Just showing off really...

[womble]

There was a thread talking about growing tomatoes over the roofs of greenhouses.
It got me thinking to see if I could use my old cheap rubbish garden arches in the greenhouse.
Well I can and here is the proof.

As the tomatoes grow, I can add new canes enabling me to grow the tomatoes all the way over the top, if I so desire and not a bit of weight on the greenhouse.
9May2010005.jpg picture by moneysaving - Photobucket

[Jeanied]

Lateral thinking and recycling. I like it, Womble!

[womble]

Well I am a womble, recycling in in my genes

And I'm so set up to lateral think, I really have trouble thinking the normal way.

I'm well chuffed with the set up, it's way better than the normal way I do it, which is with canes. It's a problem getting the canes into the ground because of the glass and they're never tall enough.

I did have a couple of moments getting the arches into the greenhouse and a few expletives were flung around as I banged into panes of glass, but on the whole (after I ripped off the bottom spike from each leg ) it went quite well.
They're not actually stuck into the ground at all really, after I took the bottom bits off the arches, I was left with square ends, if that makes sense, I have pushed them a little way into the soft soil. I have got a cane either end pushed into the soil to support them.

[Bigmallly]

Brilliant Womble, would also be good for grapes, cucs, melons, anything that will take the strain off the GH it's self.

[Jeanied]

I think the beauty of it will be that any weight on the arch will make it more stable, rather than less, Womble!

[Tomatoking]

Well done Womble. I did wonder sometimes about how people manage to grow tomatoes over the top of the path in a normal polytunnel or a small greenhouse. As it is a system known to me as the Guernsey arch system.

Luckily, we had large greenhouses that we could run strong wires all the way down, and in my wooden framed polytunnel which I built it was also quite easy.

I hope people who cannot run wires down, take a leaf from your book and get a bigger crop by growing them over the top, without putting the strain on a small greenhouse.

I did a little plan of how to train them on my blog in the 'tomato training systems' section.
Mr TK

[Sanjo]

Thanks for the idea Womble. I currently have strings going to the roof. Having seen your invention it's made me do a bit of thinking of my own, using canes like you have. It would be much stronger than my current system, although to be fair the strings worked last year. They did get a bit "floppy" though so canes would prevent that.
Brilliant!! Keep up the lateral thinking won't you.

[Snadger]

At first I didn't notice the arches! Now I realise on re-scrutinising what all the fuss is about. Looks good btw.

I usually (and i've got pigletwillie to thank for this idea) angle my canes towards the apex of the greenhouse, forming a triangular tunnel up the central path. Same result, but a different way of getting there!

[Nicos]

Brill idea!

...you do realise we'll all want to see them covered in fruit now???

[susieq100]

That is a fantastic idea - last year my cukes turned into a sort of jungle as I was running out of room to 'train them' - not now though.

[taff]

cool beans...