Material
Commercially available row cover is usually a lightweight synthetic, such as clear plastic (polyethylene) or spunbonded polyester. It is placed directly above rows of crops on a supporting framework—often, on wire hoops to form a low tunnel—and usually left in place for several weeks until crops are well-established.
Floating row cover is extremely lightweight row cover fabric that can be placed directly over plants, without need for a supporting framework, instead being simply anchored to the ground against wind.
Another form of light weight row cover is made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and is a knitted fabric. It is strong and the manufacturer claims a life of 8 years. It is designed with a low shading effect (16%) and allows natural air flow and rain and water penetration. It also protects from light frosts, strong winds and hail. It is used on low tunnels. It comes in a variety of widths and lengths.
A protective tunnel formed with row cover is sometimes called a cloche. More often, a cloche, or bell jar, refers to a covering made of glass or plastic, placed over individual plants to provide similar protection as row cover.
Read more about this topic: Row Cover
Famous quotes containing the word material:
“We must accept or refuse one another as we are. I could tame a hyena more easily than my Friend. He is a material which no tool of mine will work.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Style [is] the hallmark of a temperament stamped on the material in hand.”
—André Maurois (1885–1967)
“Measured by any standard known to science—by horse-power, calories, volts, mass in any shape,—the tension and vibration and volume and so-called progression of society were full a thousand times greater in 1900 than in 1800;Mthe force had doubled ten times over, and the speed, when measured by electrical standards as in telegraphy, approached infinity, and had annihilated both space and time. No law of material movement applied to it.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)