what polytunnel to buy

[K-AngeL]

I am an impatient kinda soul so before I've even converted my lawn to beds I am hunting around for a polytunnel to buy. My husband left up a site with a chicken coop on it and I noticed they had polytunnels. My question is does anyone have any experience of these type/brand? Are they any good and is it a reasonable price?
I know it doesn't pay to be impatient as a gardener but unless I crack on I won't have any of the plants in pots from my last house in the ground and growing again (Raspberry canes, Gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes, strawberry plants and many, many herbs).
Thanks for all your help.

[K-AngeL]

oops I meant to put a link in here. Sorry.
3m Polytunnel Greenhouse for Gardens and Allotments

[Capsid]

You don't need a polytunnel to get those plants you listed in the ground. I'd be digging them all in now.

I don't have a polytunnel, so can't advise you. The ones you listed are a low price range though so I'd question their durability.

[K-AngeL]

My bad. I would like the polytunnel to enable me to grow melons, peppers, aubergines and certain tomatoes. The getting the other plants in the ground is simply to justify my impatience with getting the beds dug.

[OverWyreGrower]

AFAIK, these kind of tunnels are fine for spring/summer growing in decent weather.

You'd need to weight it down plenty when you're growing in it, and remove the cover in autumn/winter to stop it getting damaged. I guess an upside to it would be that you could move it round every year to cover a different bed?

For £80 it's not too bad, but, as said above, I'd wonder about the durability of it was year on year. A convential polytunnel (as in a larger, more permanent one) has to be recovered every 5-7 years or so, so I'd expect less from something like this.

[Robinson Polytunnels]

I may be biased in my opinion but I noticed the weight of the complete polytunnel is only 18kg. Our similar sized basic kit weighs 71kg.

Can you get a replacement cover for the one you're looking at?

[King Carrot]

I have a couple of these - depending on how windy it is where you are expect to get 2 - 3 summers at least and take down over winter. The little plastic squares start to get brittle and fall out after the first year, aside from that, I tie the frames to concrete blocks inside the tunnel and weigh down the skirt on the outside of the cover with more concrete blocks - jobs a good un.

When the covers are totally perished I'll probably cover them with polytunnel plastic to get a bit more life out of them.

Of course with the price of these now ( I got 3 for around £70 2 years ago) your best option is probably a small hobby tunnel.

[greengas]

I have one very similar from ebay blew away when I first put it up but they sent me another set of poles as some had bent. I then put it up with instructions they sent second time round, basically you hammer some 2 by 2 timbers in to ground adjacent to poles and secure with cable ties so far so good but I am not holding my breath. The biggest down side is the zips on the doors are flimsy and I have managed to break one at the back entrance so have attempted to mend with plastic taped to tunnel. I am going to put posts in to ground each side of door and then nail that end to posts using batons if that makes sense! You can see my polytunnel in photos on my blog link in signature, the bottom line is you pay your money and take a chance.