"Kay Easton" wrote

OK, I'm interested in doing this but can I use clear perspex rather than
glass, for safety's sake? I have to admit to not liking glass at all,
after
having an accident some years ago with a glass tumbler. I even have my
wine
out of a perspex 'glass' now!!

yes you can. I use plastic bags.

Great, thanks )

Jaqy

On Fri, 6 Dec 2002 16:59:55 -0000, "MC Emily"
wrote:

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote

Turning to your specific situation, if you think that sowing seed
of hardy plants (not necessarily cowslips) might become a regular
event in your life, then maybe it's time to cobble together a
coldframe.

OK, I'm interested in doing this but can I use clear perspex rather than
glass, for safety's sake? I have to admit to not liking glass at all, after
having an accident some years ago with a glass tumbler. I even have my wine
out of a perspex 'glass' now!!

Any transparent polymer will do. For that matter, a simple wooden
frame with polythene sheet stretched over it will do quite nicely
as a coldframe cover. There are technical reasons for glass
having a slight edge in this use -- better light transmission,
won't yellow or go cloudy or turn brittle[1] with age, won't get
all scratched up, perhaps a little easier to keep clean -- but
these are not important enough to preclude the use of a plastic.

A few other tips on coldframe construction:

1. If you can put it on a concrete surface, so much the better.
Helps keep worms from getting into the pots and provides fewer
hiding places for creepy-crawlies.

2. Make sure the frame and its cover are well tied down so they
don't blow away in a winter gale. I've had a coldframe cover 4.5'
square blown off in a gale -- and it was glazed with glass, but
fortunately it landed in a fuchsia that cushioned the landing, so
there was no breakage. Big heavy thing, but whoosh! there it went
in a powerful gust.

3. Don't make the frame any deeper than absolutely necessary.

4. If possible make some provision for hosing off the surface it
stands on, at least once a year. Potted plants give off a lot of
silt in the water that drains through them, and this can, over
time, build up to a thick layer of mud.



[1] Though old glass seems to be more brittle than new glass.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Xref: 127.0.0.1 uk.rec.gardening:163155

"Alan Holmes" wrote

I even have my wine out of a perspex 'glass' now!!

Heathen!(:-)

Alan

Hee-hee! ))

Jaqy

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote

snip, some wonderful tips

[1] Though old glass seems to be more brittle than new glass.

Tell me. My husband has just put a dog kennel through a touring caravan
toilet window!!! The caravan is a 1976 and he really did just 'brush' the
window with the kennel as he was moving it and, 'crack', the whole thing's
gone (( Good job it's under the barn otherwise, in this weather, it'll
soon be flooded!!!

Jaqy