Author Topic: Cloches & cold-frames - any easy quick cheap DIY suggestions ? (Read 4812 times)

arobwk · « **on:** February 13, 2019, 06:00:24 pm »

I made up a cold-frame some time back utilising redundant twin-wall polycarb' roofing sheet, weatherproof tape and a few zip ties. Worked a treat and still holding together. HOWEVER, that was from surplus sheeting bits so sq.m. cost was irrelevant. Buying new, even 4mm twin-wall is quite pricey. So, I'm scratching around for options:

This looks quite good/cost efficient - http://www.allotmentgardening.org.uk/garden-cloche/

Hooped plastic pipe stuck into ground with some sort of flexible covering also an option, BUT I reckon that's going to be fiddly to protect against wind-lift while also allowing reasonably easy access for weeding etc.

Any brilliant tried and tested TAS solutions out there please ?

DavidandCollette · « **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2019, 06:18:50 pm »

I would agree. Ok in a sheltered spot but that stuff flying about could be dangerous, and as you say, not easy to weed.we have tried plastic sheet over plastic tube held down with bricks, but again weeding can be difficult. I suppose it depends upon how much time you have to devote to weeding. We tend to grow early crops in a Poly tunnel and then put a later crop outside

Fleecewife · « **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2019, 07:47:02 pm »

A great cold frame we made was from two secondary double glazing units my aunt was swapping for real DG. We made a double cold frame to fit it, with wooden pegs at the top that the units could be slotted in to, then held open with bricks or rotating wooden stick supports, or the lights could be removed when things grew big or the day was hot. After many years the glass broke after a particularly heavy snowfall - but it was good while it lasted.

We have used Geoff Hamilton's blue water pipe tube mini tunnels for years. The ends of the tubes are pushed onto short lengths of cane, rather than straight into the ground. To hold the cover in place, roll the edges around canes, then pin them down with tent pegs made of heavy weight fence wire. For weeding (not my strong point) one side is rolled up to the centre top, then clothes pegs used to clip them to the string which marks the centre top. Once you've done one side, replace that cover and slide up the other one. The only bit we are still not totally happy with is how the ends are secured. We pull them tight, tie with string, then hold them in place with bricks - not perfect. The great thing about using blue water pipe is that you can cut the hoops as long or as short as you need, as long as you can get a cover to fit. Or you could use lengths of cover side by side and peg them together to get the right fit.

chrismahon · « **Reply #3 on:** February 14, 2019, 09:17:10 am »

We are using secondary double glazing units as well- the glass is set in anodised aluminium frames. We just mound up the soil at the edges of the bed, plant in the centre and put the glass over it. Anything based on plastic sheeting here would blow away, even in a sheltered spot.

Black Sheep · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2019, 06:58:13 pm »

Chop an IBC in half and you get two big cloches. Not sure whether the light loss through the plastic would be too much though.

cloddopper · « **Reply #5 on:** October 11, 2019, 02:48:28 pm »

I rolled up a torn 30 foot polytunnel sheet , once we'd folded it by its length to give us just over 1 mtr wide material to roll . then cut it through e middle of the length of the roll with a hacksaw blade in my sabre saw . That gave us several 1 mtr wide strips 30 feet long

I made five foot lengths of thick fence straining wire into foot wide hoops using a feed bucket bottom as the form to bend he wires round mark the half way point on the wires before you start bending the hoops , placed one every foot along the rows and raked a shallow trench either side . Ran the polyethene over the hoops and back filed over the polyethene so it was weighted down in the trench . Pulled the ends into a cone and pushed another smaller hoop on the plastic to hold it secure to the ground .

arobwk · « **Reply #6 on:** October 11, 2019, 05:25:05 pm »

Out of interest, [member=28519]cloddopper[/member] , what were you providing cloche-cover to ? (I ask because burying the plastic each side suggests you were not looking to frequently access whatever you were growing.)

When you say "thick fence straining wire" are you meaning 3.15mm line wire ?

(Not sure the set-up you describe will suit my purposes, but I like to have details of tested methodologies in my back pocket.)

cloddopper · « **Reply #7 on:** October 11, 2019, 06:06:46 pm »

Spring cabbages iceberg lettuces to sell to a local fruit & veg shop , grow shoulder to shoulder in ten foot lengths succession sow seeds every 9 days and plant as cabbage plants .
if you need to frequently access a row do it from one side by putting a length of timber over the sheet in the gulley /

See
eBay item number:
192863200919
for the 6 mm hoops wire in six foot lengths ..

I used a roll of ex railway fence wires as I purchased a former railway keepers cottage