A garden cloche is invaluable to the allotment gardener. Whether used to warm the soil and get a head start on the sowing season, or protect tender vegetables from cold temperatures.
The cloche doesn’t need to be an elaborate structure, and I’ve had great success with this design over the years.
One sheet of corrugated PVC, three lengths of rope tied in to a loop approx 55cm long and a few pieces of bamboo cane.
The loops of rope are passed over the corrugated plastic to form a small tunnel.
The cloche is approx 45cm wide and 25cm heigh. This could be adjusted by the length of the rope.
The bamboo canes are pushed through the rope loop and inserted in to the soil.
Even with this minimal anchorage the cloche is very stable, even in strong winds.
Add a piece of plastic / glass to each end of the cloche to complete the job.
Under each of these cloches are four rows of early sown carrot seed.
Update….
The first harvest from the carrots sown under the cloches, sown 19th Feb, harvested 26th May.
14 weeks is not too bad, considering the extremes of weather this season has produced.
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Think I ll be giving them ago, they look great!
Excellent tip, have you tried drilling small holes to facilitate watering?
@Mauchit, I’ve not tried that, as I use them mainly early in the season, I wanted to keep as much warmth in as possible.
@sprout cheers for that. I bought a corrugated sheet from Wickes yesterday to give it a go.
Brilliant way to set up cloches. I have several sheets of corrugated plastic but no hoops to hold them. Using canes & rope as you described is a great idea. My 1st year as an allotment tenant and filled with enthusiasm!