house. I have a similar hoop hse, but no door. I'd like to see how you constructed it, and attached it to the pvc pipes.

One of the members here, DrDawg (Ken Ramsay), used solar pool covers over his greenhouses in Mississippi; even if you still needed to use a heater, it wouldn't have to work nearly as hard. Ken is active on the orchids forum, you could send him a tree-mail if you want to ask him about it.

PVC pipe can also be painted to eliminate the issue of breaking down the plastic. One thing I learned the hard way is that using the foam pipe wraps is a very bad idea - the plastic self destructs in less than a season when in contact with those things.