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i am tore between a poly tunnel and a polycarbonate green house what would you prefer all advice will be useful
regards
nemo

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one years seed is seven years weed

my freind who has an allotment has a ploytunnel greenhouse on there.but i have a polycarb greenhouse at home in the garden.

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joanne culyer

To be honest, it depends on what you want to use it for. They are two very different animals. I have a 6x8 greenhouse with a same sized hybrid greenhouse/polytunnel on the back. I also have a 10x30 polytunnel and all 3 are used for different things.

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it and if you ain't going to eat it, don't kill it

what is the difference in what you grow in the difference structures



marion

Greenhouse - usually smaller size, glass, diretct sun, gets warm quickle. grow toms, peppers etc, easily heated. Can get very hot in Summer

Hybrid polyhouse - gets warm quickly and stays warm. No direct Sun, great for starting seeds, climate controlable, heatable in early/late/Winter season.

Polytunnel - Usually too big to heat adequately, no direct sun, loads of spact to move seedlings into for protection and hardening off early season. Will support outdoor crop for earlier results.

Hope this helps

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it and if you ain't going to eat it, don't kill it

Norm

Thanks for putting the advice, I have been toying with the idea of the different types for months and could not make up my mind, you put it very simply and I now know what to get on my lottie too! Thanks

Going to go with the Polytunnel for the Lottie and buy a basic Norfolk greenhouses polycarbonate greenhouse for the garden! Can then do both.

Cheers

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I'm lucky. I have a 10' x 30' polytunnel and a 6' x 8' greenhouse with a 6' x 8' greenhouse-shaped wooden shed on the back which is covered in polytunnel sheet. I start everything in the polyshed, then farm them out either into the greenhouse or the polytunnel.
The polutunnel is handy as this weekend, I should be eating my first strawberries.

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it and if you ain't going to eat it, don't kill it

I started with a 6x8 glass green house which was great,easy to maintain temperature in but was too small to produce what I wanted to produce,a polytunnel is used in Scotland as a means of extending the season a bit and ripening stuff that fail outside in all but the best of summers,(sweetcorn is a prime example) and of course allows you to grow a lot more varieties of suitable crops and save a bit of money by growing bedding and vegetables for outside from seed.If you can both afford and have the room then I guess both is the perfect scenario.

you may need planning permission for a polytunnel, but not for a greenhouse. Polytunnels are not considered temporary structures by some councils.

I had my polycarb greenhouse a few months ago and found it went up without any problems. (Had a lot of help from my ten year old son though!). Took about two days in all. I do wish that they called the panels 'plastic' though because this is what they really are afterall!

I have since found it very productive, though my heart is regularly pounding if the weather is particularly windy. (I don't open it for ventilation on these particular days as the panels are not as heavy as horticultural glass and very vulnerable to wind as they are like three square panels in one and can sometimes sound like Rolf Harris playing a wobble board!)

I reinforced some of the panels with gaffer tape and this has added some extra stability - clear waterproof sealant is also helpful along the edges.

Overall I am pleased with the results but do wish at times that I had gone for glass!

I am thinking of getting a polycabornate greenhouse but reg my neigbour on the allotment put up a poly tunnel this year. i must warn you the tempreture in there is unbearable. however the veg he grows is amazing and much more advanced that that grown outside.

good luck with what ever you decide

The best thing I ever did was to get a polytunnel.

Just wish I'd got a bigger one.

They do get hot in Summer ( where is it this year!!) but if you get one with doors at each end you can control the temperature to some extent by leaving it open.

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