Kitchen Garden Forum

I ordered some fleece and received these useful tips with the fleece, I thought it was worth sharing.
1 Advancing Crops.
Fleece provides some protection from light frosts but is most effective in excluding cold winds which can slow crops down particularly as they are establishing, we see the best results in bright cold weather. Little advance is seen in warm, humid, dull weather. Fleece also traps humidity and reduces the need for watering
Crops under fleece tend to be more even and succulent, but fleece does promote leaf growth over root growth, which can be a problem for root crops like carrots potatoes and swede.
The downside is weeds also thrive under fleece, so be prepared to remove periodically for weeding. There is also a real danger that crops can get too hot in summer so it is probably good idea to remove fleece by mid may. Fleece can again be used to protect crops from early frost in autumn.
2 Excluding Pests
Fleece gives some protection from flea beetle on salad crops and leafy brassicas. is particularly good to prevent carrot and cabbage rootfly and cabbage whites. Its no use where the pest is already in the soil eg wireworms, leatherjackets, bean seed fly and can exacerbate the problem.
3 Using your Fleece
Lay the fleece immediately after planting or sowing, you can weight down with earth but using bags of soil makes it easier to remove for weeding and harvest and to adjust the fleece as the crop grows.
4 Removing the Fleece
You can leave fleece on till harvest, but removing it a week before harvest will allow the leaves to firm up and improve eating quality and shelf life. It's important when you come to remove the fleece, to choose damp overcast, still weather, to allow the plant to adjust gently, failing this remove in the evening and water before sun is up the next day.
If you remove it on a bright, dry windy day the plant will stop growing and take a long time to recover

I assume this is different for environmesh as our carrot roots certainly don't suffer when growing under it!!

I'm a bit surprised that it claims that fleece is good for controlling carrot fly but then suggests that it is removed during mid May!!!

Yes Gallotments that was my first reaction too, but I then I guessed it could be used up to the required height as a barrier leaving the top open so as not to overheat the plants.

The only thing that I have ever found fleece useful for is overnight protection from frost.
I think that it has two big drawbacks as far as growing crops under it are concerned - it doesn't let either air or water through it very easily. It has to be removed before any watering can be done and on warm/hot days it has to be removed to prevent overheating. I would also add that it significantly reduces the light available to plants underneath and doesn't last very long as its so easily torn.
Fine mesh, eg Environmesh, has none of these problems. You can water through it easily and ventilation is good. Although its a lot more expensive it is far better for crop protection. In fact it can be kept in place for the entire life of most crops with only occasional removal for weeding and a sprinkling of slug pellets.

John

I think I have posted this before. I plant my Sweet Peas up the common cane construction then wrap them in fleece, gets them away well as it keeps the wind off. Use the same method later for the Runners as the Sweet Peas are well away by then. I also use fleece on frosty nights over stuff growing on in the cold greenhouse and for late frost protection of First Early Potatoes when they have got too big to put the cloche back over. I agree it is pretty useless for long term covering as it is too sweaty - tried it once for Carrots and the tops rotted so I made Environmesh cage.

Thank you all for your contributions, I thought it might spark discussion. Geoff, thank you I think i will try that with my runner beans this year, it might help protect from slugs too if I peg it down.
I noticed that a new finer environmesh is now available that protects against flea beetle.
http://www.garden-netting.co.uk/acatalo ... _Fine.html

The other thing with fleece is that it is soon damaged - we found especially if a nearby plot holder has a bonfire - we ended up with lots of small holes where parks had melted the fleece.

We have used the same environmesh for years.

I have used fleece successfully for getting a crop of early potatoes extra early. I wish I had done so this year, but I forgot to buy any. I agree that it is easily damaged and I expect a life of only 3 or 4 years. I like your idea, Geoff, and I'll do this with my beans if I remember.

In case you haven't worked out the structure. Normal angled cane structure about two feet (going be mixed units coming up I feel) wide at the base with stout pole at each end and tensioned top wire. When the structure is built put a binder twine string all round about three feet high - I tie to one cane, wrap round the next, half knot the next, wrap the next then tie the fifth - makes the structure more rigid. I have a roll of one metre fleece which I then wrap several times round securing it to the binder twine with clothes pegs. Then I put a few extra canes up the outside beside main canes and tie them in just above the fleece, it stops it flapping about. I sprinkle slug pellets inside the structure as the bottom of the fleece attracts them.

John wrote:The only thing that I have ever found fleece useful for is overnight protection from frost.
I think that it has two big drawbacks as far as growing crops under it are concerned - it doesn't let either air or water through it very easily. It has to be removed before any watering can be done and on warm/hot days it has to be removed to prevent overheating. I would also add that it significantly reduces the light available to plants underneath and doesn't last very long as its so easily torn.
Fine mesh, eg Environmesh, has none of these problems. You can water through it easily and ventilation is good. Although its a lot more expensive it is far better for crop protection. In fact it can be kept in place for the entire life of most crops with only occasional removal for weeding and a sprinkling of slug pellets.

John

Hi John,

I have had three rows of Eskimo carrots growing under a fleece tunnel which were sown in June. Apart from watering when the seed was sown, they have not been watered at all. They have turned out to be some of the best carrots I have ever grown. Long and clean, with no carrot fly

Geoff thank you for supplying the detail.
Parsons jack, you have inspired me to try that next year, you said tunnel, assuming you gave them space under the fleece rather than laying it over
them, so maybe the success was due to better air circulation?

Nature's Babe wrote:Geoff thank you for supplying the detail.
Parsons jack, you have inspired me to try that next year, you said tunnel, assuming you gave them space under the fleece rather than laying it over
them, so maybe the success was due to better air circulation?

Hi NB,

Yes, the fleece is 1.2 metres wide, so I made some plastic hoops for the fleece to go over. Pegged it down along each side and the ends, and left them to get on with it The leaves are touching the top of the fleece, but it hasn't been a problem.

ive found that a fleece tunnel keeps the pigeons and pheasants at bay.

I have used fleece very successfully for controling carrot root fly, aphids, frost etc. but I should point out I made the mistake of not checking the weight of my fleece this year and purchased the finer one which didn't stand for long before it was completely shredded. It pays to buy the stronger one.
Beryl.

I bought mine from here and it is lasting well.

http://www.thegardensuperstore.co.uk/ac ... leece.html

1.2 metre wide 45p per metre, 2 metre wide 72p per metre.