That looks brilliant, Finch. I'm sure it was effective
The netting (just the roof will do) needs to come off as soon as the last of the fruit has been harvested. This is not only to prevent snow damage during the winter but also to let the birds in to eat the caterpillars, aphids etc. Put it on again early next summer, of course, when the fruit forms but before it ripens.
When I was a kid my dad had a big fruit cage with plastic netting (in London) and I remember the roof of it fell in when it snowed it one winter.
These days his fruit cages are much more elaborate, I think the smallest timbers are 2x2 fence posts! Instead of plastic netting he uses steel mesh 'aviary' wire - it is designed to keep small birds in so works just as well keeping them out. My sister decided to keep budgies a while back which is where the discovery of aviary wire came from.
The only problems with my dads approach to fruit cages are:
a) it's a permanent structure
b) it looks kind of a like a POW camp
So far I've used plastic netting to make small temporary cages over my strawberries and raspberries but it's a pain getting in to harvest, next year I will need to make something a decent height with a door.....
Anyway, birds are the least of my problems!
I opted to try plastic 'mulch' (it seems to wrong to call it that) for the strawberries this year so in order to be able to water effectively I installed a dripper system first. Finally got round to taking the net and plastic sheeting off the strawberriy bed and within a couple of days some moggy had found a bare space between the plants and started digging, scattering my dripper system at the same time. On with the chicken wire frame again then - I thought I wouldn't need that now the plants are mature and cover the bed pretty well.
But far more destructive to the fruit this year has been the wind. Last year I actually thought to pick the elderberries off my tree and got quite a nice crop, this year the wind has pretty much stripped it bare before they even ripened. It wasn't birds, no purple signatures, and the branches in deep cover that don't move as much in the wind still have some.
My Husband made me a fruit cage from planks of shiplap and 1x2batons for the allotment last year = cost about £80 including a 2.5ltr pot of wood paint. We bought the netting from a local garden centre as it was a lot cheaper by the metre, stood up to the rubbish winter storms we had.
I made a 6 by 2 mtr fruit cage from bamboo poles and after its first season it looked a right mess. I then replaced the bamboo with treated and painted 1 by 2, only for two of the uprights and one cross member to snap off in high winds (the net meshing acts like sails! and my plot is at the top of a rise - not ideal) I have re-enforced the uprights and done away with the cross members but the netting is coming off for the winter, just to make sure it survives.
The good thing is that I have not lost single berry or currant this year and the bees can pop in and out at will.
I have a peach tree and the squirrels are taking the fruit in the first year of it fruiting.I was so upset after caring for it and overjoyed when it fruited. What sort of cover can I get to stop them taking fruit? No good putting netting as they will chew through it.
I though of getting some poles and putting wire mesh all round and over!! Can I buy anything for a cover??
We have had some vicious winds of late which have shreaded my poly tunnel and left my fruitcage uprights listing, so I have taken it down. I shall place posts around the plants (fortunately all in one line) then cover them with netting once they start fruiting. I have purchased a new cover for the poly tunnel at a good price (Charles Direct), one of those green nylon things which never last, so it will do for this year whilst I organise something more robust.
Bob - While doing a general search (new to the site) I came across your PVC overflow pipe idea. This sounds like a real option for me. I'm looking to make a door to my cage but have been unable so far to source 16mm parts without either expensive metal stakes or hefty p&p! Fingers crossed - though how I will hinge these to my 16mm frame is another issue!
I have a large fruit cage 6 metres by 6 meters. I have already bought the netting to cover it and wanted to ask as I have purchased a fine netting for birds not to get in should I leave a couple of sections loose so I can roll them up to allow bees in to pollinate. But then I can drop them when I leave the allotment so the birds don't get in.
Posts
That looks brilliant, Finch. I'm sure it was effective
The netting (just the roof will do) needs to come off as soon as the last of the fruit has been harvested. This is not only to prevent snow damage during the winter but also to let the birds in to eat the caterpillars, aphids etc. Put it on again early next summer, of course, when the fruit forms but before it ripens.
Some interesting ideas here.
When I was a kid my dad had a big fruit cage with plastic netting (in London) and I remember the roof of it fell in when it snowed it one winter.
These days his fruit cages are much more elaborate, I think the smallest timbers are 2x2 fence posts! Instead of plastic netting he uses steel mesh 'aviary' wire - it is designed to keep small birds in so works just as well keeping them out. My sister decided to keep budgies a while back which is where the discovery of aviary wire came from.
The only problems with my dads approach to fruit cages are:
a) it's a permanent structure
b) it looks kind of a like a POW camp
So far I've used plastic netting to make small temporary cages over my strawberries and raspberries but it's a pain getting in to harvest, next year I will need to make something a decent height with a door.....
Anyway, birds are the least of my problems!
I opted to try plastic 'mulch' (it seems to wrong to call it that) for the strawberries this year so in order to be able to water effectively I installed a dripper system first. Finally got round to taking the net and plastic sheeting off the strawberriy bed and within a couple of days some moggy had found a bare space between the plants and started digging, scattering my dripper system at the same time. On with the chicken wire frame again then - I thought I wouldn't need that now the plants are mature and cover the bed pretty well.
But far more destructive to the fruit this year has been the wind. Last year I actually thought to pick the elderberries off my tree and got quite a nice crop, this year the wind has pretty much stripped it bare before they even ripened. It wasn't birds, no purple signatures, and the branches in deep cover that don't move as much in the wind still have some.
My Husband made me a fruit cage from planks of shiplap and 1x2batons for the allotment last year = cost about £80 including a 2.5ltr pot of wood paint. We bought the netting from a local garden centre as it was a lot cheaper by the metre, stood up to the rubbish winter storms we had.
I made a 6 by 2 mtr fruit cage from bamboo poles and after its first season it looked a right mess. I then replaced the bamboo with treated and painted 1 by 2, only for two of the uprights and one cross member to snap off in high winds (the net meshing acts like sails! and my plot is at the top of a rise - not ideal) I have re-enforced the uprights and done away with the cross members but the netting is coming off for the winter, just to make sure it survives.
The good thing is that I have not lost single berry or currant this year and the bees can pop in and out at will.
I have a peach tree and the squirrels are taking the fruit in the first year of it fruiting.I was so upset after caring for it and overjoyed when it fruited. What sort of cover can I get to stop them taking fruit? No good putting netting as they will chew through it.
I though of getting some poles and putting wire mesh all round and over!! Can I buy anything for a cover??
Ametal netting cage they can't chew or slip through. See boater's post on aviary wire.
An air rifle is good for squirrels.
We have had some vicious winds of late which have shreaded my poly tunnel and left my fruitcage uprights listing, so I have taken it down. I shall place posts around the plants (fortunately all in one line) then cover them with netting once they start fruiting. I have purchased a new cover for the poly tunnel at a good price (Charles Direct), one of those green nylon things which never last, so it will do for this year whilst I organise something more robust.
Bob - While doing a general search (new to the site) I came across your PVC overflow pipe idea. This sounds like a real option for me. I'm looking to make a door to my cage but have been unable so far to source 16mm parts without either expensive metal stakes or hefty p&p! Fingers crossed - though how I will hinge these to my 16mm frame is another issue!
I have a large fruit cage 6 metres by 6 meters. I have already bought the netting to cover it and wanted to ask as I have purchased a fine netting for birds not to get in should I leave a couple of sections loose so I can roll them up to allow bees in to pollinate. But then I can drop them when I leave the allotment so the birds don't get in.