questions regarding outdoor growing

[somedude]

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

Hello somedude,
I'm a bit confused by your questions.

1. The reason for building a hop house is usually to keep the plants warm during the winter months, and/or to protect them from wind, rain, temp, etc. So if it's already hot to you there, why bother building one?

To protect from rain and insects.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

2. Tomatoes and peppers are full sun plants, so why do you feel you need to shade them mid day?

I'm not sure what the best is for this. I see on some websites that the plants will suffer a bit when the temps consistently go above 80F.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

3. I'm confused because you said you don't plan to use polyethylene, and instead use insect mesh to allow the air to pass through. If so, it wouldn't get any hotter inside it than outside it. Nor would it protect them from wind, rain, temp' etc. etc. So I'm confused as to why you seem concerned with it getting to hot inside, and why bother building it in the first place?

Oops, sorry, i forgot to edit my previous post. I meant that i intend to use the mesh on the front and back to keep insects out while still allowing for air circulation.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

4. The insect mesh itself will act as a shade cloth. So in fact it should be cooler inside than outside if your not using polyethylene glazing, and using insect mesh instead since they will be in partial shade, rather than full sun.

As for pollinating, both tomatoes and peppers are self pollinating. The natural wind/air currents outside are enough. However pollinating insects still help insure proper fruit set. You might want to leave at least a window open on each end to allow pollinating insects to get in and out.