Sandy, you probably have something happening like when some synthetic ropes and straps are wet they should not be stored in sunlight, because they break down faster.

Eric4home said:Sandy, you probably have something happening like when some synthetic ropes and straps are wet they should not be stored in sunlight, because they break down faster.

Interesting... any idea why that happens, Ric?

Sorry, wet + plastic + UV doesn't suggest anything to me.

But now I have something to keep me awake at night, puzzling over.

LOL, Rick -- the thought of you staying awake trying to figure this out just might keep ME awake!

The good news is, we re-covered the thing yesterday, with no pipe wrap and no rope that doesn't like sun when it's wet involved...

I'm not sure why uv deteriorates synthetics such as nylon and polypropylene. I just know it does. I did think that when it's wet the water particles in and on the rope may act like a magnifying glass and aid uv penetration. Nylon rope is denser, does not float, and is weaker when wet. Poly floats and pretty much retains it's strength.
As to why the pipe foam damaged the plastic, maybe the uv effects on the urea formaldehyde foam releasing who knows what, speeding up the normal break down of the plastic.

Eric4home said:
As to why the pipe foam damaged the plastic, maybe the uv effects on the urea formaldehyde foam releasing who knows what, speeding up the normal break down of the plastic.

That's what I'm thinking, Ric... or else maybe it was something else

A friend of ours did a home-built greenhouse and instead of 1 layer of plastic wrap, he used 2 - one outside and one inside, sealed them together and filled with air. That added many degrees of warmth to the greenhouse.

Barb

Barb, do you know how were the 2 layers were sealed together?

The 2 layers are applied using a tube lock base and a spring lock top. Many people in the business call them z strips. A blower is placed inside inflating the two layers. The lock base is applied to the frame of the GH and the plastic is stretched and the spring is used to hold it in place. Here's one site that shows most of the things you'll need.
http://www.greenhousemegastore...

Thanks, Ric -- for the way I use my hoop house I doubt that I would go to those lengths, though.

Thanks, Ric. That is exactly what he did and it worked like a charm.

Weedwhacker said:

Love that shape!!

Thanks!

Welcome to All Things Plants, Shape!

I love using cattle panels in my garden to support all the climbing veggies. I'll never grow vines across the ground again.

Very nice!

I still want to use some cattle panels in my garden, for climbing veggies, especially while the grand children are young enough to enjoy it. I do plan to use an old piece of carpet and kiddie chairs, so it can be a special place for them. They already enjoy spending part of their day here under the Juniper hedge (30+ years in the growing).

Here it is, the picture taken last year of our "Gothic Arch" with the moonflowers on it. We just love it and we are getting ready to do moonflower seeds for this year.





You can see the first pic when the vines were just getting started and the second shows how they grew and was smothering the whole structure. We made the mistake of planting two vines on each side, certainly won't do that this year and I will be doing selective pruning to keep the vines in check--may have more flowers that way, too.

Wowie!!

I second that WOWIE!!! Looks awesome!!

Wowser -- that is very cool! I've never been able to get moonflower to grow very well, might have to make more of an effort after seeing this!