Bubble wrap mini-tunnel
 

Having a whole roll of the stuff in the garage I have been thinking of
trying to make a bubble wrap cover for our chillies next season to give them
that extra bit of warmth they like so that they ripen to red earlier.
Anyone any idea how it could be done?
At the moment I'm thinking a goal post like structure with the wrap over the
top secured to the ground on both sides making a sort of tent, the ends
remaining open to give some air movement.
Do you think it would work? Anyone tried it on chillies or tomatoes?

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Bubble wrap mini-tunnel
 

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
Having a whole roll of the stuff in the garage I have been thinking of
trying to make a bubble wrap cover for our chillies next season to give
them that extra bit of warmth they like so that they ripen to red earlier.
Anyone any idea how it could be done?
At the moment I'm thinking a goal post like structure with the wrap over
the top secured to the ground on both sides making a sort of tent, the
ends remaining open to give some air movement.
Do you think it would work? Anyone tried it on chillies or tomatoes?

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Bubble wrap is certainly a good means of keepimg the frost at bay. Provided
you have sufficient ventilation it should be OK. In another thread Sacha
mentioned that Bubble wrap might cause seating and rot - probably would if
it was applied too closely to the plants.

I wrap my water pipe to my outdoor tap during the winter and had no
problems. I don't skimp on the bubble wrap :-)

Bill

Hi Bob, just a thought, when I lived in Somerset near Cheddar, the local strawberry growers had a brilliant system which maybe you could adapt for your chillies. Its hard to describe but I'll give it a go. get some metal tubes bent into hoops similar to those on a polytunnel but obviously smaller, and heres the clever bit, they used baler twine to tension the plastic by having shorter hoops of baler twine to the side of the metal ones (actually tied to the metal hoops) by doing this, they could slide the plastic up either during the day or in hot weather and slide it down again easily when needed (slide the sides to the middle thus exposing the plants) its also possible because the plastic is being tensioned by the twine, to only slide it halfway up if needed!! Ive copied and used this system when covering beds of pyracantha, cotoneaster and any plants that needed winter protection when i worked on a huge container plant nursery in Pinneberg ( i was suprised that these needed protection there ??) and I made them about 6ft wide by 3ft high with the hoops about 6ft apart, is this big enough for your chillies ??
just a thought, regards, Lannerman