Hi When I cant find any thing to fit what I want to do I usually get fishing line and a big needle and sew it, but being plastic that could cause a problem with tearing. What about those ties that look like braclets and they click as they go along these groves and you cant take them backwards. I use the electrical ones to tie my standard roses to the stakes when I first get them, but they do not last long probably not UV treated but I am sure they would have gardening ties like that.

What about the thin wire ties with the plastic on them, trouble is with all ties you would have to put a hole in the plastic so maybe not such a good idea, sorry I dont know what else to suggest but I am sure someone will come up with something. Cheers...MM

Hi, depends what you are going to grow under the plastic, if its ordinary plastic i would give it a miss. when the sun hits it and the UV disapears the plastic will go brittle and fall apart. But! there is a plastic that has a fishing line inbedded in it, it is sold by the meter and very easy to join together you can use the sewing method without a problem or you could use some three inch nails to hold it into place. the other plastic will probably last about 2 weeks before colapsing this other plastic u can get at Bunnings etc will last a very long time and is cheap.

goldhills, what size is your gal pipe? Perhaps we can come up with an inexpensive alternative for your original idea?!

Thanks for your help.

I am using a heavy duty plastic which is supposed to last a few months - long enough for what I need at the moment. Hopefully by next winter I will have a bigger and better one done with uv plastic but that has to wait. I plan on putting 30% shadecloth on the roof over the plastic to cut the sun down when it gets hotter.

As it is only a temporary one I don't want to go to any great expense so am trying to do it with what we have lying around (there's always plenty of junk around here!)or something cheap.

I've thought about the plastic ties and fencing clips (maspro clips) but I wanted to avoid putting holes in the plastic. The only thing I can think of is using small pieces of polypipe cut into semi-circles and used like a washer with screws.

The gal pipe is about 2.5cm (1 inch) and the poly we have is 3.5cm - I had to actually measure it to the disgust of my welder husband - as he uses steel everyday (makes horse floats and trailers) he only needs to glance at it to tell the size.

I prefer to work with wood, I hate working with metal that's why I don't really want to screw into the gal pipe - I always have trouble with it so have to wait for the other half to do it (all you girls out there would know what it's like waiting for "the man" to do something!).

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

take lengths of pvc pipe with inside diameter same as (or a bit larger) the outside diameter of galv pipe. do some trials on short lenghts of pvc pipe first. cut through length of pvc pipe on one side only. then cut through diameter of pvc pipe into say 25mm lengths. place your plastic over your galv pipe frame. hang the plastic sheet (vertically is easier, same as wallpaper) then use the pvc clips you've made to clip the plastic sheet to the frame.

goldhills, I don't reckon your welder hubby would have given us the measurement in cm either, but what he doesn't know .....

You clearly had the right idea in the first place, simply the wrong sized clips to do the job. You have a couple of great recycling centres there in Gympie, so it should cost very little to get the pipe to do what Kombi said.

I think I'll have to go get some pvc or similar to fit the pipe. Just trying to get out of buying anything as there is so many odds and ends lying behind the shed I was hoping that I could have used some of that or I could just bite the bullet and get the other half to do something (and never hear the end of it!)

reduce, reuse, recycle. source your pvc pipe from say offcuts on building sites, ask first, i've never been refused, costs the builders big to dispose of waste. check out your local council waste recycling centre, salvage yards.

Hi Goldhills. I have a Galvanised pipe frame that I covered with chicken wire and just wired it to the frame. Then I put some decent plastic over that and then covered it with 50% shade cloth. ItÂs been like that for the last 10 years and its been a darn good servant to me and my Hard cane Dendrobium orchids. Happy fixing and growing. joe

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Update on greenhouse - Well I got it finished. I used pieces of polypipe with slits in it and pushed over the frame. The poly was a bit big but I wrapped/padded it first to make a tighter fit and around the bottom I got the better half to put a couple of screws through the poly. I had it all set up so all he had to do was put the screws in - got done that way!

It's not great to look at but it will do the job until I get around to the bigger one.

Joe, I was thinking about using wire netting but didn't have enough left.

I mainly plan on using it to start seeds and cuttings off so prefer not to use shadecloth unless the weather gets too hot, I have both 30% and 50% so will use the most appropriate.

If I have the seeds in the open they dry out too fast and dogs, cats, birds, etc get to them. I even suspect a bandicoot is taking some, as seeds are being dug out of punnets and disappearing overnight. I know one is coming in at night and digging holes over the yard but I don't know if bandicoots take seeds, I thought they only ate insects. It maybe rats taking the seeds but don't know if they actually dig them out, but the greenhouse won't keep them out anyway.

Anyway thanks again and happy gardening.