Since I encountered SWD on my raspberries, I constructed tents from mosquito and no-see-um fiberglass window screen material to protect my blueberry plants. (I had a third one not pictured). I had seen Reemay recommended but I wanted to be able to see the plants and berries from the outside underneath the cover so I preferred the screen material. I used various materials I had on-hand to construct the supports for the netting. The screening material is not very heavy so some simple plant supports I had on hand worked for the smaller structure. For the larger structure, I used bamboo poles which I attached together using cane connectors (seen in top photo) purchased from Lee Valley. I draped the no-see-um netting from one side over the central top pole to the other side to cover the majority of the plant. However, to seal the ends to I used Reemay material which was a bit cheaper to use. To seal the seams, I rolled the edges together before sealing them with clothespins. I used bricks at the bottom to keep out a cat out who seemed to think it was a nice hang-out under the tent. I don't know if the SWD would figure out how to crawl along at ground level to look for an opening but I wasn't ready to test it. I used up some scraps for the smaller structure. Originally, I thought I'd use the top flap as my access point but I ended up going in from the side. I did encounter some disadvantages with these set-ups: 1) when I had to water the plants later in the summer, it was a bit awkward to open things up enough so I could get water at the base of the plants. This would not be a problem if I had an irrigation system; 2) Picking the berries was more awkward since I had to open up the netting to either reach or crawl underneath the netting to pick the berries. The berries were not ripening fast enough that I had to do this every day, though. If these plants were to get as large as the ones at Klock's Blueberry Farm in Corbett, this system would not work! I hope this information is useful and I'd like to hear other ideas as well.
Thanks for the photos and explanation. This may prove to be one of the most successful versions to keep off SWD. People can also look at your system and adapt it to what they are growing. I also like that, like bird netting, you can rotate it around to another berry when they are all picked.
John S
PDX OR
I definitely wanted a structure that was flexible in its design partly b/c if it didn't work, it would be easy to take down and I could still use the components. I removed the netting from each plant as the season went on and I believe I used some of it on smaller vegetable crops, too, later in the season. It sure would have been nice to have a zipper though for all of the junctions rather than the clothespins!
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
John S
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