Bill Bolle wrote in message ...
simy1 wrote:

Bill Bolle wrote in message ...


I really don't know which way would be the best-----I've seen
greenhouses around here pointing in all sorts of directions, based
mostly, I guess, on the topography of their land. Logically I would
assume that the benefits of a hoophouse would be in its use during the
winter and I think that with low sun angles that you would get the
best perpendicular angle of the suns rays with a East/West
orientation. One problem with E/W would be that the hoophouses would
have to be end to end and not side by side.
For what it's worth-------Bill

Yes and no. In Zone 6, one would use a greenhouse for, say, tomatoes,
until June 1. At that point in Ann Arbor the sun is 71 degrees over
the horizon at noon. Also in the winter one has plants that grow
during the growing season (mostly), and are kept alive for consumption
through the winter. In winter, a N-S house will have shade near the
edges on the N side. In May, it will have shade along most of the
edges. Then again this is the kind of midday shade many plants
actually want.
A E-W house will have little shade in winter but all edges will be
shaded in May. not much difference. It seems like one is better off
orienting the house so as to have the broad side against the
prevailing winds. So I will orient it NE-SW...