My Hoop House Broke

There's been a lot of wind here in the last week. It generally comes down from the mountains (east) like this in early spring, round about the beginning of April. Instead it comes at the beginning of February.

So I went out this morning to check my hoop houses and this is what I found.

The plastic had split. When I went out yesterday there was the beginning of a small tear (about a foot long) and I taped it up, but the wind came again last night and used the edge of the tape (of all things!) to create a rip that went the full length of the hoop house.

So the plastic is drying out (it stays pretty wet in there) and I'm considering what to do now. I have plenty of small covers--technically I could put one over each of the plants and they might survive till spring. That hoop house is full of chinese cabbage, which I've never grown before, so I don't know how well it handles the cold.

On the other hand, I could either cut a new piece of plastic and discard the old one (which I do not want to do) or tape up the old one and hope it doesn't split again.

Decisions, decisions...

The other hoop house has the lettuce and spinach, and shows no sign of weakness. Note to self: Next time, buy higher quality plastic. :)