Planning a Small Hoop House

I'm planning a small hoop house for my garden for this winter. I have 2 raised beds, 4x8, that are about 3' apart on the long side. I'm going to cover both of these beds, making the final hoop about 8x11. I'll probably use that grey electrical conduit, 2 10' pieces will fit nicely over the 2 beds, anchoring them to the sides of the raised beds. It will be about 6' tall in the center. I'll probably use just some 6-mil clear construction film for the covering. I don't expect it to last more than a year or 2 and I'm OK with that. I will have access to electricity, water, and maybe natural gas. The hoop will only be up for the winter. I'll probably put it up sometimes around late November, and taking the whole thing down sometime in March, or as soon as the nighttime temps are staying above 45-50 degrees.

I think I'm OK with the construction of the hoop house. Some of my concerns is in using it & keeping things warm and cool enough. One of the raised beds I'll be covering has some Thai & jalapeno peppers growing in it now. I'm going to try to over wintering them by pruning them back drastically & keeping them semi-watered. If they survive, great; if not, then that's OK also. I have a couple of pepper plants in pots that I'll keep in there also. I guess I'll need some some of opening to let heat escape. From my small previous experiences with plastic winter coverings, I know the heat build up on sunny days can be dramatic.

My biggest concern is keeping it warm, especially if we have a winter like last year. I have a lot of adeniums that need to be kept over 45 degrees. I lost a few of them last year in my make-shift plastic covering, but it had a lot of holes in it, so I never could keep the temps up. I think the hoop house construction will eliminate some of drafts. I'm still debating supplemental heat. My choices are a couple of small electrical space heaters, hanging some reflector lamps with heat bulbs that I already have or with a little more work & a lot more expense, run a temporary natural gas line from the house for a gas space heater. Any way I go, I'll need a small fan to keep the air circulating.

So these are my plans. I'm sure there's a lot of things I haven't thought about yet. Some I'm sure I won't discover until they hit me in the face. So I'm asking all you wise, experienced folks about things I should watch out for. I've had aphid problems in the past when overwintering my adeniums, but I can handle that. Should I have any concerns about insects in the soil of the raised beds? Any / everything else?

Jo-Ann

Your plan sounds good. I think a heat lamp will be good enough for cold night-time temps. It sounds like you are in the same kind of climate as I am. Some winters we have light freezes and that can enough to kill some plants that would normally be fine. I gave up on adeniums outside. I still struggle with my kalanchoes.
You can use short sections of rebar to reinforce the pvc, stake the pvc next to your raised bed and then use that metal plumbers strapping to attach it to the bed. Just thought I'd share that in case you hadn't already found this out.
The heat lights might be enough. I use them and a "pig blanket" for my tortoise and he stays toasty warm all winter. Actual heaters will coast an awful lot for what you're getting out of them.
Good luck with your project.