bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - McGyver'ed Cold Frame...good Idea?

I built a very inexpensive shelter using 1 inch PVC pipe and the heavy duty opaque building plastic sheeting that construction sites use to close in window and door areas before. I built it so it has two sides, a back, and a top (which is at a 45 degree angle so snow slides off). It has no bottom or front, so it allows plenty of air circulation and also lets me put a bunch of mulch under it for insulating and burying the pots.

Using PVC as the frame is very easy to work with and incredibly cheap (10 feet is like 2 dollars). I'm an apartment dweller in Ohio, and this frame worked fantastic for my trees last winter. I put a loose piece of the plastic sheeting up to cover 3/4 of the front when the weather was getting to 20 below.

18-Jul-2004	#4
W3rdSmyth bonsaiTALK Craftsman Join Date: Jul-2004 Location: Ohio Country: USA USDA Zone: 6 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 81	I built a very inexpensive shelter using 1 inch PVC pipe and the heavy duty opaque building plastic sheeting that construction sites use to close in window and door areas before. I built it so it has two sides, a back, and a top (which is at a 45 degree angle so snow slides off). It has no bottom or front, so it allows plenty of air circulation and also lets me put a bunch of mulch under it for insulating and burying the pots. Using PVC as the frame is very easy to work with and incredibly cheap (10 feet is like 2 dollars). I'm an apartment dweller in Ohio, and this frame worked fantastic for my trees last winter. I put a loose piece of the plastic sheeting up to cover 3/4 of the front when the weather was getting to 20 below.