[Candide]

Been reading back through the threads and am a bit more clued up about pests.
Plan to grow carrots, some brassicas and got shallots and garlic planted.
Looks like I'll have to net these crops and plan to get some blue waterpipe when next months pension is in.
How long is a piece of string question but ... what's a good general purpose width for the hoops?  Obvs I want to use them again so wondered what has worked out most useful.
Thanks everybody

[mumofstig]

Have a look here
https://kgarden.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/brassica-netting-against-cabbage-white-butterfly/

[snowdrops]

I mount my blue ( in theory any colour lol pipe) on canes & push the canes into the ground, that way I can vary the height of the tunnel I create for different crops. As I have long narrow beds all the same width, give or take, the hoops are interchangeable on each bed. Beds are about 5ft wide, should really be a bit narrower,but it was from when we used to dig & had a rotorvator & hubby needed that width to make it viable. Ideally 3ft wide beds are recommended so you can reach from either side easily, & never walk on the soil.

[Candide]

Thanks folks;  very helpful

[rowlandwells]

I think the blue pipe your talking about is [MDE PIPE] polyethylene blue its in the screwfix cat 20mm /50m around £30 quid that's what we used and I found some old metal pipes to go in the blue pipe or as said bamboo will do the job

the only thing we found was when it was windy the hoops seem to fall over so I put a wooded bracing bar each end and one along the top to hold them in place and tied with string so they can be easy removed and we also put small pegs in the netting to hold it to the ground to stop the pigeons getting under the net and on the raised beds I put nails  in the wood and clipped the netting to them as I said that's how we did it

[mumofstig]

when it was windy the hoops seem to fall over so I put a wooded bracing bar each end and one along the top to hold them in place

From words to pictures 
https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=34665.msg415652#msg415652

[Growster...]

Try poking a cane in the end of each hoop, and sticking that in the ground to hold the hoops up...

(May have been mentioned before, but it's supper time...)!