Are these any good?

[wimbish]

Was just looking on ebay and thought these poly tunnels looked reasonably priced! 4.5m Polytunnel Greenhouse Pollytunnel Poly Tunnel on eBay (end time 05-Aug-09 14:28:01 BST) Does anyone have one? And if so are they worth the money?

[SarzWix]

It depends where you're thinking about putting it? If there's anything more than a breath of wind you may find yourself chasing the cover through several counties, and the frame collapsing at innoportune moments There are things you can do to make it a bit more sturdy - weighing down the cover with paving slabs and glueing the frame together with blobs of silicone/NoMoreNails, but if it's going anywhere other than an extremely sheltered corner, I wouldn't recommend it

[Two_Sheds]

I would send a message to one of the previous buyers and ask them. You can do this by looking at the seller's feedback

[ukmastiff]

Or easier still look at my posts and photos re mine !

Check out the melons which have grown in mine too

You can of course E-Mail me if you like I'll give you yhe good and the bad but my posts say it all i think and you can decide

Best of Luck

mas

[wimbish]

Thanks for the replies guys! Sent you a pm Mastiff

[ukmastiff]

No prob :P check this out , this is linked too from the grape , i just used my own site to host the pics.

http://www.englishmastiff.org.uk/boa...hp?f=12&t=2041

I should mention it came VERY close to disapperaring in a storm but what i've done now apart from more bricks was to buy one of those nylon coated green washing lines for about a fiver and cut it in two. slung each half accross the roof width ways a foot from each end and secired it with home made wooden stakes like two guy ropes right accross the roof , as a result it isnt going anywhere these days. Also I taped evtry join with brown tape much like the silicone suggestion someone posted. you must definately tape all the joins it massively increases the rigidity.

If you can secure it and overcome the wind problem they are worth every penny, I would say by hunting e-bay daily Igot it for 65 not 80 or 90 as seems to be a common price. Also I know I have the ridge roofed one not the round roof one but its exactly the same make by the same chinese company lool. If I can find the pic with the ropes on I'll mail it

Hope this helps

Mas

[King Carrot]

This is the second year I've used these! I tie the frame together unless its got snap in connectors. I then tie the frame inside the greenhouse in a couple of places to 8" x 4" concrete blocks. I then use my own 9" tent pegs in the loops they provide on the skirt outside and then place a line of concrete blocks all around the skirt placing them over the tent pegs.



This is two of the 10ft tunnels joined to make a 20ft one you can see the blocks tied to the frame in a couple of places!



For the 12 x 12ft one below I use 8 x 4 blocks on the inside and outside!




I'm in an very very windy area, the first year I used these one end blew off the 20 ft jobbie so I now use more and heavier blocks around the skirt, so far so good this summer.

[King Carrot]

B****dy windy today, one of the zips on the new one I bought this year came apart - luckily no damage done as nothing was flapping. Not too fussed as I got this one for £35.00 on ebay!

I suppose best don't buy one if it's going to be your only buy for a couple of years, better putting that money towards something more permanent, polytunnel or greenhouse, These are an affordable stepping stone while I sort a tunnel out and we're pretty handy at repairing them! All in I've paid about £130 for the four structures - I would buy more but my limit is £30 ish on the 6 x 10 ft tunnels!

[Alice]

What is it you want to grow Wimbish ? I'm in Perthshire and I just grow everything outside. I don't have a greenhouse but I've been eating my tomatoes since June.
I do have a sunny, south facing garden and I plant things which need the extra heat against a sunny wall.
Everything else grows in raised beds in the ground and I have plenty of veg summer and winter.
What do you want to grow in the tunnels ?

[wimbish]

What is it you want to grow Wimbish ? I'm in Perthshire and I just grow everything outside. I don't have a greenhouse but I've been eating my tomatoes since June.
I do have a sunny, south facing garden and I plant things which need the extra heat against a sunny wall.
Everything else grows in raised beds in the ground and I have plenty of veg summer and winter.
What do you want to grow in the tunnels ?

I'm wanting to grow tomatoes, melons, chillies and peppers in the tunnel.
I've just got home from work tonight to find one of my hanging baskets which has tumbling tom reds has got blight! The plants are full of fruits so I'm really gutted now.
Hopefully with a tunnel this will reduce the risk of losing tomatoes in the future.

[RickinDarwen]

We got one, we are in a windy part of East Lancs.

It took 2 days before it was on it's side, our tomatoes in it are doing OK now but we will never know which variety is which!

I have a concrete block tied to each corner of it, when the wind is up it is too stressful too watch! Have had to duck tape some broken joints together, the tube and welding is a little flimsy.

One of the zips is broken and the mesh on the vents has either been eaten or is rotting away.

It's worth what I paid for it (mmh?) but planning a 'proper' tunnel or greenhouse for next year.

[RickinDarwen]

Well we have been 'having weather' lately and I was bracing myself for the worse as I watched the tunnel pulling shapes.

Then I got home today and was met with this,




It's especially tragic as my toms were *finally* starting to turn.

[Premier Polytunnels]

Oh no Rick, I feel your pain! Have you managed to salvage it at all?

Hope you've been able to find a good home for your tomato plants for the time being.

Chicago may be the windy city, but I bet East Lancashire is windier! Luckily we found the perfect spot in our garden for our polytunnel.... It's just the plants outside (and the washing line!) that take a battering!

[RickinDarwen]

I didn't try to salvage anything last night, I had my 'bollox to it' head on.

I can't give up though, I have been watering the swines for months so i'm going to try and coddle the broken bits with tent poles and gaffer tape!

I looked at your website before having a punt on this thing on ebay, I wasn't expecting much to be honest but I should have known better being a seasoned camper and gone for something more robust.

I will be in touch when this this thing goes in the skip!

[Premier Polytunnels]

Don't give up hope yet.... People grow things in much worse conditions. In fact, I know someone who wraps a sleeping bag around her potted plants to keep them warm!