STARDOME, STARDOME, the most excellent bamboo dome.
http://www.stardome.jp/how-en.html
Only feasible location in my garden is the site of the Sunflower & House. I have a tentative sketch —
Current photo of the SF&H and idea sketches with overlay Screenshot taken from “Star Dome 3.0 - YouTube”
- Foundation made with 4x4 fence posts sunk in ground — this knee wall needs to be rabbit-proof height, but not so high that the dome becomes impractically tall
- Secure the base circle to the top of the posts, then remove the opening section for doorway
- Still bouncing ideas around — might make the knee wall out of 1/2” hardware cloth and cover the structure with 1/2” bird netting to be Cabbage White Butterfly-proof and bird-proof brassica and berry “house” (designation change from SF&H to B&B
)- Might make the knee wall with soda bottles and cover structure with greenhouse film during the cold season... but unfortunately this location is almost 100% shade during the short day months due to lower sun elevation. It might be good for hardening the spring seedlings earlier though.
- pretty sure I want to make the base circle with 1” or 3/4” schedule 40 pvc for strength, but in the above video, he used 1/2” pvc for the dome structure — Not sure if that would be sturdy enough if I want to cover the dome = wind resistance and SNOW — Don’t forget SNOW — though he is bolting them together. Another source I think recommended 3/4” pvc for the size I’m thinking of making. Maybe I can mix the sizes depending on pentagon vs star struts, but the flexibility may affect the smoothness and even distribution of the tension/curve.
