Advice for LONGER grids

Maya Papaya 4/19/2010, 9:32 pm

Howdy folks,

Can anyone suggest grid materials for my longer bed. I have a 2'x10' bed that I need build a grid for spanning that 10 foot length. In the book, Mel talks about joining boxes together to make longer boxes, but I find that to be a waste of space and wood. For example, he suggests joining two 4'x4' boxes together instead of just making one 4'x8' box. His example would require 8 more feet of wood for that one 4'x8' box.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Maya

boffer 4/19/2010, 9:40 pm

Lumber, conduit (metal and plastic), and string are the first things that come to mind.

dano 4/19/2010, 9:41 pm

I bought my wood lath at home depot. It came in 12' lengths, which I had them cut to 4' for me. You could have them cut it to 10' for you.

Maya Papaya 4/19/2010, 9:46 pm

Hmm, I was just there the other day and got my 8' wood lath. I didn't see any longer lengths. I got mine in the garden dept., where did you find the 12' lengths?

Thanks,

Maya

boffer 4/19/2010, 10:00 pm

I don't think you'll find it in lath. I was thinking 1x and 2x. In your first post you mentioned 10 feet-you probably won't find 12 foot conduits at the big box store.

You could join lath to make it longer with a good exterior glue like 'Gorilla Glue'

dano 4/19/2010, 10:02 pm

In the lumber section. You'll probably have to ask, it is hard to spot. It was in with the trim and stuff so it wasn't at all obvious. It was priced around $0.50 per foot.

Maya Papaya 4/19/2010, 10:03 pm

Dano claims he got 12' foot lengths of lath. If so Dano, was it in the wood dept. or the garden dept?

Maya

Maya Papaya 4/19/2010, 10:06 pm

Ok, thanks Dano.

Maya

Wyldflower 4/19/2010, 10:21 pm

I'm a firm believer in string.... string is inexpensive, easy to replace when it's worn, you can make it any length you want, and it comes in all colors. You can fasten it with nails, tacks or even little cup hooks.

I'm using a white mason's string (poly/nylon blend). I saw some really bright golden yellow and a gorgeous bright blue that I may pick up next time I'm at the orange box.

AFLfan 4/19/2010, 10:22 pm

I have been using 1/2" pvc pipe and cross connectors for my grids. You can get the pvc in long sections, or use simple connectors to make it as long as you need. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I am coming to like it more. And as some suggested, I am looking at possibly using the grid pipes for watering as well.

boffer 4/19/2010, 10:25 pm

AFLfan wrote:I have been using 1/2" pvc pipe and cross connectors for my grids. You can get the pvc in long sections, or use simple connectors to make it as long as you need. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I am coming to like it more. And as some suggested, I am looking at possibly using the grid pipes for watering as well.

I think it's a neat idea; I've been keeping my eye on posts about it.

organicgardeningzen.com 4/19/2010, 10:32 pm

Hi Maya Papaya...
I have 12 foot x 3 foot beds and they are inside a homemade PVC greenhouse so I was concerned about being able to take my grids on and off when needed without hitting/puncturing my greenhouse film. So I built modular grids out of 4 ft wood lath. I'm really happy with how they turned out! Advice for LONGER grids Modula10

Maya Papaya 4/19/2010, 10:41 pm

Wyldflower, where did you get the nylon stuff?

"I'm using a white mason's string (poly/nylon blend). I saw some really bright golden yellow and a gorgeous bright blue that I may pick up next time I'm at the orange box."

Maya

Wyldflower 4/19/2010, 10:52 pm

In the hardware department at Home Depot .... I've also seen it in hardware in Walmart. it runs about $3 for a big spool that should last a couple of years.

I'm also thinking about making a basic net for my trellis out of this stuff... you KNOW I'm a cheapskate (and a macrame-tying hippie)!

chexmix 4/19/2010, 10:57 pm

I'm not Wyldflower but I can answer the question.

At home depot or lowes you can get mason string in different colors. It will be close to the cement supplies. I think wal-mart may even have it as well. It will cost about $3.00 or less for 250' of string. Btw, this is what I used as well. Its working great so far.

Maya Papaya 4/19/2010, 11:21 pm

Thanks, gals! I'm going with the string for my long bed.

Cheers,

Maya

Bec 5/5/2010, 12:46 pm

Another idea - for my longer beds I use coated clothesline and nail it on.

Bec

LaFee 5/5/2010, 1:05 pm

I used coated clothesline for my grid -- I really like it. It's a pale green, but I had a choice of green, sky blue, red, orange, yellow...

It's easy to work with -- I threaded it through little screw eyes mounted on the top edge of my frames -- it doesn't scrape your knuckles, doesn't break if you trip and have to put your hand down to keep from going headfirst into your jalapenos (Nope, that wasn't me. Advice for LONGER grids Suspect

) It's dirt cheap, and doesn't stain or decompose.

killjug 5/5/2010, 2:16 pm

I used Nylon trotline string. I have seen it last for years running trot lines and jug lines. Running lines we have used the same peice of line that was puttout for up to 2 months at a time in the sun and getting wet and drying for 15 years.

Magwheels 5/6/2010, 7:10 pm

We are planning to use coated clothesline for our longer grid (10 ft X 3 ft) and my husband is thinking about stapling it into the inside surface of the boards.

I think I'd like the tidy look of screw eyes as opposed to staples, but will coated clothesline work its way out of a knot tied to the screw eye?

Any advice as to the pros and cons of stapling the clothesline to the boards?

Thanks!

LaFee 5/6/2010, 7:18 pm

So far, I've got no trouble at all with the clothesline working loose from the screw eyes. I tied the line to itself (a bowline, former girl scout and blue-water sailor that I am)...threaded it through all the eyes, then ended with a bowline on the other end.

boffer 5/6/2010, 7:22 pm

I like the idea of eye screws-I hadn't heard that one before. Depending on the rope, it might take zip ties or baling wire on the loose tail to keep it from loosening. Staples will rust. I would use galvanized wire fencing staples.

Megan 5/6/2010, 10:33 pm

I used green plastic coated plant-tie wire, it was just over a dollar for 200 feet. I had wanted to use eye screws, but as it turns out, drywall screws were what we had, so I just used those. Wrapped it around drywall screws into SFG box timber, or wrapped/tied it around galvanized railroad spikes in the places I didn't have an easy way to attach it to a timber. The reel has its own cutter on it, basically a piece of metal you put the wire under, press down, and it crimps enough you can snap it off easily.

Patty from Yorktown 5/6/2010, 10:49 pm

I agree with the string vote. I have metal venetian blinds, which I cut to length. Despite being metal they are tearing, rusting and sharp to work around. In awhile I will replace my grids with the cheapest string I can find. I plan on it rotting away over the winter, this way spring clean up will be much more pleasant. Somebody mention using rounded metal screws for your anchors, as they did not hurt your hands. Happy gardening.

Patty in Yorktown

coot 5/7/2010, 2:09 am

For a little over $3, I bought a cheap set of window blinds like the SFG book suggests, cut out all the string, and stapled individual slats together to make the lenths that I needed.
Then I attached each length of grid to my wooden box with decorative thumb tacks.

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