Around Kirwee, there are a lot of cropping farms, and we get a huge number of white butterflies. If you want to grow brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli etc), you need to either use a lot of derris dust, or protect the plants with some kind of barrier.
I spent a lot of effort growing my seedlings from seed & really don't want to use any kind of chemical input. Derris dust kills everything it comes into contact with, including bees, so thats another reason.
Bought tunnel houses can be pretty expensive, so I decided to build my own. My husband is an electrician, so I had access to some conduit tubing, which is ideal. The question was how to put it together & stick it in in the ground. I came up with the idea of using reo (reinforcing steel). My idea was to use shortish lengths stuck into the ground with enough length above ground to put the conduit over it. I got a 6 metre length of reo from the hardware store, smiled sweetly at the big strong men & they cut it up for me into 8 x 750mm lengths (no charge!). I figured that 4 conduit tubes along each side of my 4.5metre beds would be about right. Then I needed an additional length which would be the centre pole & go the whole length of the frame.
Here are the pictures of how I put it together.
Cutting the 6 metre length of reo into 8 equal parts means they are 750mm each. I worked it out in my head, but the big strong hardware men had to get a calculater... Here I've stuck it into the ground. I didn't do it right into the corner because I thought it might get a little loose against the wooden sides.
Here it is with the conduit on top of it. The curve of the conduit against the strength of the reo holds it on really tight. You need a bit of muscle to bend the conduit over to the reo on the other side.
I used 2 x T conduit connections, one at each end to hold the centre piece firmly. It didn't want to slide on very easily, but we got there with a few gentle taps with a hammer.
Where the centre piece meets the 2 inside struts I used electrical cable ties. I should have made sure the little connection piece was on the underside, but covered it over with insulation tape so it wouldn't catch on the shade netting & tear it.
Now the frame's finished and ready for the cover. I bought this at the hardware store too.
I love it, & love seeing those ratbag white butterflies trying to get in! When I want to get into it I use clothes pegs to lift up the end or side so I can work in it. It's really cosy inside, and I think the temperature is a little warmer in there too.
It's autumn now, so I think it will help ripen the tomatoes & peppers. It doesn't seem to have been a very good summer this year, so hopefully my shade house will help extend the season. This is the second frame I've built like this, the first one is 2 years old I've had no problems with it. I covered that one with a sheet of plastic to make a small greenhouse (again from the hardware store). It's great for growing lettuces & other salad vegies in the colder season & to get an early start in spring.
The great thing about these frames is that since I have 4 beds of identical size, I can easily dismantle and reassemble them over whichever bed I need them on, following my rotation system.
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