What pipe to use for raised bed hoop house/tunnel/netting frame, (etc)?

Hi all

The internet/youtube is awash with people using pvc waterpipe to make arches for their raised beds, which are then covered with clear plastic (to make a greenhouse type set up), or netting (to keep insects and birds away from crops.

The videos are mostly American and they all talk about Schedule 40 PVC water pipe. Usually 1/2 inch diameter. What is the equivalent type of pipe in the UK? I've had a look online but it is hard to tell from the pics whether it will be bendy enough. I'm sure it is quite a standard product, just not sure what it's called!

If anyone could let me know that would be very helpful. Any tips on where to get it from cheap would also be great. I would be much happier if I could get it in black or at least a dark colour. White just wouldn't look right in my garden.

Many thanks

Max

 

For long term food crop growing, we only use two types of plastics due to their non leaching properties: polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE).

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) or Medium Density Polyethylene (MDPE) water pipe is what you are looking for.

Blue MDPE water pipe can be found at Wickes (25mm diameter x 25m length for £15.99). Black pipes can be found elsewhere.

If given the choice, I would go for black pipes myself, not necessarily for aesthetics but for longevity reasons as black plastics seem to degrade slower than other colours under sun light.


Flexible plastic pipes are the easiest way to make the frameworks for netting and plastic sheeting but you could construct them out of wooden batons or bamboo poles instead.

 

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/raised-beds.114984/
This is my set up

 

black pipe can soon top 60C in the sun, hot plastic tends to be less sturdy I would use bamboo canes, thin canes will take a bend easier than thick ones. If you lash several canes together you`ll have strength/rigidity close to steel.

 

If you sign up for Wickes emails, you will get a couple of 20% off codes/vouchers each year http://www.wickes.co.uk/signup

 

Here`s a freestanding cloche frame i knocked up earlier, chucked a 10L bucket in it for scale.

 

Many thanks for all the helpful replies.

Would definitely like to use black if possible, although I have now heard contrary arguments; that it would be more UV stable vs it would degrade quicker. Still, I guess even a few years usage would be ok, although I don’t like things going to landfill so the longer it lasts the better.

I’ve found a few online retailers selling coils of black MDPE but no-one local. Not sure if it is because I’m looking in the wrong places… Any tips on what type of shops I should be contacting would be very helpful. I’m in North Norfolk btw, just in case anyone reading is local.

It’s interesting that on this side of the pond everyone is using the coiled MDPE. Looking at people’s structures it seems to serve the purpose perfectly, I had ruled it out at first thinking in would be TOO flexible. But I’m presuming it isn’t seeing as it is used so much. In the US they tend to use straight lengths of pipe which then bend and form and arch under their own pressure (if that makes sense).

I’ve also seen stuff like these about:

[Oh no - can't upload a link because I don't have a like! Any chance someone can like one of my posts so that I can put the links in? Thanks

If I cannot get the MDPE locally, would they work or do you think they would be too brittle and snap? Would they last as well? I guess I’d also have to think about the overall height because my beds are a little wider at 5 foot….

Thanks again to everyone for the fantastic help.

Max

 

Done

 

Thanks - much appreciated....

But just tried to add the links and I see I've misread it. It's not that you must have one like, it's that you must exceed one like. So one more like needed!!!

 

Hmmm, your ratings showed +1 when I added a 'like', but I wondered about whether ratings also included other stuff like 'informative/friendly/etc'.

Perhaps somebody else could 'like' Max?

 

Right, let's try again....

http://www.screwfix.com/p/conduit-20mm-x-3m-black-60m-pack-of-20/97817?_requestid=292335

http://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-pushfit-32mm-waste-pipe-black-3m-x-10/24661?_requestid=292076

Excellent - that's worked. Thanks for liking me!