Polytunnel extras

[burnie]

Help................
I am formulating my order for my first tunnel,the one I'm planning on is on ebay and is made by first tunnels.
I get the feet and a base rail and hot spot tape in the deal it seems,but what about ridge ventilation,do I need it in Scotland?.I'm going to get the storm bars and shelf supports,as I guess it's easier to fit all of these before the poly cover goes on,rather than trying to fit them afterwards.Anything else?,I'm not having the container bars as I'm too tall and will wack my head on them.

[nick the grief]

Not sure how good the ridge ventilationon is Burnie. I would just buy some timber & make anothe door in the other end so you can open them both & let the air flow thru that. then when you ant to you can open either one of the doors if its a bit windy/rainy. Pigletwillie or Jennie would be the best folks to ask as they already have tunnels, this is one bit of kit I'm lacking at the moment but thats planned for next year so I'll be watching this one myself

[burnie]

So...... the article in the october mag doesn't mention ridge ventilation,but strongly suggests roll up sides with netting,anyone "up north use this?

[sewer rat]

Burnie
I am looking at buying three tunnels from First Tunnels at the moment for commercial purposes. I have dismissed the ridge ventilation but all tunnels will have either double doors at both ends or alternatively, double doors at one end with large double louvres at the other - this is only dependent on where the Planning Officer says I can site them, otherwise double doors at both ends would be my only choice.
There area couple of commercial tunnels near me that have the ventilated sides with netting, with the additional option of having a roll down polycover to close these off if necessary - I haven't spoken to the owners yet but will be meeting them within the next fortnight - if you can hold off your purchase til then, I'll let you know what they think the pros and cons of side vents are.
I'd fit all internal fittings before putting your cover on -it's the only way you could apply your anti hot spot tape anyway.

[nick the grief]

So...... the article in the october mag doesn't mention ridge ventilation,but strongly suggests roll up sides with netting,anyone "up north use this?

Aren't these only an option in the bigger tunnels? not sure & can't find the 1st tunnel brochure.

[sewer rat]

Nick
First Tunnels have the vented sides as an option with all their tunnels - both domestic and commercial

[Jaxom]

Rat it sounds as though the plans for the "good life" are coming on a storm now.

[burnie]

First tunnels have a web site www.firsttunnels.co.uk for those interested.Thanks for all the advice,I will not be ordering until next month(after pay day,too much month left at the end of the money this month)Will watch this space.

[JennieAtkinson]

Hi Burnie - I just have doors at both ends of my tunnel and these have plastic on the lower half and netting on the top half, so even if they are shut I'm getting reasonable ventilation. Also the doors don't really fit that well (not like a greenhouse), so there is always a bit of a gap for wind to get through.

In the summer I have both doors open all the time, but have netting hanging in the doorway (it hangs on a bamboo cane and I hold it down with stones. Nothing fantastic! The holes are large enough for bees etc to get in but not birds. I have found this to work well now for the last three years.

My biggest problem this year is that I have packed in FAR too much and consequently there is not enough air and daylight circulating within the tunnel. Learnt my lesson the hard way. It all seemed so huge in May and now everything is just growing away on top of each other, which has had an impact on the amounts being harvested.

Hope this helps.

[burnie]

Thanks all,I contacted first tunnels and asked if I could buy some extras(ebay offer has a few freebies/upgrades)at the same time so I could assemble at the same time.Nice reply and very helpful,roll on next week as I'm now pretty sure as to what I'm going to order.Will post some details how it all goes for those contemplating taking the plunge.