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Three cloches are described here, a cloche which needs only a minute or two to construct (the Quick Cloche), and two models which take longer to erect, one which needs a quarter of an hour or so to construct, and one which needs about half an hour. All are much better value than any commercial offering.
Here, two of these cloches are side by side. These cloches make use of the standard boards. A very striking illustration of the advantages of the system. Generally, the wooden boards surround the bed so that the bed is 120cm wide but we simply pulling two of them up and reinsert the stakes so that they are closer together. We then take a sheet of corrugated PVC and bend it into a semi-circle. We place this so that the boards support it. When temperatures have increased and we don't need the cloche any longer, we put the boards back to their original position.
The ideal cloche...
should be enormous, self-erecting, cost just about nothing, look stunning, withstand hurricane-force winds and last for ever. Obviously impossible - but a cloche can come much closer to the ideal than most of the existing offerings on the market.
These cloches are larger than any others which are commercially available but also very cheap to construct. These cloches have real presence. They're very practical (secure anchorage against strong winds) and very versatile. Since they are higher than other cloches, they can be used to grow crops such as bush tomatoes or courgettes in summer, at a time when cloches are usually put away, as well as for protection of crops in spring and autumn. Height can be adjusted. The cloche can be made low, so that it covers an even bigger area of land, for growing low crops such as lettuces, and all crops early in their growing period. They'll last at least ten years. And again, they're very, very cheap. The cost per year of use is minute.
Let's look in more detail at the features we should expect in a really good cloche -
Large size
Most cloches are simply too small, unrealistically small - fine for very small gardens but of only limited use in even a medium sized garden or any allotment. Fine if someone's content to protect a few lettuces or broad bean plants, or whatever, but not otherwise. If you take a close look at the specifications for most of the cloches on the market, you'll find these measurements pretty typical (a little more, a little less):
'Well known cloche:' 120cm long, 45cm wide, 25cm high
The PHD Cloche is
180cm long, 120 cm wide, 60cm high.
So, the PHD cloche covers a ground area much bigger than the 'well known cloche.' BUT, this is the area covered by the PHD cloche in its 'high' position. In its 'low' position it covers an even bigger area. The low position is used for low-growing crops such as strawberries and lettuces, and for all crops early in their growth.
High position (with cords for rock-solid stability in high winds)
Low position
Sufficient height
The height advantage is just as important. The first cloche has to be put away in summer. The PHD Cloche can be used to grow bush tomatoes and other crops that thrive in hot weather. Most bush tomato plants are 45-60 cm tall, and the PHD Cloche is tall enough to accommodate them. In fact, using a PHD Cloche has advantages for growing tomatoes. The tomato plants can be grown in soil rather than in grow-bags. If necessary, you can enrich the soil with a certain amount of (peat-free) compost. In very warm weather, tomatoes in grow-bags have to be watered every day. Tomato plants in a PHD Cloche have to be watered far less often. Natural rainfall finds its way to the ground below the cloche. The disadvantage of growing tomato plants in soil is that generally, diseases begin to develop if the same soil is used year after year. The PHD Cloche is simply moved to a new area of soil, eliminating this problem.
Versatility, adjustability
Do any of the cloches you've used, or seen advertized, allow you to adjust the height and the protected area, like the PHD cloche? Do they allow you to cover a larger area when you don't need a considerable area, and reduce the area when you do need the height - although the protected area still remains considerable?
Low cost
The well-known cloche costs 26.95 upwards. Of course, this isn't a large cloche - the prices for large cloches are generally much higher. The massive PHD Cloche costs only about 20.00 for materials. For the price comparison, I chose a cloche that's constructed from corrugated PVC, like the PHD Cloche.) There are cloches constructed with polythene which are slightly cheaper than the PHD cloche - but a lot of them cost more, and sometimes much more. Really, you have to take size into account along with price. Think of what you're paying per cubic metre of protected space - you can get an idea even if you don't do the detailed calculations. In most cases, you're paying quite a lot - the cloches aren't very cost effective at all and the pay-back time is long. Take the costs into account and those plants will be very expensive for you to grow. The PHD cloche, though, is really cost-effective.
Long lasting
Corrugated PVC lasts for at least ten years, polythene only for about three years before it has to be replaced, and that generally means replacing the whole cloche, not keeping the supports and replacing just the polythene. But before it has to be replaced, polythene begins to look more and more grubby. A cloche constructed entirely of polythene isn't a good buy at all. The PHD cloche uses polythene only to close the ends. Spare polythene sheets, already shaped, of course, are supplied. If these are kept out of the light, they'll be in very good condition and ready for use when the end sheets need replacing after three or four years.
Superb appearance
Whether you have an immaculate and beautiful garden or a working allotment, with lots of salvaged and recycled things, and perhaps a number of eyesores you'd like to get rid of, ideally, when you can find the time, the appearance of the things you buy is important. In the case of the allotment, a few really distinctive items can help to compensate for a great many dubious things. Of course, PVC sheet isn't the most pleasing of all materials - none of the materials used to make cloches are, except for glass - which, for cloches, has too many disadvantages - heavy and far too easily broken. All the same, in its humble way, a cloche can share some of the advantages of good architecture - the sweep of pleasing lines, harmonious proportions, an appearance which lifts the spirits rather than depresses them. The PVC Cloche is peaked rather than rounded, in its high position - a distinctive appearance. In its low position, the cloche looks even more distinctive, a purposive curve which will enhance any growing area.
Easy to erect and dismantle Compact when stored
The PHD Cloche is very easy to erect - it takes only a minute or two. With the corrugated sheet flat, simply push the canes provided through rings, which are large enough to make insertion completely easy. Put rubber protectors - these are supplied, of course - over the thinner ends of the canes. Bend the sheet into a curve and push the ends of the canes into the ground. The rubber protectors prevent the canes from falling out as you do this, so that the whole operation is completely straightforward. As for storage, in this climate, no cloche can be used all the way through the year. In the depths of the winter, even the PHD cloche has to be stored. It rolls up into a fairly long but otherwise very compact shape.
Excellent wind resistance
Obviously, any wind that's strong enough to blow down a tree will blow a cloche away. (During one gale I experienced, the high-tech aluminium poles of a tent I owned snapped and gave way.) Joy Larkcom has a very useful and interesting section on cloches in 'Grow your own vegetables.' She writes, "Glass cloches and brittle plastics break, and lighter cloches are easily blown away in exposed position." But the PHD Cloche will withstand very strong winds - and it's been very extensively tested. Its construction relies upon very thoughtful design rather than the brute strength of heavy components such as galvanized iron, but for added security, there are three attachment points on top for attaching unobtrusive cords, which have the same function as the guy-ropes of a tent. None of the cloches on the market, to my knowledge, have similar attachment points. In all but the most severe weather conditions, you'll find that the cloche is rock solid. In most conditions, though, these cords aren't needed at all.
Good ventilation
...when needed. Good ventilation's very important. Some of the cloches on the market are very inflexible in this regard. The polythene sheets which close the ends of the PHD Cloche can be removed in a moment, or clipped in various positions to leave the ends partly open. The whole point of a cloche is to raise the temperature inside it, of course, so that the plants have better growing conditions. If the temperature gets too high, though, the plants will be harmed or even killed and this can happen very easily. This is far more likely to happen with the small cloches on the market and far less likely to happen with the PHD Cloche, which has a much bigger volume.
The other, smaller models, are still substantial.
A second cloche
This model is lower (40cm) but longer (244cm.) This cloche is 60cm wide but the image here shows two of these cloches side by side, with a total width of 120cm. The advantage of this cloche is that it needs no construction at all. The total cost of each cloche is 10.50, with a little more for the end pieces of insulating material.
