basic question: fleece vs polythene vs net?

[gingerneil]

When should I use each of these ? What are their main purposes on the veg plot ?
Also, does fleece let rain water through to the ground below?

[rustylady]

Polythene choches act like a mini-greenhouse, keep plants warm and snug. Fleece is light and can be laid direct (loosely) over crops, mainly I think for protecting things like carrots against carrotfly. Is supposed to let rain through, which polythene does not. Fleece should also give some frost protection. Netting is used to protect crops from bird damage, but unless very small mesh will not protect against butterflies laying eggs and producing caterpillars on your brassicas.

[valmarg]

Gingerneil,

You use fleece to protect plants from frost. You drape it over the plants, ideally two layers, and it should keep out the frost, it will also let water through.

You would not do the same with polythene, insofar as you would get condensation on the inside of the polythene, which on a bad frosty night would freeze, and you would be inflicting ice on to the plants you were trying to protect.

What you would use polythene for is to make a cloche, so that the plastic is kept well away from the surface of the plants, and would create a barrier between the plants and the polythene. Create a bit of a mini-greenhouse.

There are two types of mesh. Enviromesh, which is used to cover brassicas, to keep out cabbage white butterfly, and carrot fly.

The other mesh is usually made into a fruit cage to keep out members of the turdus family aka blackbirds, thrushes, etc. If you want to grow soft fruits, if you don't have a fruit cage, forget it!! Even if you do have a cage, the little blighters seem to find 'the cracks in the wall', but they don't get all the crops, which they would do without the netting!!

valmarg

[Two_Sheds]

Very informative answers above. I would just add that they ALL rip to bits in just one season. I was v.disappointed with fleece, it ripped after just a few days. My old net curtains are much better at the job

[Hans Mum]

for fruits i use old net curtains - freecycle is usually full of them - they last quite well and theyre free

[gojiberry]

All three will give some frost protection, fleece and nets will allow a certain amount of air flow which will discourage damping off and other fungal diseases. All three will give protection against birds. You need to ask yourself what it is you are aiming to do and then pick which one will do the best job.

[Cutecumber]

I am still using some fleece that I have had for years - I have had some good batches and some bad. I suspect that not all fleece is equal

[Reks]

I have some ready cabbage and cauliflower plants that I received today by post and am planning to plant them on my allotment this weekend. This is the first time I will be growing these plants. I want to protect them from birds and also flies/worms. Is fleece or net curtains an option for me?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Demeter]

I have some ready cabbage and cauliflower plants that I received today by post and am planning to plant them on my allotment this weekend. This is the first time I will be growing these plants. I want to protect them from birds and also flies/worms. Is fleece or net curtains an option for me?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I would go for net curtains, build a tent-ish sort of frame out of canes, pipes, whatever and drape the netting over it, weight down the edges so they don't blow about, and make sure there are NO gaps as otherwise the pesky cabbage whites will be all over it! (You'll still need to lift of the nets and check now and again as no matter how hard you try a few will get in and then you'll need to remove the eggs / caterpillars by hand...)

[Reks]

Thank you Demeter. I tried to get some net curtain this evening but all I could find was fleece in pound store. Is it ok to go with the fleece for the moment meanwhile I will try to source the net. I could use the truf that I have stacked up from the allotment to weigh down the edges? Am I ok to use a single sheet of fleece or should they be double.

thanks again.

[Demeter]

Thank you Demeter. I tried to get some net curtain this evening but all I could find was fleece in pound store. Is it ok to go with the fleece for the moment meanwhile I will try to source the net. I could use the truf that I have stacked up from the allotment to weigh down the edges? Am I ok to use a single sheet of fleece or should they be double.

thanks again.

Fleece will be OK for now, should keep the b****flies out
Using the turf to weight down the edges sounds like a plan (upside down or it will root through the fleece / net!)
I got 2 net curtains 2.8m x 3m from Ikea for £2 last year. (Actually I got 4 lol), try freecycle, charity shops, boot sales and ebay which can also be good sources of free / cheap net curtains. They don't have to be pretty

[Reks]

thanks for that. Can I also ask for for advise on planting. I have 5 cabbage and 5 caulliflower plants and my prepared bed is 8 by 4 feet. I was trying various arrangements as I read in a book cabbage needs to be 1.5 ft apart and cauli 2 feet. Do u have any suggestions on how I should plant? in rows or in some other pattern.

[Demeter]

thanks for that. Can I also ask for for advise on planting. I have 5 cabbage and 5 caulliflower plants and my prepared bed is 8 by 4 feet. I was trying various arrangements as I read in a book cabbage needs to be 1.5 ft apart and cauli 2 feet. Do u have any suggestions on how I should plant? in rows or in some other pattern.

Do you want to grow other stuff in the bed as well?

There is a thread on here I started a few weeks ago called "cauliflower spacing" which discuss how far apart to plant them. The conclusion seemed to be that you can plant them a bit closer than 2 feet (down to about 10" minimum) but that the closer together they are planted the smaller the heads.

I believe similar principle applies to cabbages - you can plant them closer together but they may be smaller or fail to heart up properly if they do not have enough space. Some plant closer together and harvest every other plant once they have grown on a bit, as spring greens, leaving the rest to grow into full sized cabbages.

If you want to give your plants the whole bed then I would plant your five plants in "dice formation", cabbages on one side, caulis on the other, which will probably give them the maximum amount of space. Like this:

C..........C
......C......
C..........C

If it were ME on the other hand, I would plant my cabbages in a slightly staggered row across one end of the bed like this:

C...
...C
C...
...C
C...

with a view to harvesting two of them early as greens.

Then I would plant my caulis in a similar way but with more staggering so that each plant had a bit more room (aiming for about 18"), and be content with only medium+ sized heads (rather than giant ones) - like this:
C...........
...........C
C...........
...........C
C...........

which would leave me with a good lot of space in the bed for more veg

[Reks]

Thanks, I have an indea on what do do now. I am dedicating this bed to just caulifowers and cabbages. Have made some square disks out of cardboard for collars and then the fleece. My first cauli and cabbages.....hope all goes well