I figured i would start a new post to illustrate this weekends project. With the help of Brandon, we did it in about a day and a half. Couldn't have done it without his help, and many thanks. .....
This project began in a rush, without much planning, as a cold front is making its way to S. Fla Monday night. When I planted this tree, I knew the risks and I told myself I wouldn't try to protect it from our occasional winter cool blasts. But, this tree has almost rudely had a way of changing my idea of just letting it be when it decided to pop out 5 fruit in January. Go figure.
Anyway, here is what we did:
I decided on using wood to frame out the structure. I knew going into the build that wood is not exactly a long lived material here in S. Florida. I thought about using steel fence posts used in chain link fences, but realized the cost was about 3x that of wood. Brandon discussed with me using steel conduit, which seemed like a reasonable idea. I ended using wood because I figured I would have and easier time fastening the plastic sheeting to the wood. Using wood definately may have been a mistake as far as longevity is concerned, I'll find out soon enough.
Posts, I used 4x4's, in 8 foot length. We dug post holes, and concreted in the 4x4's. Height was extended with 2x4's, mounted on metal brackets, adding about 3 feet of height. We set out a 8x12 area around the tree, and after the posts set, built up the rest of the structure.
The posts and framing took up a good bit of time. The cost for all materials including concrete, screws, etc was about 100$
On day # 2, I went back to home depot and purchased some 6 mil plastic sheeting. This is not the UV protected kind, but I had to use what was available. We cut the sheeting, and attached the two long sides in a semi-permanent fashion. I intend on leaving the two long sides up until march or so. The smaller sides we cut the plastic to size and attached it on the top of the structure. The rest of it we rolled up and left it up top, waiting to be rolled down and tacked on the eve of an impending front. !/2 of the roof we covered semi permanently with the plastic sheeting, and the other half with an agricultural frost cloth, rolled up , waiting to be tacked down the eve of a cold front.
Inside the structure we placed a rain barrel full of water, heated by two aquarium heaters.
So there it is.
Would I do it again? Maybe, maybe not. It was a lot of work, cost me about 200$ total, I have no idea how long it will last, and I have no idea if it will work well or not.
Time will tell ..
