Recycling polycarb scrap for solar 'sleeves'

'Solar Sleeves'

Mini starts Greenhouse

In order to get crops thru the late spring weather and early winters here in the northwest, greenhouses are a must. And these mini cloches are great for protecting starts and giving you a leg up on harvesting more produce.
In the above pics you can see I used the 24" or 12" or 30" ends of polycarb roofing cut from other jobs to make very useful cloches/mini greenhouses or what I call "solar sleeves".
These scraps had laid around for years as I didnt want to throw away more plastic. What a great way to use them! Mini greenhouses! Solar Sleeves!

The picture with a cyclindercal shape above left....is made of two pieces of scrap poly (though you could buy sheets new too...) curved into a cyclinder by screwing 2-3 short 1" self drilling/washer roofing screws into side. Then I predrilled 2-3 holes 1" to 2" above bottom of sleeve for those u shaped garden staples. These can hold the sleeve down in winds or with geese brushing up against them!
In an experiment last winter I placed one solar sleeve on a helebore plant and left the other uncovered. In the early spring I removed it and lo and behold, my 'solar' enhanced hellebore had 10 times the buds for flowers and was lush and big compared to a the unprotected hellebore which had at least a month longer to grow leaves and buds. 
The solar sleeves and the 'min greenhouse for starts in picture above right....both extend growing time and protect from my chickens or other animals.
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