Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Using wire for frost cloth hoops? Need advice

GoDawgs · February 12, 2021

I currently use 1/2" irrigation pipe to support frost cloth and netting over my 4' wide beds but I want something that will be useful to run down all or just part of a row on one side of a bed. I see some wire hoops (with accompanying covering) being sold for this purpose in some seed catalogs but I can most likely buy the wire around here and cut it myself with my bolt cutter for less money.

Do any of you use these? If so, what gauge wire is it? I realize the length of wire needed for a hoop will vary according to height of hoop, how far in the ground the ends are pushed and how wide it spreads, but does anyone have a general rule of thumb? I just want to buy a bit for testing purposes so I can cover a few things without setting up the whole bed with my current set-up.

Thanks in advance for any input!

February 12, 2021	#1
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	Using wire for frost cloth hoops? Need advice I currently use 1/2" irrigation pipe to support frost cloth and netting over my 4' wide beds but I want something that will be useful to run down all or just part of a row on one side of a bed. I see some wire hoops (with accompanying covering) being sold for this purpose in some seed catalogs but I can most likely buy the wire around here and cut it myself with my bolt cutter for less money. Do any of you use these? If so, what gauge wire is it? I realize the length of wire needed for a hoop will vary according to height of hoop, how far in the ground the ends are pushed and how wide it spreads, but does anyone have a general rule of thumb? I just want to buy a bit for testing purposes so I can cover a few things without setting up the whole bed with my current set-up. Thanks in advance for any input!