Topic: Home Made Cloches

[hemajo]

I have read on A4A about cloches made from large plastic bottles.  How do you go about this?  Any help and advice very much appreciated!  Helen

[Ed^Chigliak]

I tried using plastic 5 litre water bottles and also the 2 litre pop bottles. Chopped the bottom off and placed over individual plants. They don't stack so the space to store them in the end was too much.

I've also seen the square water bottles refilled and used to build an enclosure around a plant like you would build a brick wall. There is now a product called 'wall of water' that is the same principle but very different design.

[hemajo]

I've also seen the square water bottles refilled and used to build an enclosure around a plant like you would build a brick wall. There is now a product called 'wall of water' that is the same principle but very different design.

Presumably this would be quite bulky, but also more protective?  Sounds interesting.
I have lots of empty 2L bottles and a couple of 5L bottles, so will try with those.  Storage shouldn't be too much of a problem for me in the garden somewhere (probably shoved behind the shed in a bin bag).

[Svea]

google 'wall'o'water' or search also here on this site. :)

[suzylou]

The water bottles I have been saving are blue which I guess will filter the light that gets to the plants...is this going to be bad???

[Jesse]

www.wallowater.co.uk explains the principle behind using a wall of water around your plants.

Suzylou, the wallo'waters are green and this does not adversely affect growth of the plants so your blue bottles should be okay.

[john_miller]

Suzylou, the wallo'waters are green and this does not adversely affect growth of the plants so your blue bottles should be okay.

The colour of anything indicates the wavelengths that it reflects. Wall'o'Waters are green because plants reflect wavelengths we perceive as green. Plants are particularly sensitive to a narrow range of wavelengths in the spectrum that we perceive broadly as blue or red. This site:
http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/NSF/C11/C11Links/gened.emc.maricopa.edu/bio/bio181/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html includes some illustrations of this process in plants. A blue bottle could result in etiolation as these critical wavelengths may be reflected by the bottles.

[Jesse]

Thanks for that info John, I didn't realise there was a scientific reason for the wallowaters being green rather than any other colour. You learn something new every day... :)

[john_miller]

Oops, I inadvertently implied something I didn't mean to. I would suspect that Wall o' Waters are green because the chemicals that provide resistance to UV breakdown of the plastic molecules simply tend to give the plastic a green hue. This is most commonly seen in the plastic sheets used for plastic greenhouses/tunnels. It may well be that the best compounds to inhibit UV breakdown do reflect blue or red wavelengths, rendering them useless for crop production, so other chemicals, reflecting green wavelengths, are used instead (that is purely speculative- I am not a chemist).

[hemajo]

google 'wall'o'water' or search also here on this site. :)

I did google it, and have finally re-surfaced :)  I found a lot of information!!  The proprietary wall'o'water and home made versions.  Might have a go in the spring!  Living in Northumberland, we have a shorter season than some parts of the UK.  I am on a steep learning curve.

[redimp]

wall'o'water is currently one of the banner ads on this site.  You just have to get lucky and keep looking.  Clicking on it may earn Dan a bit of dosh.

[hemajo]

wall'o'water is currently one of the banner ads on this site.  You just have to get lucky and keep looking.  Clicking on it may earn Dan a bit of dosh.

They say advertising works, but I don't even notice the banners anymore!  However, I will look at them on this site and visit them, if it earns Dan some cash! 

[cheddarpaul]

I use 4pint and 6pint plastic milk bottles. Cut them roughly in half and use the top (without the lid) as your cloche. Did this earlier in the year and it saved my runners. I also had to use the bottoms (just cut a 2cm square hole in them) as I had run out of tops - I dont know if this works but I cant see why not!!

[hemajo]

I use 4pint and 6pint plastic milk bottles. Cut them roughly in half and use the top (without the lid) as your cloche. Did this earlier in the year and it saved my runners. I also had to use the bottoms (just cut a 2cm square hole in them) as I had run out of tops - I dont know if this works but I cant see why not!!

Good idea!  But I developed a conscience last year, and started to use the local milkman again!!  He delivers in traditional glass bottles.   I could ask my neighbour for hers though.  Note to self:  also ask kitchen staff at work for suitable containers going spare!