help - should have paid more attention at school

[tartonterro]

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

[davyw1]

Lay the tube on the ground as below [attachment=1

[tartonterro]

ingenious idea - never thought of doing that - will give it a go - thanks

[asbean]

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  :) :)

[Vortex]

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.

[Eristic]

Try pi * dia / 2 + 2 * distance pushed into ground.

= 3 * 4 / 2 + 2 * 0.5
= 6 + 1
= 7

OK back to the beer.

[tim]

Wish you'd been around when I did mine, Eristic!!

Warning - see how they bend inwards under strain.

[Barnowl]

I have the same problem Tim. Have been thinking of tying a bamboo along the top but haven't got round to it.

[Kea]

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!

[tartonterro]

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

[Barnowl]

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.

[tim]

How do you use the clips, TTT?

I use clips to hold the fleece on.

[Barnowl]

Those look great.

I've been using giant clothes pegs, but they've only lasted two seasons before getting brittle and breaking.

[MaryT]

I use those grips Tim - really easy to use and only £1 a card up our local market.

[davyw1]

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

[euronerd]

You could always make your own clips:

[marie59]

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.   :-\

[Kea]

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.

[davyw1]

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]

[tim]

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.