Everything You Need To Know About Enviromesh Insect Netting

Dateline: 14 September 2016 AD

In my recent post about Insect Fabrics In The Garden I presented an overview of different insect row covers that are currently sold in the United States. 

In the final analysis, I liked the Agralan Enviromesh (made by a company in the UK) because of it's claim of longevity (at least 7 years). But I was disappointed that I could not find a US supplier of the Enviromesh Ultra Fine material, which is sized small enough to exclude flea beetles.

Someone suggested that I just buy some of the Ultra Fine material from the UK.   So that's what I did. I went to The Organic Gardening Catalog  web site, found This Page, and ordered a piece of the Enviromesh Ultra Fine.

I was able to order online and pay with PayPal. The total cost for the 2.1m x 4.7m piece came to $36.29. The box arrived about two weeks later. 

Amazingly, the total price of $36.29 for the Ultra Fine was actually less than a comparable-sized  (2.6m x 5m) piece of the standard Agralan Enviromesh that I purchased from Greenhouse Megastore here in the US. The total cost of that was $44.99.

Here's a picture of one piece of Enviromesh, spread out on my lawn...

I spread out the two pieces and measured them. For those of you who (like me) don't think in metric, the 2.6m x 5m Enviromesh was about 8' x 16' 3". The  2.1m x 4.7m Ultra Fine was about 6' 7" x 15' 6". Here's a picture showing how the edges are hemmed...

This next picture shows the difference in mesh size. Standard Enviromesh is on the left and Ultra Fine Enviromesh is on the right...

Enviromesh is a woven polypropylene. The threads are akin to monofilament fishing line.

For my intended gardening applications (which I'll show shortly), I cut the pieces in half. The material cuts easily with scissors...

As you can see in the above picture, woven threads along a scissors-cut edge can come loose. After cutting, I attempted to seal the edges by melting with a propane torch...

Heat sealing the edges with a torch worked but it was a bit tricky. It would be much better to cut the material using a hot knife, or even a woodburner pen.

The woven Enviromesh netting is much stiffer than the knitted ProtekNet 25r, which is a more easily obtained product in the US. But, as my previously noted Insect Netting Review explained, ProtekNet 25gr has an advertised lifespan of only 1 to 3 years. 

My intention is to use these nettings over 30" x 30" hooped frames in my garden. Here is a picture of one of the hooped frames with Enviromesh netting...

Enviromesh cover

As you can see, the concept is to drape the netting over the hoops and tuck it under the edges of the frame to secure it in place. The stiffness of the Enviromesh, compared to ProtekNet is more evident when you see the same frame covered with ProtekNet...

ProtekNet 25 cover

The nylon knitted ProtekNet is nicer to work with, but it has an advertised lifespan of only 1 to 3 seasons. I'm not impressed with that.

Now, for a different perspective, here is a picture of the frame covered with Agribon 15 Insect Barrier...

Agribon 15 cover

The Agribon 15 is lightweight and will exclude just about any insect. But it allows more heat build-up than netting. Also, it does not allow rain to enter, and it makes it hard to see inside. Beyond that, the lifespan of Agribon 15 is, I would guess, 1 to 2 years.

The instruction sheets included with the Enviromesh products are informative. Here is the instruction sheet that was in the package of standard Enviromesh netting...

(click the picture to see a larger view)

And here is the sheet that was in the package of Enviromesh Ultra Fine...

(click on the picture to see a larger view)

From my preliminary observations, and with the advertised lifespans in mind, I'm inclined to think the Enviromesh products are a very good value— perhaps even the best value out there for garden insect netting covers.

With that in mind, I believe there is a real business opportunity for someone to import or domestically produce a garden netting comparable to the Enviromesh Ultra Fine. I have looked into doing this myself, but I have come to the conclusion that I already have too many irons in the fire, and would need warehouse space I don't have to house the inventory.

A final note on insect nettings in the garden...

I recommend that you watch the following video. Actually, the whole series is excellent, but this particular video talks about insect netting for insect control. I'm persuaded that insect netting is the way to go when it comes to successfully growing certain crops in the garden (without spraying pesticides).