Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: caroline7758 on May 19, 2011, 07:19:25
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have just ordered some debris netting on ebay and now want to get some water pipe to make hoops. What diameter pipe is best?
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If you have a Screwfix near you, this 50m roll of 25mm diameter pipe is pretty good value.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/mdpe-blue-pipe-25mm-x-50m/19606
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Blue pipe is fine but a little flexible for large hoops, so you will need some internal support and cross braces, but well worth doing.
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Would the Wilkinsons Value Hose Pipe work just as well, if it was pushed into lengths of bamboo cane to stick into the ground, or would it not be rigid enough? I like the price!
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(http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx161/amazingrotavator/photo0104_001.jpg)You can build these from 25mm pipe from Scewfix.
This will happen with 50mm pipe,(http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx161/amazingrotavator/photo0072.jpg)
Rebuilt with props(http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx161/amazingrotavator/photo0082.jpg)
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Wow,Wow and Double WOW!!! 8) 8)
dimensions please. I'm telling myself if I can follow a dress pattern I can make some of these. ;D ;D
Any tips would be most appreciated. As in do's and don't.
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PIpelife blue pipe is cheaper by a few quid at Toolstation if you have one locally.... getting some this weekend to fix the polytunnel..... Wilkinsons value hose will not be stiff enough, blue pipe is pretty rigid, especially compared to hose...
chrisc
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Hi taurus, The dimensions for the small ones is 7ft long, 2ft high and 3ft wide, made from tilers lathes screwed together as per photo. The net is just stapled to the lathe. You just have to work out the length the pipe has to be.
The large one is 15ft long, about 9ft wide by about 5ft8" high(Made it to fit the wife but I have to crouch a bit to get in). Old broom handles cut down water proofed and knocked into the ground at whatever distance you require. The pipe is worked out at what length again. All framework is tilers lathes again. The net will staple to the pipe and lathe. Due to the snow, a rethink was required and props were put in.(http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx161/amazingrotavator/Photo-0066.jpg)
You can also make a greenhouse for less than £100 with lathes and monoflex(Bought from the same place as the net,Scaffold Direct.
Good luck with the building.
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or, if you are completely clueless about DIY, you can go low-tech like this:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/neptune1308/100_4392Small.jpg)
The pipes are all just over 3 m long which fits well with the natural curve of the pipe and with 4m wide netting. I got a batch of ground spikes meant for rotary washing lines cheap from Tesco Clearance. Spikes in the ground, pipes in spikes, a few cable ties to hold them where they cross, netting held down by a few bricks. So easy to assemble and dismantle and move. I got 14 hoops from a roll of waterpipe and so that gives me 2 10m cages or 3 to 4 smaller ones. And they should last a long time.
If you have small mesh netting, the cages will collapse when it snows but with bird netting, the snow seemed to pass through. Which may or may not be what you want ......
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I love the look of these proper ones, but today I found some hose on the dumping ground which is meant to be a plot but no-one has it, it has no fence, and is the area tip! I thought I could give it a go, as I only want to use it for summer brassicas, so shouldn't have a problem with snow, although you never know!
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Thanks, I think mine will look more like denbyvisitor's :D Off to Screwfix this weekend.
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Tony bought some last week at Wickes for about £15-50 for 25m of 20m blue pipe. He went on Wednesday and used his diamond card( for the over 60s).We thought we would try it to see how it compared with wilkies arches.
Tony has still used the canes to hold it together and I have covered it with Ikea net curtain instead of the usual enviromesh. If it doesn't rot the we will stick with it at less than £2 a curtain.
If anyone is interested the curtain is named Lill
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Tony bought some last week at Wickes for about £15-50 for 25m of 20m blue pipe. He went on Wednesday and used his diamond card( for the over 60s).We thought we would try it to see how it compared with wilkies arches.
Tony has still used the canes to hold it together and I have covered it with Ikea net curtain instead of the usual enviromesh. If it doesn't rot the we will stick with it at less than £2 a curtain.
If anyone is interested the curtain is named Lill
domestic net curtian is usually made of cotton, and will not survive the winter. It also has no strength to resist windy conditions and will rapidly turn into shreds in a good storm. The one time i tried it her was no useable net left by the next spring. Thats why I use debris netting, its permanent.
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^^ but if you buy the cheapo net curtains, they are nylon or polyester. But they can tear in use.
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^^ but if you buy the cheapo net curtains, they are nylon or polyester. But they can tear in use.
Either way its a false economy, better to grit your teeth and shell out £25 for a roll of debris netting that will last years.
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Hi all, :)
If you speak nicely to scaffolders you can get debris netting for free.
I also got long offcuts of blue pipe just by asking.
Col
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I emailed a local scaffolding firm but never got a reply. :(
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I have recently covered my strawberries with netting, supported by 700mm cycle wheel rims. Cut them where they are welded then straighten the two quarters next to the cut. You then have a U shaped hoop.
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I emailed a local scaffolding firm but never got a reply. :(
Can scaffolders work a computer?
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I love the look of these proper ones, but today I found some hose on the dumping ground which is meant to be a plot but no-one has it, it has no fence, and is the area tip! I thought I could give it a go, as I only want to use it for summer brassicas, so shouldn't have a problem with snow, although you never know!
Well, I made my supports, and fixed the netting, weighing it down with bricks. My sprouts look very happy, and so am I!
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That's a good idea, Larkshall.
I have my strawberry beds on a table like structure. A raised bed on legs. I had some plumbers pipe which I cut into about 1 foot pieces. Shoved them into the soil at about 3ft intervals on each side of the beds then I got some of the old plastic, swish type curtain rail, which bends easily, cut long enough lengths to make hoops and tucked each end into the pipes. covered with netting and put nails into the side of the bed structure to hook the netting on the keep it taught. I just unhook it to get to the strawberries. It withstood the snow this winter. I do love the structures in this thread. One day I may talk someone in to helping me make them IE OH!!!!!!!
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^^ but if you buy the cheapo net curtains, they are nylon or polyester. But they can tear in use.
Either way its a false economy, better to grit your teeth and shell out £25 for a roll of debris netting that will last years.
The net curtains from IKEA are more like environmesh (as Shirlton mentions) and environmesh is very pricey. Debris netting is tough and popular but it almost seems to hold the whitefly in making the whitefly problem even worse. It also seems to cut out light. At 4 quid a pair, the Ikea nets are worth a try IMO.
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Denby.... is right about the whitefly using debris net , I am trying the sticky yellow sheets, see if that works.
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One more question- what's the best thing for cutting the pipe?
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Ray uses a hand saw or a hack saw :)
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Thanks. Think I'll cut the pipe and netting at home as it's so windy at the moment. Can't believe I've spent £70 on my allotment this week, I much prefer recycling, but hopefully it'll be worth it!
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This is my modified 'walk-in-wonderwall' after the snow crushed it last year, Brassicas seem to love it .(http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/gallery/thumb_11598_21_05_11_6_39_34.jpg)
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Wow! :o
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amazingrotavator(derby) added that to my winter to do list :)
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You need to look at nets and blue water pipe as a long term investment. The nets if they are good quality will last years and the pipe indefinitely. You need the 25mm from Screwfix as if you use canes to put it on the 20mm canes will NOT fit inside the pipe and the 25mm is only £3 more expensive. I have 5 nets and a strawberry bed under netting as I grow a lot of brassicas and suffer from Allium Leaf Liner and carrot fly. They have been a long term investment. My advice for what it is worth you need to but a barrier of plastic ( I use cut down supermarket banners) under the edge of the netting approximately 8" wide otherwise the weeds will grow through the netting and make holes in it making it useless. I support my larger nets ( carrot and onion and garlic ) with a frame of canes to prevent movement by wind and snow. As I said it is not cheap but if you are in for the long time well worth while. There are people on my site who will not invest they have carrots infested with carrot fly and alliums infested with allium leaf mine. So in the long term protect or loose your crop.
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I have recently covered my strawberries with netting, supported by 700mm cycle wheel rims. Cut them where they are welded then straighten the two quarters next to the cut. You then have a U shaped hoop.
If we're talking about netting and fleece then old PVC curtain rails are adequate - there's probably some in your nearest skip.
BTW. bendy plastic tube can be stiffened by pushing old short canes in until it's full, the blue stuff doesn't need this for cloches but it helps for polytunnels (especially when you're setting them up - makes it much easier, and once it's built and braced the extra strength isn't needed and the canes can be allowed to rot away). Old hose is much too weak - that's best used for tying trees to stakes and as hinges on shed or polytunnel doors.
Cheers.