I used plumbing pipe. No. it wasn't cheap, but my two children can hang like monkeys from it. I wanted to do electrical conduit, but couldn't find the parts I needed and I would have to put a center joist in there which would make the cost about the same.

Yeah, they don't give those elbows away, Luke. We bought ours today, and I was really stunned at how expensive they were, especially compared to the price of conduit. I'd thought about using PVC too, but I was worried about the PVC getting brittle after exposure to the elements.

Here is a link that might be useful: LookMaNoWeeds

Yeah, the PVC will probably get brittle after a while, but at least it gets my trellises up and running. I'm unemployed at the moment, so doing things on the cheap is the name of the game. I can always replace them with the "real" elbows as these ones fail. At 50 cents each, it's not a big loss if these only last a year or less. I can even replace one by one midseason with some help (i.e. someone holds up the crossbar as I stick on the elbow).

Here is a link that might be useful: Luke's SF Victory Garden

I have a PVC line running through my oleander hedge down in AZ. It sits on top of the soil (the hedge was there long before the irrigation was put in), and is exposed to the hot Arizona sun all summer. In five years it hasn't got brittle, nor has its elbows. Of course, there isn't any weight on it as there would be on a trellis.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Yankee Ingenuity! It's a great modification to save some money. Everything looks great!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gumshoe Gardener

I quit buying electric conduit after a few of them collapsed under the weight of bitter melon or tomato plants. I still have a few survivors left that have only ever had cucumbers, beans, or peas. Now I do the plumbing pipe like ribbit said for the heavy plants.

For light plants this year I am going to try an ultra-inexpensive technique someone else suggested last year. Two eight or ten foot t-posts and lengths of two-ply sisal twine. Set the t-posts in the ground and use the sisal twine to form the top, then run support strings as usual.

I suppose the ends may need to be braced somehow--I haven't acquired the t-posts yet so I don't know. I think the ten-footers set four feet into the ground should be pretty stable.

PVC pipe should never get brittle from exposure to uv or moisture if it's actually PVC. Some solvents and oils aren't too good for it, but nothing like that should be anywhere near your garden. Heck from what I've read they say it's one of the few things man made that will never naturally decompose. Some scientists say our nuclear waste will be harmless well before the stuff naturally breaks down chemically. Oh if it's cold and you put a load on it it may break, but that's about it.

ralleia, I'm curious as to what part of your conduit trellises failed under the weight of the plants. Did the conduits themselves actually buckle? Or was it the joints/elbows?

Here is a link that might be useful: Luke's SF Victory Garden

I took the 5 ft conduit and bent the ends 90 degrees with a pipe bender. Not hard..honest.

The bend gives the top extra rigidity and the couplers are 4 bucks for a 5 pack. I did 16 trellises so cost was a factor. I have half in one row and half in another. Zip ties tie them together for extra support (think kitchen cabinets).

It been a cost effective solution.

So conduit couplers rather than elbows...hope that helps!

I used the conduit 90's, but for the center supports (my trelli are 10' long) I used 1/2" pvc T's that just slipped right over the EMT and then the threaded part of the T fits tightly onto the EMT post in the middle. The EMT T's we're about $8 each, I figured .43 each for PVC T's was a much better deal.

Whoa, MatrixMan, you blew my mind with that idea! I think I'll try that method next time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Luke's SF Victory Garden