My outside toms this year were ruined by too much water (can you believe it - a lot of the crop burst) and next year I would like to try them undercover. Unfortunately most of the polytunnels and greenhouses available are out of reach due to price and I was wondering has anyone any ideas on how to construct a home made polytunnel?

I had been looking at some rose arches (on ebay) and I was thinking of getting some plastic sheeting from wickes.

My Dad used to make small plastic covered frames to suit the size of the crop,then over the years he'd re-cycle old windows out of houses or even cars,my recollections were they looked cool,rustic I think they'd call it nowadays.Remember that ventilation is important so build ia door or window at each end to let a breeze through.Use what ever materials you think suitable but I would start small and progress each year.I recall my Dads first attempt was about six foot square and about four foot high and full of tomatoes and ridge cucumbers,quite exotic in the fifties.

Hi Kimbo,

if you buy ordinary plastic it won't last long & I'm not sure that a rose arch would be strong enough I know that the roses are heavy but they filter the wind whereas plastic being solid could put too much of a strain on it.

There are two possible ways out you could build a smaller version of Pgletwillies tunnel (it was descirbed on the vine in this section I think) or you could use a poly shelter as used by Mr Flowerdew It looks a bit like this



this benefits from the growing conditions in the ground, the water runs off the end & keeps the soil moist & it helps to keep blight off them. I guess the easieast way to fix it would be to fasten the platic between two peices of roofing lath & then roll it over a couple of times then drill a hole through the lot & fasten some nylon rope through it & then anchor this top & bottom.

hi kimbo, re building a polytunnel(pt) i found a fantastic web page on constructing your own pt, the basic materials are short lengths of scaffold pole, lengths of poly water pipe and a tunnel cover from one of the well known suppliers,i built mine approx 4mtrs wide x7mtrs long with a thermal cover doors each end for about £200 and it worked out really well.

Originally Posted by filthyrich

hi kimbo, re building a polytunnel(pt) i found a fantastic web page on constructing your own pt, the basic materials are short lengths of scaffold pole, lengths of poly water pipe and a tunnel cover from one of the well known suppliers,i built mine approx 4mtrs wide x7mtrs long with a thermal cover doors each end for about £200 and it worked out really well.

Come on then, filthyrich, post a link to the website please!

Welcome to the vine btw!

I watched the "It isn't easy being green" tonight first one I've seen & I wasinterested in the heating system they used so had a bit of a google & came up with this that looked interesting.

http://ersson.sustainabilitylane.com/greenhse.htm

So I thought I'd share it on here.

snadger i did say where to find this web page but it was edited out,so i will try again the web page was overthegardengate filthyrich

Originally Posted by filthyrich

snadger i did say where to find this web page but it was edited out,so i will try again the web page was overthegardengate filthyrich

It will be that LJ chucking her weight around and playing with her buttons again!

Yes Snadger it was!!

Call me stupid so I apologise and I have checked many plans online. I have sourced the blue pipe and the scaffold. Also the plastic sheeting, my question is how is the plastic sheeting fastened/attached to the frame/blue pipes. I cant seem to answer that question.

Originally Posted by gturfrey

Call me stupid so I apologise and I have checked many plans online. I have sourced the blue pipe and the scaffold. Also the plastic sheeting, my question is how is the plastic sheeting fastened/attached to the frame/blue pipes. I cant seem to answer that question.

a quick way would be to use the trench method
it is on the plans I saw online using the exact same materials you refer to
hope this helps