Pond in hoop house; good idea?

We have a plastic hoop house, and want to damp down the temperature fluctuations a bit. So we are thinking about adding some thermal mass.

Would a simple pond work? It would be half excavated and half built up with the earth out of the hole, and lined with builders plastic.

I am wondering if it would actually gain much heat, seeing that the surface of the water is not at a good angle to the sun, and the water is not dark.

But we could store more water this way than most other options. And we would not have to try and find tons of containers. I have figured out that we would need about 200 cubic feet of water for our twelve by twenty foot hoop house.

I have a 30 year old Rodale book on the subject, they would advise you to go with the one gallon jugs and dyed water inside, I think. I don't see how a pond could either gain, or emit, enough heat to help out....

We have a similar situation... An 8' X 16' solar growhole, a "coldframe" really, and it could use a bit of supplemental heat sometimes. However, we grow cold tolerant veggies such as spinach and a kind of "Winter Lettuce." The crops survived minus 8, and look to be doing well. This with but a single layer of 4 mil plastic sheeting for glazing!

Best of luck to you, pardner!

I was thinking there would be a problem like that. Too bad.

And, being a fan of Eliot Coleman, I wouldn't worry if I was just using cold weather stuff. However, I was thinking about starting Tomatoes and peppers in there come March.

You know this WX has just been nuts this winter, but I have been doing some testing with a soil thermometer. The soil temperature in the growhole beds seems to rise dramatically on a day with full sun and insulated beds. I'm talking 10-12 degrees per day. I know, I know, seems impossible, but so far have seen it twice! Will stay on it....