Shade cloth

The hot days over the weekend, when the temperature went into the mid-thirties, saw us put up some shade cloth over the first and second patch. The shade provides 75% protection from the sun although it looks rather light. We cut the cloth into two equal pieces of 2x3m.

On the first patch we used bamboo stakes to tie it on and hold it in place. Not very professional but very cheap and we feel it does the job and gives the plants some much appreciated shade.

Into the second patch we transported the old swing set frame that is no longer used  by my children. The shade cloth is stuck on top of the frame and attached to the fence with bull clips. These clips are small ones but they are strong enough to hold it in place.

This morning the shade cloth in the second patch was down. Two clips had come off the fence. I believe that it was the cat who probably jumped on it last night. The cat usually lives indoors at night time but did not come home yesterday and I found some scratching among the straw in the patch. I put the shade cloth up again this morning. The clips were intact. The seabreeze today will give it another test. The shade cloth did well in the wind yesterday, just perfect to protect the plants from the strong midday sun.

On the right side of the picture you can see a very special construction by my good friend Dick. He invented this frame to be used for tomatoes or climbing beans. It has four long wooden stakes connected with an old watering hose in five parts. The hose is stabilised by wire, the wire is isolated by the rubber hose so the plants do not cook on the frame. I have tried growing tomatoes on it several times, worked very well indeed. thank you again to Dick.

This time I have spotted some wines on the rockmelon plants. I want to try growing the rockmelons in the vertical, the first tentacles took hold. Lets see what happens. Unfortunately I planted the rockmelons too close to the pumpkins and they are competing for space now. I guess it will only come to the crunch once the fruit gets bigger. Might need a nifty construction to suport the melons while they get heavier.