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Alex, IN

What is the best wind break I can use for my pumpkins? My patch is in a very windy spot.

I can get the black silt fence, orange construction fence, and clear plastic. If you have used any of them how did they work and how much did they cost?(I only have about $100 to block 200 feet.

Thanks,
Mikkal

1/15/2005 9:03:22 PM

[email protected]

That black silt fencing is available at Home Depot in 100' rolls with oak stakes attached for about $20. I find the need to drive several additional stake in occasionally. But in the moderate wind here these work fine & for the money are hard to beat.

1/15/2005 9:49:03 PM

South Harrison , N.J.

how tall is the black silt fencing? I have a wind problem also. thanks Willis

1/15/2005 11:00:42 PM

Alex, IN

The stuff I can get is 3 feet tall with stakes every 10 feet.

Mikkal

1/15/2005 11:02:24 PM

you could plant a few rows of corn. then you could use your money to buy a little fencing to put up until the corn got tall enough.

1/15/2005 11:23:05 PM

Deer Park, WI

ah ye old wind question...I used the orange snow fencing last year and it did a fairly decent job of slowing the wind....about 5-10 feet beyond the edge of the fence that is.

This year I shall erect 8 foot posts on the western edge of the patch and stretch 6mil poly betwixt the posts. Thus creating and sunlight-permeable wind barrier.

1/15/2005 11:24:49 PM

Brillion Wisconsin

The black silt fencing is stuff good. I bought some that was around 20 inches high(it worked good). Then I found some that was around 3 feet high(it worked better).

Buy a few 2x2's and make a some additional stakes like Steve said, you will need them.

I have used 4 x 8 sheets of plywood in particular windy areas.

Blocking the wind is a major part of this sport/hobby and everyone seems to have their own method. Inventing you own system is a big part of it...be creative and have fun!

1/16/2005 12:19:00 AM

Alex, IN

Thanks Everyone!

Mikkal

1/16/2005 8:01:13 AM

Paradise Mountain, New York

Try going to your local lumber mill and buying the cover sheets that come with the metal roofing that are mostly put on barn roofs. I bought my Hunter Green ones for $5.00 per sheet. Some are 18 foot long. But most where 12 and 14 footers.

1/16/2005 8:33:40 AM

Hamburg, NY

Try growing a row of sunflowers or corn as a wind break. Worked great for me and cost little. Creates an ideal micro-climate and looks nice too! www.atlanticgiant.com

Ray

1/16/2005 9:25:57 AM

Montoursville, PA

The seed catalogs are out in full force. I use Broom Corn and Sorgum. A hundred feet might cost ten dollars. The birds love it when it goes to seed. Your local craftsmen will use the Broom Corn or you may be able to sell the seedheads of both plants to a local florist. Last year I mixed in a few Sunflowers. Liked that although the wind knocked down a couple of Sunflowers. It was easy maintenance with a heavy straw mulch over all as the seedlings got about eight inches tall.

I planted my fence just as wide as one pass of the tiller.

1/16/2005 9:41:02 AM

[email protected]

Nothing pleases the eye like Tall Corn or Giant Sunflowers (or both). But if space, time & budget don't permit, then keep an eye out for commercial & residential building construction sites. Often times there is ample construction related waste that would otherwise end up in a costly dumpster. The Boss contractors are usually around the site early in the work week organizing their guys. Many would welcome the chance to unload scrap 2x4s & partial sheets of plywood or plastic sheathing. Look around.

1/16/2005 11:34:09 AM

Taber, Alberta

My problem is the wind in the spring and fall can be quite strong. Planting corn or sunflowers would still leave the plants exposed until they got tall enough to do some good. My farm patch already had a fence and it helps a great deal when the winds come from the west (which is 90% of the time)

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=26377

Tremor is right about scrap and leftover materials. I think you'd be amazed how much you could scrounge if you just look in the right places. I needed some fence boards to walk in for my patch and I just asked a few guys at work. I had much more than I needed and it was all for free.
Alan

I just re-read Mikkal's post. 200 feet? Geez with my idea, that would be one big fence LOL.

1/16/2005 12:11:47 PM

No Place Special

I think a wind break is a must. Last yr I planted sweet corn around the perimiter but decided it wasn't growing fast enough to protect me from spring and early summer winds. I then erected a 6 mil plastic fence about 5' tall in addition to the corn. This yr im doing a 6' fence with corn again, maybe the tall corn. I am confident I would have never seen 1000 lbs without the wind break.

1/16/2005 3:27:36 PM

[email protected]

Then there's always the Great Wall of Nesbitt.

1/16/2005 5:28:57 PM

C N Y

or the nearly-great wall of Gerry. i do not think it will be cheap enough, but my windbreak in '04 was 8 feet high,
20 feet wide and there were 3 sections of this size around
my 950.4 Boyton. each section was 20 feet long, using
2" X 3" X 8' long, cheap building boards from Chase-Pitkin along the top and bottom, the last piece being 4 feet long (8 + 8 + 4 = 20),
hitched together with 2-foot pieces of the same
stock dimensions and 3-inch, square-drive deck screws.
a lot of them, lol! the uprights were 2 X 3 X 8s again,
every five feet as i recall. i assembled these frames (3)
each on the garage floor, dragged them out into the patch and propped them each up with one 2 X 3 X 8' until i could get another one out there to attach it to.
i could have started a HOUSE had i really wanted to!
anyway, the frames each had a 2 X 3 X 8 attached to a 2'- long, pointed 2 X 3 X 2' that was driven into the ground as an anchor-point (about 8 feet out from the bottom of the frame) for the diagonals, the key supports! each diagonal was attached at about the 6-foot mark; this was utilized on the #2 and #4 uprights of each 20'-wide section. the sections were attached heavily at the corner and the top ends with 2-foot pieces of 2 x 3 x 2'...the bottoms of the frames were attached to the ground by driving pointed, 2' long, 2 x 3 x 2's into the ground at the same uprights that had the diagonal supports/struts, and attached to them with 3" deck screws. the finished product was a giant L-shaped windbreak, 8' high by 20 wide facing the wind directly, and along the side was 40 feet long by 8 feet high, just the right size for one AG plant. and no sleepless nights about it! i have to make a lot more of these for my upcoming

1/17/2005 5:29:48 PM

C N Y

MONSTER patch....never did get the plastic on the third section....just a frame in the wind! lol...next time....

what about the PLASTIC???? 4-mil (which, i do believe, translates to 4-thousandths of an inch thick) i found to be very adequate, for about 25 bucks for a 10' X 100' roll.
up over the top and let it hang and staple the heck out of it, being sure to roll up the ends of it (the piece would be 10' X about 22') and staple this "roll" as far around the boards as possible! this will prevent it from tearing away AT the staples.

i did it another weigh, but that'll be in the diary, with pics....

last but not least, i drilled holes all along the uprights, i think they were 2 feet apart starting from the top, but beginning at about 1 foot from the top. so, 1-foot, 3 foot-
5, 7. from the top. each upright, including the end pieces.
through these holes i strung polypropylene cord,
($1.92 per 225 foot roll) RATHER, but not REALLY, tightly, from one end of the frame to the other, securing
each strand via a nail on each end, at each end piece.
this forms a web that will NOT allow the plastic to be blown-through the spaces between the uprights.
and into your 845. or 810 Dill. yeeouch!

i'll be here all day describing the utilization of the
plastic....i should get going again on my diary!
with some 1000-words-per pictures!
more as time permits, but in my diary...........eric

1/17/2005 5:30:04 PM