Cage

Hi, WOO!
I'm intending to do the same as last year, which is to rig up canes, string and netting rather than go for a heavy rigid structure. I find that's more flexible, and allows for some plants getting taller than I had expected.....

For a slightly more solid version, I have some of these, but haven't yet tried them out. You use them with canes or special rods....

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/category/Fruit%20and%20Vegetable%20Cages_Build%20Your%20Own%20Cages/

 

Some form of cover can be an advantage Woo but if you put up a single cage you'll need it fairly high if you want to work in it. You also need to think about what kind of netting you are going to use. Bird/butterfly netting isn't too heavy, but insect-proof stuff for something the size you are thinking about could be. It might also be difficult or expensive to get hold of. Given the size of your plot an alternative might be big tunnels (hoops) 18' long by 3' or 4' wide and 3' or thereabouts high. That way you'll not have all your eggs/vegs in the one basket and could cover or uncover different crops as the need arises.

 

Hi Woo have you considered a polytunnel you can completely cover them in mesh instead of polythene lots of growers use this option its a bit more substantial than canes and poles nice to work in you can even do them half and half the whole polythene side winds up and down leaving a mesh screen best of both worlds good temperature control which you don't get with a straight polytunnel

 

I would not have thought there was an advantage in putting a cage over the whole plot. For example I cannot see an advantage for potatoes. I am going to have to provide a barrier against carrot fly and cabbage root fly that attacks the carrots and radishes, but in that case i will cover will fleece, that the crops will push up. To combat cabbage root fly on cabbages and such i will use little squares of cardboard placed round the stems. To combat cabbage butterflies organically I used to use a spray that contained a bacterium. I understand that this has now been withdrawn so I am planning on using netting which I will place on a removable frame over just the brassica section.

 

Different crops need different protection. If money is tight then don't build a net frame. I use fleece for carrots and narrow guage netting for brassicas. I try to let natural predators do the rest.

 

I have homemade wire hoops that i either use netting or polythene on, depending on the need.
I have a large straw plot, 400 plants that i drape net over a system of posts and wire. I got the net from a farmer who used it to drape over bales of silage to keep the birds off, but it was stretched and useless to him. It's a pain removing when i want to pick, but it keeps the birds off. You maybe able to get something similar.