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===== Low tent =====

{{ :garden:infrastructure:hoop:img_0806dwhooptent.jpg?200|}}I assembled hoop tents from 3/4" EMT. I made them modular so I can move them from one bed to another and so I could tilt them up for easy access and for ventilation on hot days. The low tents are 4 x 10 feet and 4 feet high. In 2014 I didn't enclose the ends, leading to, among other things, predation by rabbits. I'll try something different in 2015.

Results in 2014 weren't great. But there were the rabbits, and maybe I didn't use the tents well. I'm game for another try in 2015. I do expect that I'll grow sooner and better in the low tents this year, with some adaptation, so I'm preparing to add two low tents to the Fall City garden for early veggies.

==== What for? ====

Yesterday I was wondering just what benefit the low tents give to growing plants.

  * Is it just the warmth of the air inside?
  * Does the tent really heat up the soil?

So I found the plastic covers for the low tents here at home and covered one entirely - top and ends.


==== Low hoop tents ====

{{ :garden:infrastructure:hoop:img_1478.jpg?300|Second try at low tents on the raised bed}}I checked the soil temperature of the upper raised bed and found it at 48 degrees. I'll check the soil teperature in the tent and outside to see if there is a consistent difference between the tent and outside in the next several weeks.

If the tent raises the soil temperature above the temperature in the unenclosed part of the raised bed I'll know a bit about how to work with the low tents.

  * February 2: outside the tent - 44 degrees. Inside was 46 degrees. Weather the past week was mostly overcast and rainy so it wasn’t surprising to see the soil temperature decline. 
  * February 10: outside the tent - 47 degrees. Inside was 50 degrees. Very little sun during the past week and rain just about every day. Temperature range 37 -57.

For detailed information about temperature differences inside vs. outside the tents and the effects of additional row cover material, see the article [[garden:cultivate:cover:hoop:temps|Temperatures]].

==== Plant vitality ====

I do find that suitable plants grow more quickly and appear healthier than the same plants grown outside in the Fall. Not a surprise - that's what the tents are for. 

In both Spring and Fall the several varieties of lettuce I grew really thrived in the low tents. In the early part of the season I opened the tents to fresh air and sunshine during the day, closing them in the afternoon.

==== Watering ====

I fell I need to pay more attention to watering the plants inside a low tent than those in the open - maybe just because I tend to forget about those inside. My strategy is the same, optimum moisture for the soil. The tactics are a bit different depending on the time of the year.
 
=== Summer ===

During cloudless summer days the temperature in a low tent can be damaging for plants and can hasten the transfer of moisture from the soil and the plants. In this condition it may be necessary to water more often than plants outside that get moisture from rain and condensation. Such judgment requires regular and frequent attention - check the plants for health, check the soil for adequate moisture. I can say I haven't seen in any of my low tents an excess of moisture in the soil.

=== Fall/winter ===

In the Fall of 2015 I find that the cloudy days and low temperatures cause condensation to collect and evapotranspiration to be minimal. Relative humidity was seldom less than 90%. The lowest RH was in the 80s. So I seldom water. In September I opened the tents when rain was forecast, but I haven't seen any need to water during October and November. 

==== Bugs ====

I'm seeing more nibbling by bugs or slugs in the tents this Fall than I did in the Spring. I didn't expect this and I'm not dealing effectively with it yet. Maybe in the early part of the season there's lots more appealing growth outside the tent that inside. 

The lettuce in the tents is less affected than the chard, which is being eaten wholesale. And I haven't seen exactly what is doing the damage (I don't get there early in the morning now because of later sunrise that during the summertime so my inspections don't reveal much).