The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: escapedtothecountry on February 15, 2012, 08:08:12 pm
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Not sure whether I should put this in the vegetables section - but thought those of you growing veg may well have some expertise. I thinking of getting a polytunnel to grow veg and plants in. I certainly want something bigger than a greenhouse.
Do any of you have experience of getting and fitting a polytunnel, and any recommended providers out there?
Thanks,
Jonathan
www.escapedtothecountry.com (http://www.escapedtothecountry.com)
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I use First Tunnels, they have a good website that has films on showing how to assemble the different types. You can also build your own to what you need from there different designs and accessories .I would also go for the biggest you can as they are easily filled and check planning if you want a biggy. In my Authority planning depends on distance from other properties, in a field or garden, size etc. So mine is a 35 x 15 the biggest I can have in my garden at the distance from the road, any nearer the road I would need planning. Also field or garden means business or domestic for planning. The preperation is the hard work the poly themselves are reasonably easy. Mine took two folk to build. The polythene going on is easier than it looks because as you pull it over it sort of vacuums itself into shape so that gives you time to fix it without panicking. The place you are going to situate it needs thinking about , good shelter is a must if you are in a high wind area, mine is dug out in a huge pit with the excess soil forming a bund around it.Drainage is a must as they can get cold and damp in the colder parts of the year. Also they are not pest free , they just move the goal posts and some pests thrive better than outside! I have overhead irrigation which is so easy for watering and cooling it down as they get hot. Mine has a seperate 'dry' room in the back which is my herb garden, I have a chair and table in there! Good luck.
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Thanks for that - very useful. I suspect I will have to cement the fixing plates that come with the one I have been looking at, as it does blow across our two acres in spite of our plot being surround on three sides by trees.
The planning comment is interesting. We are having building work done and have all the planning plans approved. Not sure what they categorise as garden and what they have categorised as paddock (as suspect they will suggest that is agricultural land). If agricultural land I assume if I suggest it is not a permanent structure, and is well away from all boundaries (no house near either boundary anyway) then I should be OK. The polytunnel I have looked at is 12foot by 25ft.
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Mine is on concrete bases with fixing plates and a clip stip for the polythene. I also have the storm braces over the joints and the fixed benches inside as they act as butresses holding the tunnel stable. My polythene is 6 yrs old now and on its last legs, I will have to replace it at the end of this year so it will be seven yrs old. They say five years for Shetland weather so I think its done well.
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It sounds like I will have to get one! Maybe I will ask my wife for one for my birthday ;)
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Ours is from Northern Polytunnels, specially designed for windy areas, with extra thick hoops and extra braces. Ours has the bottom of the hoops set into concrete dollies, and the polythene is attached to base rails, rather than being buried in the ground. It's still here after 15 years and the last polythene lasted 13 years even on this windy hill.
The tunnel itself is 7x14 metres, with a small greenhouse inside (I'm not joking when I say it can be windy here ;D - an outside greenhouse wouldn't last 5 mins in a blow). I love my polytunnel - in the height of the season it's like being in a jungle full of tasty things to eat. Do get one.
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Not sure where ours came from as OH bought it from the Internet. Its coming up to 4 years old and has with stood gales and heavy snow most winters. I love mine. ;D
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OK now I am feeling very jealous as I want one (impatient is my middle name). ;)
Jonathan
www.escapedtothecountry.com (http://www.escapedtothecountry.com)
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hi
we had one from first tunnels
very good and we have 14 ft x 20
they have a facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/# (https://www.facebook.com/#)!/Polytunnels
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I'm jealous too but I would have to remove small walls and some paths to make room for one. The prevous owner of this house loved his concrete and laid it very thick. Took far too much swork gettinjg the first lot up. I'm not moving any more.
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We got ours from Citadel Polytunnels and I have to say that ours is the only one left standing up here after the recent storms where we topped 100 miles an hour winds. It's fair to say that whoever you buy yours from it is by far the best idea to dig the cover in rather than use side rails if you are at all exposed (this was the advise we were given by the manufacturer and as I said, ours is still standing albeit a bit battered). We don't have anything cemented but I think cross bars are essential.
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Very interesting - the advice we were given was the direct opposite - fit side rails to attach the cover if you are in a windy area.
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Very interesting - the advice we were given was the direct opposite - fit side rails to attach the cover if you are in a windy area.
Lol...well there you are, just goes to show ;D I would say tho, we've managed to get through 3 major storms with the winds hitting us full on average 80mph (some gusts were recorded up to 100mph) and our tunnel stayed put. Three other tunnel nearby got completely trashed, ended up as twisted wrecks. They all had rails. I'm not saying your advice was wrong..just what seems to work up here in the very windy north ;) Or it could just be that you and I are brilliant at putting up polytunnels and should go into business together :thumbsup:
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I picked up a poly tunnel frame without the sheeting. Not having really decided where to locate it on the land, no rush, a planning officer paid the land owner a visit...
The neighbours have made a complaint thinking that we are trying to build a house using clandestine methods ?
Their joined up thinking is.. 1;Un-earthed drainage trench -We must be putting drains in.
2; Plastic water pipe to fill my IBCs for irrigation - We must be installing a water main.
3; An old caravan and the whale bone frame of a poly tunnel.- We must be claiming to have an agricultural building that we now want planning for a house?
The planning officer told us a good place for the poly tunnel would be next to the garden wall in the field. Problem solved. ::)
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This spring I plan to build a geodesic greenhouse instead of a polytunnel.
I built a geodesic field shelter out of plywood ( 4m diameter ) for the sheep, it can, and has withstood 100mph plus winds with no anchoring.
You can built domes to any size you require.
A good site to find an example is www.geo-dome.co.uk (http://www.geo-dome.co.uk)
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Very interesting - the advice we were given was the direct opposite - fit side rails to attach the cover if you are in a windy area.
Lol...well there you are, just goes to show ;D I would say tho, we've managed to get through 3 major storms with the winds hitting us full on average 80mph (some gusts were recorded up to 100mph) and our tunnel stayed put. Three other tunnel nearby got completely trashed, ended up as twisted wrecks. They all had rails. I'm not saying your advice was wrong..just what seems to work up here in the very windy north ;) Or it could just be that you and I are brilliant at putting up polytunnels and should go into business together :thumbsup:
;D ;D ;D Our very first cover lasted only 9 months and was torn off in a 100mph blow, but that was because we had attached the battens the wrong way round ::) The forces involved were enormous - the hefty bolts which attached the base rails to the hoops were bent about 30-40 degrees, but the main structure survived intact. The torn and flapping polythene, plus the roar of the gale, made a terrifying amount of noise. That was a good few years ago now but I certainly haven't forgotten it.
We have just put on the third cover and hope it lasts another 13 years like the last one (with the battens on properly). But I wouldn't want to do it for a business :o :o - 3 times is quite enough for me :D From this, it clearly doesn't make a blind bit of difference which method you use - it's just manufacturers promoting their own product ::)
As a matter of interest, how long do the edges of the polythene last when they are buried before they go brittle or tear?
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I would recommend using the fixing brackets for the cover and not digging a trench.
Replacing a torn cover that has been secured in a trench is torture.