Tropicals & Tender Perennials: SAVE THE REXES !!!!!, 1 by begoniacrazii

begoniacrazii wrote:
Don't despair Kristi! We can put our collective thinking caps on and help you!

I have plenty of shade, but no frost protection. So the DH built me a (cheap) hoop house out of PVC pipe and shade cloth. We used 4 x 4's for the base so we had something to attach the hoops to and staple 6ml plastic to and though it's UGLY with a capital U, it does the job. Shade in the summer, frost protection in the winter. I put micro bark (just the tiny redwood bark used for orchids) on the floor so when I water, the evaporation helps keep things cooled down. And I put in a drip system along the spine of the roof to water everyone (on a daily timer) so that I can know that even if I'm busy, the Begonia babies get watered.

You could rig some kind of shade cloth awning and put them under it. Shade cloth isn’t expensive and HD or Lowes sells it in all shade %'s and different colors. It comes in a roll and you buy it by the foot or order an entire roll depending on your needs.

You could build any kind of cheap structure to cover and then get them underneath it.

Here you can see what we did. Maybe larger than your needs, but I have more than a begonia addiction so I need room for tons of stuff. (read other addictions! LOL)


SAVE THE REXIES!!