[Jamie_D]

 

Hello everyone. I am new to the site (intro at: http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=95704.0) if you want more information.

Anyway, our cabbages and cauliflowers have been pretty much massacred the last two days - only the stalks and very jagged and odd-bits of leaves remain. I have done some investigating online and i suspect it was wood pigeons (the abundance of bird poo last night especially, after 80% of these crops had gone in a day!) sounds as though it was.

It's a bit 'shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted', but we are going to get some netting. What sort is best (in laymen's terms? - i'm new to this). I've read lots already on the boards and have taken in good tips on how to weigh the netting down.

I think the order in which we have planted stuff means that covering the whole plot will negatively affect other stuff. Off the top of my head, we have (all in rows) sunflowers, peas, spring onions, masscared cabbages, radishes, carrots, swede (at seed) massacred cauliflower, rocket (seedlings), lettuce (at seed), beetroot (at seed), then the last row split into three, with flowers, strawberries and chives (seedlings).

We did this in order that the smaller things would not be dwarved as big things got big, however having read up now on wood pigeons, i can see it will be more problematic.

As the cabbages / cauliflowers are pretty much all stalks now, are we best just starting again? What sort of netting would you recommend and how to best apply it? (ie. cover specific things / everything / plant pigeon-targets all together and cover them all together?)

Thank you for any help - hope i've made some sense. I can try and post a picture if not?

Jamie

[Rampant_Weasel]

you need netting with small holes as when the pigeons have had their fill then the butterflys will lay eggs and they will also be decimated by caterpillars.
cant remember the exact size of hole think it may be 7 x 7mm or you could use scaffolders debris netting.

[mumofstig]

None of that lot will mind be covered with fine net, except for the strawberries. That needs netting with larger holes so the that insects can get in and pollinate but will keep the birds out.

Debris netting or any sort with 7mm holes or less will be fine, there is quite a selection out there.

You can use canes/sticks with pop bottles on the top to support the netting or make a more permanent wooden cage , or use waterpipe.
Ideas here

[Plot74]

I put 4ft canes in the ground around the plants with small drinks bottles on top of the canes for support the netting just sits on the top then peg the. Sides down.. This makes it easy to remove or fold it back to get in to weed or harvest . I net all but potatoe onions garlic and leeks.
The cabbages should come back not sure about anything else . One other thing I do is plant the larger crops and leave a boarder for the smaller plante along the edges then you only have to lift the edge of the netting to get at it .
Hope this helps good luck.
John

[Jamie_D]

Presumably the netting will still allow sunlight in and rainwater through? The latter isn't a problem particularly, as we regularly water it. Our plot is 247x142cm in size so is not too big so probably don't need to construct anything too hefty.

Where can i pick up debris netting and what size would suffice for what i'd need to do? 

Thanks for your replies

[Raven50]

We use builder's netting for our brassicas, but the blue net, not the dark green - the green is too thick and cuts out too much light. We make a fairly sturdy, though still temporary, frame on a different bed each year, and weigh down the 'hem' with bricks. This will keep out both pigeons and butterflies, while allowing enough light and water through. We are plagued by pigeons, and can't leave any brassica uncovered. They'll also have the peas, shred the sweetcorn leaves and have a go at the runner/french beans when they are small! We've tried everything from scarecrows to compact discs suspended above the bed, but nothing except full coverage has worked. As your plants are mixed on the bed, for this year I'd recommend that you use white fleece to cover your cabbages and caulis, which should keep the pigeons off until other things can grow and hide them. You can leave the fleece on all growing season if necessary, just check the watering.

[Stevens706]

Just search for debris netting on ebay, that's where I got mine. It comes in different widths and lengths so you wil need to work out how much you need.
I cover Cabbages, Cauli's, Brussels and Broccoli (basically brassicas) against pigeons and cabbage white,
I fleece carrots against root fly.
The rest are left in the open.

[Jamie_D]

So 'blue' is best in terms of colour? Anyone want to champion any other colours?

How about for strawberries? Quite looking forward to a bit of urban DIY - i can be quite creative when the mood takes me. PLUS, i've no real idea what i will be aiming to achieve - i have seen pics on other threads but as a novice they are just pipe-dreams!

Thankfully it is chucking it down in Leeds today, so that should've put them off.

Are there any physical shops that do debris netting too / either? Don't think i will be able to get any by the weekend online now?

[RichardA]

so I can spot mine easily on the shelf I use different colours for diff widths of netting - green is 2 metres wide debris net, blue is 3 metres wide debris net, black is 4 metres wide debris net and so on. Anything grey is enviromesh whilst the white will be fleece etc
R

[mumofstig]

I bought the green one and it works just fine - apart from the colour, it doesn't seem any different to my neighbour's blue

[allot2learn]

I bought the black one just to be different from all our other plot holders but, you can hardly see it from more than about 30 feet away.

[gremlin]

Are there any physical shops that do debris netting too / either? Don't think i will be able to get any by the weekend online now?

Builders merchants will sell it, but generally in 100m rolls or such like and that's way too much.
As a quick fix  I suggest you get some cheepo bird netting a garden centre, B&Q etc, and then look on line for the the stuff you want-  fleece, net, 7mm anti-butterfly, 20mm anti-small bird or 50mm anti-pigeon net.

[Raven50]

The blue netting is lighter and finer - aesthetic qualities aside   

As for things like strawberries, they are a different proposition as they need to be accessible to insect pollinators, so pea/bean netting from the pound shop is good enough, if a bit difficult to unravel and stretch out...

[angelavdavis]

Unlike many on here, I never seem to be able to get anything for nothing - nobody gives away debris netting down here, it is all sold and not for much less than you would purchase horticultural mesh for!  As has been mentioned on here, our local building suppliers sells debris netting for £80 for 80m but it is a bit too much quantity and cost for me anyway!

So, I invested in environmesh for my plot, having played around with other netting types and found that cabbage white butterflies had managed to get through somehow.  I use this for almost everything - pigeons, smaller birds, wind protection, cabbage whites, etc.  

I am on my third season with the environmesh and it is guaranteed for ten years.  I bought about 30m total, and covered two HM cloches same length but 1 short, 1 taller (wooden frame, with blue water pipe hoops and mesh stapled over.  I used these at home before moving them to the allotment.  I also have some loose mesh which I use over hoops for tailor made structures as I need them (easier to store and enough to cover two beds easily).

I then use Poundshop pea netting (as mentioned by Raven50 below) for my strawberries and then reuse it for peas to climb.  This is put over canes with pots over the top to hold the netting.

There are various threads giving bird protection ideas on the design and construction board on here http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?board=10.0.

[GrannieAnnie]

I ordered black as I thought it would be less noticable, but they sent this lighter green.  Didn't bother to return it, just told the company and they said I can have 10% off my next order!  Which will be probably never as this net will last me a while.

The brassicas love it though!  Photo's taken 2 weeks ago, but brassicas twice the size now!