Polytunnel and Now a Greenhouse

[MarkHackwell]

I have a polytunnel on the allotment that I built last year and it is 3m x 2m and today while out and about i saw a greenhouse on sale for �30 various sizes but the one I was thinking is 6 x 4 Does anyone think it would be sensible too have a polytunnel and greenhouse or just do with the polytunnel? and why? Thanks

[Aberdeenplotter]

The more growing space you have under cover, the wider a variety of crops can be grown as you will not be restricted to those that can be grown outside in the British climate. Get the biggest you can accommodate in terms of space and finance. You won't regret it

[Alison]

I have a 6' square greenhouse at home which I've had for years and mainly use for starting things off and as a termporary house for plants that need a bit more shelter. I also always grow a single type of chilli or pepper in there each year which I can isolate and save the seed from without any hassle. When I first got it I grew loads of toms, cucs etc in there but since I got my 10' by 20' polytunnel at the lottie I do most of my growing there in the soil rather than in pots as I had to in the greenhouse (location had an influence here). I love both and like the flexibility of being able to use them both differently.

[VirginVegGrower]

Ha, I'm the other way, a 10x8 greenhouse, now wanting a polytunnel. I guess you can never have too much of a good thing, huh?!

[rustylady]

I have a polytunnel on the allotment that I built last year and it is 3m x 2m and today while out and about i saw a greenhouse on sale for �30 various sizes but the one I was thinking is 6 x 4 Does anyone think it would be sensible too have a polytunnel and greenhouse or just do with the polytunnel? and why? Thanks

What type of greenhouse - that seems suspiciously cheap to me.

[allotment grower]

polytunnel & greenhouses..

I have both i have a 9meter x 6 meter polytunnel and a greenhouse 8x6 feet

also i am building an extra greenhouse i bought second hand 6 x 16 feet two greenhouses put together..

different plants like slightly different climates cucumbers like humid enviroment more suited to the polytunnel last year we could not give away the spare cucumbers away fast enough they were that prolific.. ...

while tommatos like a dryer climate more suited to an greenhouse including chillies peppers etc.

you can grow potatos twice in a year in the polytunnel direct in the ground or in polybags = first earlys in the beginning of the year plus planting the same first early potatoes in september to get new potatoes for christmas dinner..

[MarkHackwell]

What type of greenhouse - that seems suspiciously cheap to me.

Its a polycarbonate greenhouse which is in a sale clearance

[allotment grower]

keep to glass on an allotment

high winds in the winter will end up and blow a pannel loose we have a member on the allotment with a poly-carbonate greenhouse and he was always looking for the pannels that blew off.

try - ebay or local adtrader paper of freecycle group go for an second hand greenhouse you may get one local as cheep as chips

[MarkHackwell]

keep to glass on an allotment

high winds in the winter will end up and blow a pannel loose we have a member on the allotment with a poly-carbonate greenhouse and he was always looking for the pannels that blew off.

try - ebay or local adtrader paper of freecycle group go for an second hand greenhouse you may get one local as cheep as chips

The reason why i have stayed clear of a glass greenhouse is because of someone smashing it :/ My allotment is surrounded by two hedges and there is a park very nearby. The hedges surround the allotment soo it doesnt usually get too windy and I have a polytunnel which soo far has stood the wind.

[Alison]

I wouldn't put glass on my lottie, a couple of people have and have had panes broken which can be a real pain to clear up and puts the greenhouse out of action for far longer than if you're just repairing plastic. If you go with poly then make sure you grout them in securely or they will pop out in the wind.

[bazzaboy]

Ancillary question to Mark's original one.... Would experienced grapes put a polytunnel (or greenhouse) on an allotment that has NO DIRECT WATER SUPPLY other than what you can carry down or collect from rainfall? Does a tunnel offer any means of collecting rainfall? I assume ALL water in a tunnel has to be artificially provided and that could be become a big problem in a hot/dry summer....

On the allotment I currently collect rain from a small shed roof and supplement that by taking down 3 hefty containers each time I visit (which means I always have to go by car even though less than a mile away). I have a greenhouse in the garden at home for seedlings/toms etc (but also a hosepipe there!) but on the allotment just use cloches and the Haxnick type fleece/net tunnels. Would a polytunnel on the allotment become a nightmare?

[chris]

A member here, Duronal made a polytunnel gutter... his blog post about it is here:The Polytunnel Diaries: Water + plastic + canes + tape = a DIY Gutter

[Two_Sheds]

Its a polycarbonate greenhouse which is in a sale clearance

What is missing on cheap GHs is adequate ventilation. Your cheapo GH will overheat & kill your plants unless you water it down several times a day, even with the door left open all day. Condensation & moulds will be a problem too.

Before you buy, do a google for the make, plus 'reviews', like this.

If I had to have a cheapo one again, I wouldn't sit it in full sun, and I'd be shading the outside with netting.

[Alison]

Ancillary question to Mark's original one.... Would experienced grapes put a polytunnel (or greenhouse) on an allotment that has NO DIRECT WATER SUPPLY other than what you can carry down or collect from rainfall? Does a tunnel offer any means of collecting rainfall? I assume ALL water in a tunnel has to be artificially provided and that could be become a big problem in a hot/dry summer....

On the allotment I currently collect rain from a small shed roof and supplement that by taking down 3 hefty containers each time I visit (which means I always have to go by car even though less than a mile away). I have a greenhouse in the garden at home for seedlings/toms etc (but also a hosepipe there!) but on the allotment just use cloches and the Haxnick type fleece/net tunnels. Would a polytunnel on the allotment become a nightmare?

I don't have any water mains on my site and have quite successfully manged to water the 20' x 10' tunnel. The stick on guttering stuff doesn't work, have tried it as it came free / cheap with my tunnel and it was useless. I now have some shed sized guttering on posts next to the tunnel with a fall to one end. Have taped polythene to the tunnel and guttering to form a flexible skirt so that when the water comes off the roof most of it gets in the guttering and then to the water butts at the end. It works well. In the tunnel I have beds laid out with dripper hose running all around them. In summer I have a battery operated timer which waters the beds every evening and is supplimented by watering cans from my IBC which is connected to the shed. At this time of year the timer is nice and cosy elsewhere and I have one of the butts discharging constantly into the tunnel so whenever it rains the beds get watered. Seems to work very well and is pretty much self managing. It did get a bit dodgy last April when it was so dry for so long and I found myself taking about 20 2l pop bottles of main up comfrey food with me every week as I hadn't enough water at the plot for feeding as well as watering.

[bazzaboy]

Many thanks Chris and Alison for the suggestions..... gosh Alison, you do sound well organised, brilliant innovations! It's surprising polytunnel companies haven't cracked this problem as the annual rainfall on the area of a polytunnel must be significant if only it can be collected.... certainly quite a few pop bottles worth! If you could collect it even at ground level on a slope (I'm thinking out loud here, Alison has prompted the creative Heath Robinson instinct...) perhaps a small pump could get it into a butt. Hmmm will ponder this one, meantime many thanks.

ps Alison, is your battery timer one of regular ones available in garden centres for fixing to taps?
ps2 Another thought... could you dig a hole and have a mini pond? (I'll be getting ducks next)