Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: tartonterro on July 02, 2008, 21:31:10
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im going to use some MDPE pipe to make large hoops for netting - but i cant work out how long i need to cut the pipe.
i want the hoops to be 2ft high and the hoops to cover an area of 4ft - does anyone know how to work out what length i need to cut the pipe?
i should have listened to Noddie - my old maths teacher more - but o no i knew better lol
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Lay the tube on the ground as below [attachment=1
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ingenious idea - never thought of doing that - will give it a go - thanks
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Thank you Davyw1, I'm hopeless at anything mathematical, having failed O level three times with the lowest mark possible (or was that no mark at all) and I was going to ask a maths teacher to calculate it for me, but he would have given me a long lesson on how to do it etc etc (yawn yawn) so I've not tried it. I will now :) :)
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You mean you want a 2ft radius half circle - the circumference of a circle is 2xPIxR- you want half ie PIxR or 6.28 feet.
I cut mine at 7' 6" allowing a good 6" to be inserted into the ground on either side.
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Try pi * dia / 2 + 2 * distance pushed into ground.
= 3 * 4 / 2 + 2 * 0.5
= 6 + 1
= 7
OK back to the beer.
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Wish you'd been around when I did mine, Eristic!!
Warning - see how they bend inwards under strain.
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I have the same problem Tim. Have been thinking of tying a bamboo along the top but haven't got round to it.
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Yes mine bend inwards I kept meaning to tie a bamboo along the top too. The critical thing is to add the depth you want to put it into the soil very easy to forget that!
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i saw someones in their garden at the side of the road and they used a spring loaded clip like you get for clipping hard wood plants to each other or canes im gona try that - will post some pics once im done
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I push the ends of my hoops into the soil through copper pipe clips I've screwed to the inside of the raised bed. Reinforced the hose first by pushing bamboo up them but realised this may be a mistake since the bamboo will rot. Despite the extra support they still bend at the top.
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How do you use the clips, TTT?
I use clips to hold the fleece on.
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Those look great.
I've been using giant clothes pegs, but they've only lasted two seasons before getting brittle and breaking.
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I use those grips Tim - really easy to use and only £1 a card up our local market.
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Why don,t you make your fleece tunnel on a more perminent bases which will make them more riged that can be removed when required
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You could always make your own clips:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3175/2634001483_144093138d_o.gif)
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Yes mine bend inwards I kept meaning to tie a bamboo along the top too. The critical thing is to add the depth you want to put it into the soil very easy to forget that!
One of the old boys at my allotment gave me a good tip today He said push a cane of a piece of one into the ground and have about 12" or there about above onto which you then place the tube " it will help to stay straight up" he said Haven't tried it but it sounds like it might work. :-\
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I've got wooden dowel cut into lengths they push into the ground and the tube over them, I think they'll last longer than canes and if i painted with wood preservative longer but i haven't.
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I don,t understand why you go to the trouble of keep having to stick them in the ground why don,t you bracket them to the side of the raised bed.
Do you make your raised bed covers like this[attachment=1]
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Bright!
Why not? Because I don't keep the covers on the same beds.
And - addendum - I thought that the tube was bending but, of course, it's just leaning.
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I think that the ideas are all good. I have taken it a little further by cutting the pipe in half and using a piece of dowelling to join the pieces together in the middle. This gives scope to widen the hoops if needed and also gives a flat top and slightly pushes the arch out to give an almost cube cover rather than a half circle. Obviously gaffer tape holds the pieces together and apart as it were. I also found that this dowelling gives a bit more stability top the structure.
However, as always it is better to do something that tickles your fancy rather than blindly follow what everyone else does.
enjoy your gardening even when it p**s down with rain
regards Bill
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as promises pics of the closh over the cabages - clips didnt work as good as i hoped but ive used them and added some plant ties
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Barnie - these clips go brittle, too.
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b**ger - just bought some :D
It's ok. They'll do me until I get more sorted. This winter I plan to build a movable frame to follow the brassica around.
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I posted some images on these. it's in the cheap cloche hoops thread.
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Thank you for this thread, it made it so much easier to explain to OH, he just read it and knew what I wanted! I am now the proud owner of 2 fully covered raised beds at home and a pile of hoops to take to the allotment.
The pipe clips on the side of the beds have worked really well. We have covered them with Wilko's netting and found that if we used tacks placed along the long sides we could hook the netting tightly on to them which has given a very neat finish and weighted it down with a plank at each end.
Although I have been on here for years I still haven't managed to post a photo... one day...
Anyway I am really grateful for this thread - the cabbage whites won't be as they were eyeing up my brassicas yesterday!
Thank you :)
T.
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Used cable ties to secure netting to frames - cheap and easy to use once I sussed out there was a wrong way and a right way round to a cable clip - wow, did I feel daft when I realised ;D