Well, my seedling tables are reaching overflowing levels
so I decided it's time to expand the grasshopper-free growing areas. The old tables are from my hydroponic farm and I've been using them with 1/4" of water and a capillary mat to hold the seedling trays and small potted transplants so I don't have to worry about any drying out. I decided that I (and the Neps) like the system so much that I am incorporating it in the new growing-on area as well. It's really nice to be able to go away a few days and know they won't be shriveled up when I return. I could have used a plastic sheet on the ground and saved on the cement and work but I didn't have a piece wide enough to do it in one sheet...and I was in a hurry to get this done in a day!
This will just be a small structure to test out the idea for a few weeks, if all goes well we will expand into numerous units.
The bottom and sides of the new shade house are coated with a thin layer of plasticized cement to hold water and the entire floor slopes just slightly to a drain for cleaning. There's vertical steel reinforcing bar rods running 50 cm into the ground and 75 cm above, spaced every 2 block along the sides. The PVC pipes are set on top of the rods. Tomorrow I'll attach perlins (rods running the length of the space) joining all the PVC pipes to give more rigidity) and cover the whole thing in shade cloth, install the capillary matting and move the overcrowded small pots into their new home!
I'll post again when everybody gets settled in.