Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Tiny Clanger on February 03, 2020, 14:21:56
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Together with a chum, I hope to get a coil of that blue piping stuff to make some hoops to carry netting. What bore is best to get? 25mm or 30mm? Also does the thickness of the walls of the pipe vary
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I use whatever I can source... skip diving mostly, but the thicker stuff gets my vote!
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I used 25 mm x 3mm hoop iron.
What I liked about it was you could bend it to more or less any shape and it would remain that way until you needed to be a different dimension as you can see in the picture below.
I used the same pieces for 20+ years and it was still growing strong when I left it at the end of 2018
(http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/C/Cauliflower/02-Cauli%20&%20Calabrese.jpg)
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Thin walled pipe can be stiffened by stuffing it. Anything that stops it going oval will stop it bending because the main way it bends is by going oval.
I tend to use prunings - they don't have to be in one piece - if the thickest part of each piece fits the pipe it will still have a dramatic effect - and wide pieces take longer to rot.
This method also allows you to change the curve - if you don't stuff the middle bit it will bend to a more pointy roof line - very good for shedding snow - and that allows you to use less and/or lighter materials - but don't go too far - because (on the other hand) the steeper parts of the curve always catch the most wind force.
Cheers.