Enviromesh cover

[rary]

I have aquired some enviromesh and am hopeing to make a six foot wide tunnel over my main raised bed, I also have some of the blue water pipe so if I use the pipe to arch over the bed will it be strong enough to maintain the arch or would I be better to provide some support for it, I could run a length of 2x2 along the middle but wondered if I need to

[Bigmallly]

The hoops would maintain the arch, however the more support you can give it, the better it will stand up to the elements.

[w33blegurl]

Having been doing lots of googling over the last few days, I've seen some great ideas where people have used a foot or so of non-bendy pipe (I'm sure there is a proper name for it!!) that is slightly wider in diameter than the blue pipe and attached this to the sides of the raised beds with pip clips. The blue pipe then slots in on either side. I think this would help with the sturdiness and the upright parts of the hoops will be less inclined to bend. If I can find a pic, I'll post a link!

[w33blegurl]

Need some hoop house help, please!

This wasn't the pic I'd originally found, (you will need to scroll down slightly) but hopefully will show what my slightly waffly explanation was. Some of the ones I'd seen the rigid pipe was a big higher to keep the sides of the pipe arch straighter!

[bario1]

I got some wooden doweling and cut it to the lengths between the hoops. I then drilled holes in the blue pipe and inserted the doweling into it to keep the apex of the tunnel rigid, and stop the pipes at either end flopping towards the middle. Does that make sense? Believe me it works! And it looks nice and tidy.

[bario1]

Oh, and to secure the pipes at the bottom, I just pushed some metal poles deep into the soil, and the pipes fit snugly over the top.

[rary]

Thanks folks for your replies and combining the answers I think I will be able to construct a strong enviromesh tunnel. When completed I will post some pictures.