I have just been reading the thread about poly tunnels. It has got me thinking about a similar problem but on a smaller scale.
I have recently taken over a plot and have very little equipment, other than spade etc. I want to do some early planting as I have just finished digging the plot over.
Someone suggested using cloches but, having seen them on Gardeners' World, I didn't want to spend 20 quid by buying a plastic one made with wires.
I have found a reasonably cheap source of plastic sheeting and was going to use hose for the framework but .... how can I keep the sheting attached to the framework so it doesn't blow away ?
Has anyone got any designs that they have used (photos would be great or any ideas about keeping the sheeting attached ?
If you used fleece rather than plastic you could sew or staple it around the frame. Or in the KG magazine they show digging a trench along the length of the tunnel, placing the sheeting inside the trench and placing a scaffold pole (although any tubing filled with sand would probably give you a similar weight) on top of the sheeting, then backfill with soil. Difficult to explain, I'll see if I can get a photo of the illustration in the magazine and post later.
Okay, here is the picture, not the best quality but should explain what I mean.
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jessco/jesseveve/itempics/anchor.jpg)
When my darling made me a couple of cloches, he used a similar method to the one Jesseveve has illustrated, except he used some wood.......4x4 I think and stapled the plassy to the wood. You could poke the hoses in the ground in arches, place the plassy over, then weight the edges down with bricks, or bury or use tent pegs........ Very effective they are to, meant I picked the last of my lettuces for salads Christmas evening!
if you insert a small length of bamboo cane eg. 30cm half way into the ground and then place the ends of the hose arches over them it will provide a bit more stability
I will try and describe what Geoff Hamilton did, He got 2 lengths of 50mm x 25mm wood,x the length you want , using a 3mm drill start at one end on the 25mm side, drill 20mm from the end and drill app half way through the wood after this drill app 400mm centres all along the length of both pieces of wood making sure that the last hole finishes about 20mm from the other end
Take a number of metal coat hangers , (depends upon the amount of holes you have on one length of wood) cut with a pair of pliers in the middle of the long bit at the bottom of the coat hanger, bend open the two ends 90 degrees each, shove the ends into the holes one in each piece of wood so that the hook of the hanger is at the top, carry on until you have finished the length of the wood, get a length of polythene or fleece to cover the length of the wood + a bit extra to cover the ends , drape it over the coat hangers and get a piece of thin wood the same length as the 50mm x 25mm, pull down on one side so the polythene touches the floor put the thin piece of wood over the ends of the polythene and nail through the thin piece into the 2 x1 trapping the polythene between, nail continuous right along the Length . on the other side do the same but pull tight the polythene as you go along. To anchor it down get 2 metal rods connected with a bit of string shove one end in at one side of the cloche go over the polythene with the string and shove the rod in the other side making sure that it is pulled tight do this several times, With this method you have got a movable cloche
Don't forget that if using polythene you will need to have perforated hose running through the cloche to water.
that is if you are allowed to use a hosepipe to water your plants, which we are not, only to fill our water barrels up
I wonder, if you use hose from the framework... is that not very wobbly???
I make my tunnel frames (with plastic or fleece) and I use PVC tubes, the ones you use for electrics. Very cheap and strong.
I still have lettuce, endives, carrotsetc in tunnels. ;D
At oor allotments i followed others advice and instead of useing hose, go to Wickes or the Plumb centre and use plastic water/gas piping (cannot remember what its really for) its cheap and more sturdy than hose piping. and in blue or white!!
For my temporary cloches I use the broken poles from the kids wendyhouses/tents. White plastic, bendable but rigid and can be extended to suit. Just don't tell the kids! ;)
I may not have said what I meant about watering. Like you, we are only allowed to hand hold hoses, so use a water butt with a tap at the bottom and a perfed hose attached. You can then refill the butt from the mains.