[princesspiggy]

whats more important for the site of the polytunnel? we had the site fenced in a while back, its the only bit of level ground thats polytunnel shaped, then i read that its supposed to lie east-west to catch the sun, but this site lies north-south. does it matter? and which side is the strongest to the wide - long side on?

[Mo]

North/South will give you slightly lower temperatures than East/West because of the path of the sun.
Do you get a lot of wind?  If it's possible I think they advise to have the length of the tunnel facing the prevailing winds.
Ours is N/S because that was the best position for us.

[Blinkers]

Ours is N/S and is on a bit of a slope....but that's how it was when we moved in and we're sure as hell not gonna change it     It works a treat except we seem to have billions of slugs around these parts AND Cabbage Whites     So, this year I'm hoping to get one of those net tunnels to put along side in an attempt to prevent the caterpillar damage and also lay seige to the slugs by putting down/watering in Nematodes.    Does anyone use this method?

[egglady]

I have £130 'saved' towards my polytunnel - how much should i be working towards in everyones view?

[Hermit]

My one 35ft x 15ft with irrigation ,staging, crop bars etc cost two grand and I could easily double that with ground preperation, bund building,fencing, soil, raised beds after that! My ground preperation is a bit exceptional though being up here and next to the sea . Look on websites for prices for the tunnels but you will have to decide on what you need besides that yourself and get quotes...ie , do you need raised beds or can you plant direct, what are you going to fix your tunnel to, dig in or as mine is fixed to a concrete base, what shelter do you need? mine has a full height bund around it and a pallisade fence! Lots of expenses can be spread over time as in irrigation and staging, pots etc. You can save a lot by making your own seed trays etc from things you find. Loo roll holders make good seed pots, pop bottles when chopped in half make good mini propergators.My poly looks like a recycling yard so if your not one of those who like yellow pots for yellow peppers etc the expense of a polytunnel can be initial.

[egglady]

i already have my veggie plot plus a couple of greenhouses so the basics are there.  have 2 pigs in the area that i'll be siteing it to break up the gorund and then a pal has a mini digger so will help dig out the channel i think.  so hopefully costs should really only be the cost of the actual tunnel itself....hopefully anyway!

just wanted an idea about basic cost of one that will last.......

[Fleecewife]

whats more important for the site of the polytunnel? we had the site fenced in a while back, its the only bit of level ground thats polytunnel shaped, then i read that its supposed to lie east-west to catch the sun, but this site lies north-south. does it matter? and which side is the strongest to the wide - long side on?

Ours is W-E so it gets plenty of midday sun, but mornings and evenings it doesn't get much as it has to come through the louvres and doors. Also the north side doesn't get much sun at all except at midsummer.   So it's 6 of one and 1/2 a dozen of the other - if your site requires a N-S alignment, that will be fine. 
For the wind, here it comes mainly from the SW so hits on a corner, which is perfect. The only time a cover has been torn off was with a southerly gale which hit the long south side, then created a vacuum on the north side which tore all that side off and even bent the base rails and bolts.  Probably wouldn't have happened if we had attached the polythene to the base rails properly but the right way is not what you might expect. That was an 80mph-er, but the tunnel has survived 100mph with no damage since.
Have a look at Northern Polytunnels - not over priced, wide selection and they do the strongest frames around.  Because we are windy here we opted for the base rail type, not the buried polythene, and we also have extra triangulation in the corners and crop bars which double as reinforcers. I also chose to have full louvres at both ends and doors too, to aid throughdraft when it's hot and no wind (happens occasionally !)  Choose the best quality polythene you can - it's not expensive but the best will last much longer than they claim - our cover has been on now for at least 10 or 11 years, although it could do with being changed.  Also, don't skimp on the anti-hotspot tape which prevents the polythene getting hot over the frame bars, which would make it brittle and it breaks up.

[Anke]

Our tunnel is more N/S than E/W, and it works fine. We looked which place on the holding was most wind protected, still got sun, was level and also still close to the main track.

It is about 35 by 15, I think, that's fairly big, but also serves as hay storage etc in winter. It also had a water tap inside - v useful for watering in summer.

First Tunnels are great, look at their website it will give you an idea on prices.However, if you really want to get started - just site it so that you can add on hoops later and make the tunnel bigger!

[Cinderhills]

How has everyone's polytunnels faired with the snow?  I am getting one this year but since our veg cage collapsed with snow and ruined about 75% of poles I am worried about spending more money on something else that might get ruined.

[princesspiggy]

yes we get alot of wind,(lol) its also quite exposed but was planning on planting willows around fenceline to protect site.  is it poss to build it urself without a digger? erection costs were 50% of purchase price when we enquired.

[Mo]

How has everyone's polytunnels faired with the snow?  I am getting one this year but since our veg cage collapsed with snow and ruined about 75% of poles I am worried about spending more money on something else that might get ruined.

Ours was fine in the snow although we did sweep snow off the top at intervals.
I'm guessing Fleecewife will be able to allay your fears, I'm sure they get more than their fair share of snow up there.

[Mo]

yes we get alot of wind,(lol) its also quite exposed but was planning on planting willows around fenceline to protect site.  is it poss to build it urself without a digger? erection costs were 50% of purchase price when we enquired.

Those erection costs sound high - does that include preparing the ground?
I can't help you here. Our site was flat and needed vary little prep.

[Hermit]

We put ours up ourslves. It does seem a daunting task but if you work steady and follow instructions it is straight forward. The bit that worried us was getting the polythene over an 8' high 35'long and 15' wide frame!!!! As it happens we waited for a still day and the polythene just slid over the hotspot tape and sort of suctioned on! We were shocked by the easiness of it.First tunnels have instruction videos on their site and come with complete instructions and a free book on polys, they even sent a teabag and a can of Gin and Tonic, apparently the most important bit of kit

[Hermit]

ps.    never had any problems caused by snow .

[Fleecewife]

Snow - we really thought early last year that our polythene was a goner as we had a couple of feet of snow but where it slid down the sides of the tunnel it was about 7' deep and lumpy-bumpy. I have a pic somwhere which I might look out.  From inside it looked awful , as if the polythene was stretched beyond repair.  Then when it thawed, it all went back to normal and is still on.  As I've said before we have the most expensive polythene, but it really is tough, as long as you have it on really tight.  We have a few holes in it, one big one from the Jacob who made a big hole for himself and all his friends to climb in and help themselves to my brassicas.  That was years ago, we repaired it with repair tape which has to be replaced every couple of years, but it doesn't seem to make it any weaker.  There are a couple of 'cane' holes where visitors have forgotten about the cover and pulled a cane up too high and gone through the cover, but these don't tear any further once repaired.  There is also a hole where the polythene was pushed onto the point of the ridge of the greenhouse (inside) when it was extremely windy - the whole structure flexes in the wind to a rather alarming degree, but it all survives.  We check all the bolts before and after high winds as they can work loose, especially when the structure is new.
Our tunnel is 42 feet by 21 feet so when the cover did blow off it was scary in the extreme and unbelievably noisy, even above the sound of 80mph winds.
I'll do another message about putting them up after I've had my hot mince pie