The Villiage Idiot asks: Do you think this would work?

So I keep thinking if I just had a big enough shower cap, like a GINOURMOUS one that I could slip over my hoop house....

Do you think I could cut plastic to fit and SEW elastic around the bottom so it fit like a shower cap????

Feel free to








Jennie

You might be on to something!

I think elastic would drive you bonkers, but if you were to put grommets and a drawstring around the bottom, you could accomplish the same thing without struggling with the elastic.

You could even drape the plastic, THEN thread the drawstring (I'm thinking a narrow poly rope would do -- UV resistant and won't rot out the first time it gets rained on) and draw it up tight...tie it to a stake to a) keep it from being blown off and b) give you a solid point from where you could start drawing it up.

middlemamma wrote:Do you think I could cut plastic to fit and SEW elastic around the bottom so it fit like a shower cap????


Jennie

Nope ...

Your late to the game ...village idiot jr. beat you to it

It's gone again, somewhere down the block (3rd time this week). Hopefully in a different neighbors yard this time though ...... the lady's gonna call the cops if I show up knocking at her door again asking for my garden cover back.

12 x 16 canvas tarp ... $27.00
Sewing materials at Michaels ... $18.00
Seamstress to cut-to-size, hem & sew in elastic, 2 grommets & a drawstring ..$40.00

Look on peoples faces when a stranger with a flashlight knocks on their door after dark, on a freezing night,.... and ask if they will let them into their yard to look for a lost garden cover ................. priceless

If I find it tonight ... maybe I'll pack it up and send it to you & see if you can modify it to work. I'm done with this crazy thing

You could put metal eyes all round the bottom as on a lorry tarpaulin and thread elastic through the holes and then tie the ends together. On the SFG box screw some hooks evenly spaced around the sides and hook the elastic over these. That would stop it getting blown off.

I put bricks, blocks or rocks around the excess plastic at the bottom edges. Then I tied rope around the plastic higher up (I have a fairly tall frame to fit all the way over my tomatoes without them touching) in 2 places. On warm days, I remove a few bricks/blocks as needed to loosen just part of the plastic for venting and slide the ropes up a bit if it's really warm.

When I need to harvest tomatoes, I just duck under the plastic and ropes and lean inside. Kind of a pain, but I'm not under there that long. Quick harvest, quick water if necessary, done. My back gets damp from the condensate on the inside of the plastic, but it'll dry. But then again, my beds are very raised compared to most - the tops of the beds are about 16" high. I don't have to duck very far to get under the plastic or ropes.

The ropes are to keep the plastic from flapping and coming loose. They work pretty well most of the time (haven't come loose, but they have shifted some) and we've had some pretty significant winds since I put the plastic in place.

La Fee....YOU ARE BRILLIANT!

Acara! I laughed so hard when I read your post! I had tears rolling down my cheeks. You and I should collaborate a gardening for the Village Idiot book....LMAO!

Thanks for the info Acara, (PM)...I don't think my wind here is what you have down there in hurricane land...BUT...I still would rather be practical...I would NEVER find my cover if it blew away...I live out in horse prairie land and it would blow for miles without being stopped by anything!

I had plastic on my hoop houses this past season and I just held it down with bricks and a few stones, no rope or ties at all, and I didn't have any issues. I think the grommets and rope would work for me...hubby put a lip on all my boxes (aesthetic only) and the rope could hook under that...it would have to pull the whole 4X4 up to blow that away. But the plastic would rip before that happened. I will keep you updated on how it goes.

I think the grommets and hooks or the grommets and rope might work for me...we'll see.

If you look at my garden photos in this link you will see the lip I am talking about.

https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045463&id=1172332003&l=7f98af8550

Jennie

PS Acara...I am following your WFET post and all your directions for tomatoes from seed very carefully... I am only on the 2nd transplant.

I have WAGON WHEEL style hoops on my beds like mel talks about...what do y'all think about these?

Anyone use 'em?

https://www.superseeds.com/products.php?search=H546A

Jennie

Way too fancy for me. I use scrap wood, screws, and spring clamps on sale from Costco. I'll take some pics tomorrow.

You could also design a wagon wheel style pvc frame. Make sure to use 1/2" cpvc, because it is more flexible than plain pvc. You will need 1/2" elbows, 1/2" tees and 1/2" x 10' cpvc pipe. It would be best to get enough tees to space your "ribs" two feet apart, connecting them together at the center. Make it large enough to fit around the outside of your SFG.

PS Acara...I am following your WFET post and all your directions for tomatoes from seed very carefully... .

Oh goodness ...your doomed

Remember, your supposed to do exactly OPPOSITE of what I did, if you want to be successful

LOL ..j/k

Glad to hear its working for you so far.

BTW ... I got my heirloom seeds planted & I got sprouts on the Black Crims, Cherokee Choc., Zogola and Amana Orange already ..... so I'll be transplanting with ya shortly.

Hopefully the Christmas elves will be able to effect repairs on wifeys camera & I can get back to weekly pics here soon.

middlemamma (Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:09 pm) wrote:
PS Acara...I am following your WFET post and all your directions for tomatoes from seed very carefully... I am only on the 2nd transplant.

Just curious, V.I. - why are you starting tomato transplants now?

LOL....So when I kill them I can figure out what I did wrong and have time to start over.

I start early because tomatoes's take a bit longer to develop when you use multiple-transplant technique, because on top of keeping the stems trimmed on the bottom portion of the plant, your also burying a large portion of the existing plant, each time you transplant.

middlemamma wrote:LOL....So when I kill them I can figure out what I did wrong and have time to start over.

Just caught the V.I. reference

Ander, your going to have to designate VI and VIJ, or VI1 & VI2, to avoid having us both answer ......

J and I are still in friendlly negotiations for rights to the official "V.I." title ...LOL

acara wrote:I start early because tomatoes's take a bit longer to develop when you use multiple-transplant technique, because on top of keeping the stems trimmed on the bottom portion of the plant, your also burying a large portion of the existing plant, each time you transplant.

Sorry, I must be missing a step here. Why do you trim the stems when you are burying the stems deeper with each transplant?

Sorry, dorked that ... not very clear


I don't allow anything to grow off the main stem, on the bottom 75% of the plant when it first starts (a.k.a. "first fork" on tomatoes).

I trim the side stems (branches?), to keep the main stem (vertical) bare.

I used to do it just because thats how I was taught, but one of the "Tomato Masters" here on the forum (sorry, I can't remember who it was now), pointed out that you trim the side branches because it makes it easier to drop it in the hole when you bury the bottom 2/3rds to 3/4's of the plant at time of transplant.

skipping back and forth a little here...

Mick's idea about the straps like a lorry (semi truck) might be just what you're looking for.

The semis in the UK and the Continent are very different than the big boxes in the US -- they're called a curtain-side lorry, as they are essentially a flatbed truck with a canvas cover.

Look here: http://trailertruck.co.uk/hgv-curtainsiders.html

Also google "curtainside lorry" and click on "images" to get more -- there are some pretty cool setups there.

You could have a tarp that goes over the top of your wagon hoops, then with small come-along straps (other end fastened to your boxes) sewn to your tarp you could have a REALLY stable, VERY durable cover that would stand up well to darned near anything Madame Nature could hand out. Additionally, you could undo a strap or to gain access to what's underneath.

Small come-along straps are fairly cheap, IIRC...hmmmm....Okay, Acara, sic 'em!

(sheesh...y'all didn't think there was a need for an English-English translator, did you?!)

acara wrote:Sorry, dorked that ... not very clear


I don't allow anything to grow off the main stem, on the bottom 75% of the plant when it first starts (a.k.a. "first fork" on tomatoes).

I trim the side stems (branches?), to keep the main stem (vertical) bare.

I used to do it just because thats how I was taught, but one of the "Tomato Masters" here on the forum (sorry, I can't remember who it was now), pointed out that you trim the side branches because it makes it easier to drop it in the hole when you bury the bottom 2/3rds to 3/4's of the plant at time of transplant.

Makes perfect sense. Removing leaves and suckers from the main stem before each transplant.
Thanks for 'splainin

LaFee wrote:Okay, Acara, sic 'em!

LOL...

Yes, the pics help a lot & "get the wheels turning" .... Muhahaha



I'm still trying to decide what to do though .... the SFG boxes froze-out when the covers came off this week, so I'll probably just stick with the tomatoes in pots for now & put something more cold-tolerant in the SFG's (thinking Spinach).

Wow...La Fee that is cool....thanks for the translation...I honestly had no idea what Mick was talking about...but I was wary of transgressing from Villiage Idiot 1 or 2 into the zone of COMPLETE MORON. SO I just nodded and smiled.

that was actually part of how I ended up as an RH to begin with...I speak Metric and Imperial, English(UK) and English(US), plus ragged bits and pieces of a few Continental languages....

Mick, I even know how to spell aluminium and paediatrician and colour. ROFL

LaFee, you are a woman of many talents

Acara. If you don't know, you can take a pocket knife, and peel off some of the tomato trunk to see if it is still green on the inside. If so, then you may be able to save your tomato plants by covering them. Hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out.

middlemamma wrote:I honestly had no idea what Mick was talking about. SO I just nodded and smiled.

I will have to remember to do English to American transalation when I pass on any ideas or else you will all think I am a blithering idiot (translation: blithering idiot)

No worries, Mick...I can translate both directions!

In a former life, I sold to both B&Q and Focus, so spent a LOT of time in Blighty, and learned to communicate from Southampton to Crewe and points in between. I know about bacon butties and builder's tea, and cheese and pickle sandwiches, and Tracy Pollard (yeah but no but yeah) and Christmas crackers, shopping at Asda, etc., etc., etc.