French Tulle Netting

Nylon net is much the same and quite a bit cheaper. I use it a lot. It degrades after a year or two.

We bought a bolt of the white stuff last year at Hobby Lobby cheap! We use it to keep birds off the blueberries.

I have it, but haven't used it yet. I plan to use it in the fall on my chard, lettuce and other things harvested for the leaves. Last year bugs kept munching them all way, severely effecting my overall harvest.

like Supernova, I have it but have not yet used it. It was only $10 for a wide 40 yard bolt (plus $5 shipping) when ordered from a link in an earlier post. I bought two bolts and they should last me quite a while.

I'm trying it for the first time this year, and I really like it so far. I bought a 108" bolt, and I'm using it with 1/2" PVC hoops over 4' wide beds to keep out squash vine borers, cabbage loopers, etc. Like Ed, I'll probably use it to protect berries from birds, as well. It seems rather durable, overall, but I did find that my row cover snap clamps have a tendency to tear it a bit. I put a layer of duct tape in between to protect the fabric.

Right now, I have it covering my strawberries to protect them from the birds and over my broccoli & brussels sprouts to protect them from caterpillars. I'm going to use it to cover my blueberries, too, once they get a bit closer to ripening. :)

Based on non-gardening experience, I would advise not using nylon in the sun (if it really is nylon). It does not hold up well. Acrylic fabric holds up very well, but is somewhat brittle, so if it flexes too much (flapping in the wind) it is likely to fail. Polyester (dacron) holds up fairly well to sun, and is less sensitive to flapping. If those choices are not available, then maybe you just have to use the nylon. ;-)

Not sure what makes it "French", but I'm using tulle this year for squash. Got it at Hobby Lobby for $.70/yard. Quite a deal. Note that there are two kinds -- plain tulle, and "glossy" tulle. The former is nylon, and the latter is polystyrene, I believe. About twice the price for "glossy". Not sure which is more UV resistant, but nylon and polystyrene are both somewhat UV sensitive. My squash are untouched by borers, thus far. Unlike last year ...

I suspect that the black tulle is more UV resistant, if just that it is more opaque than the white stuff. I'm testing that out, as I have some of each. It would be pretty cool to use colored tulle, but my understanding is that vine borers are attracted to yellow and orange (gee, I wonder why ... squash flowers are that color) so that would probably not be a good color to use.

I used to use it, but not anymore. Even though my was double width, but in raised beds when it was draped over PVC aches the edges didn't reach the ground. They were about 10 inches higher than the ground. When the edges are not tucked in, insects still get in. Eventually it seemed to become a trap for all the bad guys.:(
Come to think of it, I like to fuss with my plants, so even if they were totally tucked in, insects would still get in just because I'm in and out so often.

I've used regular(?)tulle from W-mart in the past. It kept deer away from my tomato plants while they were small, but when the toms were ripe the deer actually bit through the netting to get to them. That's when I switched to real deer netting, but for other pests the tulle works pretty well. I found that the darker colors 'disappear' better, but they fade eventually from the sun, after which everything looks like it's covered in spider webs. The fine tulle works well for 'bagging' blossoms for collecting seed from certain plants.

Last bolt I got was green nylon. The least conspicuous.

It does degrade in the sun. I don't count on it to last more than a single year.

FRENCH TULLE is just the old name. Probably it was first made and used by French in fashion wear. But the name remains. So what we buy from fabric stores are modern version , mad from some kind of nylon.

Anyway, it is a versatile thing around the garden. First I used it to protect my eggplant seedlings from flea beetle. Then I used it to keep rats and rabbits of my seedlings.

AS mentioned, it lasts only one season but that's fine. It is not expensive.

Those who are fighting slugs and do not want to use things like GET BUGA

I'm in the process of making a row cover from tulle for my cabbages. It's 72" wide and the right color but I'm not sure that the mesh is fine enough to keep out cabbage pests. Could someone who has been using it comment on the mesh size please? The holes look to be about 1/8".

The finer mesh is at JoAnn's is only 54" wide so I'd have to cut it lengthwise and sew some seams to get it to fit. Using what I have would definitely be easier but if it won't work...

Thanks

Athena

Been using this stuff for several years as a row cover. I bought a couple of bolts (green) on Amazon cheap. I've found the birds don't like it, either. It does somewhat discourage the rabbits better than a traditional row cover.

I decided to go with a finer mesh. I went to a different JoAnn's today and realized that I purchased "nylon net" rather than tulle. Today's store had tulle in the proper color so all I have to do is cut and sew it to the right dimensions.

I've used nylon net for years, mainly to protect my corn until it gets large enough that the critters won't carry it off. This year I have some covering my two new blueberry bushes that have lots of blooms and berries on them. I've always used green to blend in. DH is picky.

I've used nylon net for years, mainly to protect my corn until it gets large enough that the critters won't carry it off. This year I have some covering my two new blueberry bushes that have lots of blooms and berries on them. I've always used green to blend in. DH is picky.

Standard tulle is 18 holes/inch with thin ribs. "Nylon net" is highly non-standard in the layout. Don't buy it unless you know what you're buying. You can get it, sold by that name, in fabric stores, sports fishing stores, and athletic stores, and in each of those stores, it's really very different stuff. In fact, even for the fabric grades of nylon net, it's often not clear how thick the ribs are and how small the holes are compared to the hole spacing. Tulle is, in this respect, a safer purchase than "nylon net", especially if you're buying it sight unseen.

Hello all,

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would post my results with the tulle. I've been growing blueberry bushes for 3 years. Yup, blueberry bushes. The blueberries never got harvested because the birds took them all. Bird netting did not work -- somehow the birds found a way to get in. This year I was cleaning out my fabric stash and came upon some bronze color tulle. Why not I thought. I waited until the berries formed and then the wrap began. My blueberries grow in 20 gallon tubs so wrapping them was easy. I waited. Several days I saw the birds ""dive bombing"" the bushes and pecking furiously away at the tulle. DH had the idea to double wrap the bushes -- so we did. The birds continued to peck away at the tulle but they were not successful in damaging the berries or getting inside the tulle netting.

I can report that Chandler blueberries are delicious and we harvested several pint baskets.

Tulle will have a permanent place in my pest management arsenal.

The tulle will be replaced next year -- it is no longer any good.

I will also be placing tulle over cabbage, kale, lettuce and other crops which are popular with the caterpillars and worms.

Cheers,
DL

I use plain old one-inch netting on my blueberries, and it keeps the birds away. OK, occasionally one gets underneath the netting, which results in some pandemonium. I can pick berries through this netting, by pushing on it, which is really handy, and unlike tulle (which I use on squash for SVBs), it lasts many seasons. These are pretty big bushes -- about five feet tall, so the birds can't get much by pecking through the net. You may have especially aggressive birds if they're dive bombing tulle.

The tulle I purchased online is quite narrow for covering fruit trees to deter squirrels.We tried duct tape to create panels but soon found out it loosens in the sun.How should I join the panels?Much too long to run through a sewing machine if I owned one. Thanks for the help.S

sdefr ,

I buy them from fabric store, or places like JOANNE's, Hobby Lobby and similar craft stores. They come on all grades, colors. I am not sure about the with but probably is not wide enough to cover a fruit tree.

To make it wider by joining, try a soldering/craft gun ? I have not done it but it might work. Melting glue can be another way.

But if you overlap couple of inches, all you have to do is just every foot or so. You can use a fishing line.

T

I use it all over my beds. Like it much more then insect row cover. Much better air circulation, you can see through, and durability is basically the same. When you by it by bolt 108 inches wide it is even cheaper then agribon.

We Use it on squash for SVB protection, in Earth Boxes as fertilizer bags and will try this year on parthenocarpic cucumbers against cucumber beetles.
The only complain - aphids. They have no natural predators under tulle and multiply freely. Experiments trapping lady bugs were unsuccessful, they spent all their time and energy trying to get out and didnt care about aphids.

I will be using tulle this year to cover some of my isolation cages for seed saving. Tulle has better air flow, so it can be used over vegetables which are sensitive to damp, stale air (such as beans & tomatoes). Agribon - even the lightest grade - traps too much humidity for those vegetables, they tend to get foliar diseases (been there, done that).

As already mentioned, tulle is not UV stable, so it degrades quickly in sunlight. Mosquito netting has similar qualities & weaves, and there are UV-resistant versions available... but it is pricier than tulle, and a little harder to find.