[Dave Taylor]

Hello all!

We have just got our first polytunnel, only small - 4x2x2. I've done a few years of growing veg and know about rotation, although I am no expert.

When working in small spaces such as this polytunnel, does anyone have advice on how to split beds up and what to grow next to what, as well as rotating each year?

As I say I am no expert so really any advice would be really helpful

Thanks!
Dave

[pgkevet]

I assume that's metres.. unless you#re very height challenged
I doubt rotation is worth worrying about in that space unless you have other tunnels/glasshouses.
My glasshouse is 22x12 feet and all i grow in there is really toms, pappers, aubergine, lettuce radish and early spring onions and cucumbers. Whietfly and botrytis are my biggest issues nless you get soethign like vine weevel. Early in the season it's early crops for outdoors in pots filling the place until the toms etc start to grow.
Ceaning t out at the end of the season is the essential and as per my other thread I've moved to sulphur sterilization now after some soil issue early in the year. Growbags is the other option (you can make your own)

[cloddopper]

Dave , can you knock some 600 mm long pegs in the ground as a grid to make a set of grids if you then wrap string round the pegs . You do it so as to get a number of squares or oblongs , then draw them on a sheet of paper doing the crop rotations  on paper . The string will help you keep the squares  in shape . If you keep these yearly sheets in a folder it will be quite easy to see what has been planted where over the rotation cycle .

If it works well stick to it if not change it a bit at a time but do give thought to the compatibility of  certain plants growing closely along the side of others as some plants will kill off the adjacent one if they are incompatible .

 You can Google " compatibility of garden veg plants + uk "

 Work out some way of having the tunnel ventilated ... by using net curtain material or similar , for if it ever stops raining and the sun appears , a small  tunnel will get hot extremely quickly & this will most likely kill everything if it gets to 100 oF or more for verylong .

I'd also suggest you look for & buy a spray-able greenhouse shading substance so when it happens you have the solution  to hand .