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In summer cottages, greenhouses are often arranged with their own hands. The coating is usually made of glass, film, polycarbonate, but covering greenhouses and greenhouses with agrofibre is often more profitable and better. This new polymeric material is becoming more and more popular among our summer residents.
Material description
More than 10 years ago, people learned how to make agrofiber – a non-woven polymer material produced using spunbond technology. It is often referred to as such. It is used in construction, medicine, agriculture, it is used for the production of clothing and packaging. Such widespread use is explained by the relative cheapness of production, as well as the remarkable properties of agrofibre.
The thin structure makes it look like an ordinary canvas, very light and durable, it transmits light, water and air, does not rot, does not mold, is not toxic. Spunbond is indifferent to the effects of acids, alkalis, low or high temperatures. Such qualities are best suited for sheltering vegetable crops from the cold; farmers in European countries have long used this.
Agrofibre is so light that it is not necessary to build a frame for it, it is simply laid on the beds, pressing earth or pegs along the edges – even the most fragile plant can withstand its weight. Spunbond can be left on the seedlings for a long time, unlike the film, which will have to be removed and laid all the time (or better to pull on the frame, because its weight will break the plants). You can simply water from above – the material perfectly passes moisture, light and air to the plant.
Periodically, it will have to be removed only for weeding. And if you use several types of the same polymeric material, you can even achieve that weeds will not grow between the rows. Agrofibre is sold in large rolls. The most common width is 1,6 m or 3,2 m. Rolls can contain material from 10 m to 1500 m, which compares favorably with polyethylene film, which is difficult to find in large widths.
Video “Application of agrofibre for sheltering greenhouses and hotbeds”
Description of ways to use agrofibre to cover various types of greenhouses
Types of agrofibre
Different types of agrofibre are used in different ways in the garden and in the garden. They can protect plants from wind, hail, rain, cold, birds or insects, shade from direct sunlight, moreover, both tender seedlings and young trees or bushes. It is also successfully used for soil mulching.
Spunbond is black and white, in addition to color, it differs in density. White is used as a covering material for greenhouses, greenhouses, just beds instead of a film. It is easy to work with it, therefore it is from it that greenhouses are made with their own hands. Black, which has the effect of mulching, successfully rids the beds of weeds. The most common density is 50-60 g / m2, it does not transmit light, which means that nothing grows under it. It is often used in this way: cut in the right places, spread in the garden, sown or planted in cuts.
The canvas perfectly passes water, retains heat, but nothing grows under it without light – a wonderful way to get rid of constant weeding. This is how strawberries and wild strawberries are often grown – they ripen earlier, and the berries do not come into contact with the ground.
White agricultural cloth is produced in different density, from 15 g/m2 to 120 g/m2. Thin, with a density of 15 g/m2, 17 g/m2, 23 g/m2 are usually used when growing early greens or vegetables. They cover the vegetation on the beds or inside the greenhouses (arrange mini-greenhouses) from frost to -4o, from snow, rain or hail, sunburn, pests.
With a canvas with a density of 30 g / m2, in addition to the beds, you can still cover trees and shrubs from frosts down to -6o, or you can use it for the manufacture of greenhouses. To make a greenhouse with your own hands, it is better to take not a film, but an agricultural canvas with a density of 42 g / m2 or even 55 g / m2. It is able to maintain a comfortable temperature inside in frosts up to 10 degrees; in more severe frosts, it is recommended to make another covering layer from a less dense agricultural canvas. It does not collect condensate, unlike the film, it transmits sunlight and air better.
Another indisputable plus of its operation is durability. If you cover the bed with seedlings with a film, remove it for watering, ventilating, weeding, then lay it again, it will last for 1 season, and the polymer sheet does not need to be removed so often, after use it is dried and stored in a dark, dry room away from rodents. Thus, it can work for at least 3 seasons.
Cellular polycarbonate
Cellular polycarbonate is a modern plastic with a cellular structure. It is durable, resistant to aggressive environments, incredibly light due to its cellular structure, and is produced by the manufacturer in sheets of various colors. Like thin spunbond, it can transmit 90% of the light. Manufacturers produce a product of different light transmission: from transparent to tinted in different shades. It is produced separately for indoor and outdoor use, so for outdoor use, the sheets are covered on both sides with a film impermeable to ultraviolet rays.
Polycarbonate does not burn, is indifferent to most chemicals, steadfastly resists mechanical stress at any temperature, perfectly saves heat. A polycarbonate roof cannot be penetrated by the largest hail. And if you still manage to break it, it will not shatter into fragments, like glass. In addition, it has flexibility without heating (you can simply bend it with an arc with your hands), low weight, and sound insulation. These qualities have made it very popular in construction.
How to use
Cellular polycarbonate was launched into wide industrial production in 1960. Immediately he gained immense popularity in medicine, design, construction. Craftsmen loved to work with him with their own hands, so he quickly became a popular building material in summer cottages. This straight solid material bends easily at any temperature, so semicircular hangars, canopies over doors or balconies, greenhouses and greenhouses made of agrofibre are often made from it.
Transparent roofs, awnings, suspended ceilings with diffused light, lighting fixtures, partitions, fences, pools, doors are made from it. Polycarbonate is widely used in agriculture. Winter gardens, greenhouses and greenhouses have recently been made from it, and the owners often make them with their own hands.
Summer residents use polycarbonate greenhouses stationary on a foundation for growing plants all year round, they make light portable ones without a foundation in order to close the seedlings for a short time. You can buy them, but many prefer to make them yourself. Polycarbonate, thanks to a happy combination of its qualities, has become the golden mean between film and glass.
Video “Agrofibre stretching in a greenhouse”
The process of proper use of agrofibre in a greenhouse to shelter young seedlings
