polytunnel for next year

[Scottishnewbie]

for the last umpty-dumpty years my husband has asked me what i want for christmas and birthday. every year i tell him a polytunnel please...and every year, of course, i DON'T get one!

well this year i have decided that the time has finally come and i want to start dropping appropriate hints now - nothing like being prepared eh?

so here are my questions:

i have a large veggie garden and 2 greenhouses, we are a family of 4 - what size PT do i need and any suggestions as to where i should get it from and how much it it likely to cost?

that's all! many thanks peeps

[Alison]

I bought the biggest polytunnel I could sensibly fit on my plot without sacrificing other space which I wanted for outdoor stuff. This meant a 10' by 20' one and I fill in very easily. So far this year (it's first year), I have harvested early potatoes, carrots, peas, mange tout, early French beans, chillies, courgette (and early one but it's still going ), tomatoes (loads), chillies, peppers, cucumbers, aubergines and herbs and have sweet potatoes and melons still to harvest. Will be overwintering salad stuffs and some cabbages for early spring picking so it's doing well for us. I got mine off Northern Tunnels who were very helpful but they're never exactly cheap

[Dead Dogs]

Like Alison, I brought the largest that would fit in the selected location (4m x 10m). Did a lot of on-line research, eventually decided on Haygrove's Garden Tunnel.

Garden Polytunnels - Polytunnels for your Garden - Haygrove Polytunnels, Poly Tunnels, PolyTunnel - Design & Buy PolyTunnel Online

Main reason I choose this one was because it is very stonge and I am in a very exposed area. Open farm land and no trees. The plastic sheeting is of the 'Ripp stop' woven type, so will not tear in high winds. Two days after it was put up there were 'storm force' (F10) wind and there have been several gales (F8) since, with no movement or damage. Plus it came with free delievery, which is rare this far north.

[lynda66]

i've had my 4m x 2m one for 3 years .... all the plants in it are currently covered in little plastic squares where they all fell out from between the mesh ..... make sure you bury it properly into the ground too, it's flown across the garden at least 4 times

[Rhona]

We're after a PT too. I'm getting more and more confused about what we need.

Our plot is huge and very sheltered - strong winds not an issue. Can't decide whether to spend £500 + on something swank/sturdier; or £200 on something middling that will do for 2/3 years.

Is the green plastic worse/better/neither than clear covering by the way?

There are SO many options out there!

[Shadylane]

We have a plastic greenhouse with the green covering and a clear plastic covered cheapo poly. The poly cover ripped within a week in some strong ish winds. We patched it up and it's been fine but could do with patching up again. The green cover has some minor tears near the seams but seems stronger over all. I don't think they last all that long though. If you have room and can afford it why not splash out on something that's going to last. Some of the veterans have one of the big proper ones which cost em over 500 but they don't regret it and say it was worth it.

[bravo2zero]

Dont buy the CHEAP green tunnels they are exactly that, cheap crap. Look at first tunnels, northern polytunnels or citadel. I spent £450 on a PROPER tunnel 6 years ago and never regretted it. It currentley has one side ready for sowing pak choi, spinach, oriental green, winter lettuce and whatever else will survive during the winter. Go for it.

[winstonwobble]

I got a Haygrove tunnel earlier this year and i love it it strong easily put together and you dont have to dig a trench to bury the cover it zips on to the frame with a metal type thingy

[vegaholic]

We bought ours from Solar Tunnels, it's the sort with a reinforcing green mesh woven into the plastic. I recall it was quite a bit more expensive than most, but we've had it 8 years now and it's as good as the day we set it up. Definitely worth investing in a better quality one if the budget will stretch to it.

[OverWyreGrower]

We bought the largest we could fit on where we wanted.... 10ft by 30ft, double doors, irrigation system etc.

As Alison says, get the largest one you can afford/fit in your space without sacrificing other crops.

We used First Tunnels who were very helpful

[SarahStrawberry]

Hi

I agree with Dead Dogs. We have an older tunnel now but at the weekend at our local show Haygrove were there with one of theirs with the woven type fabric and it looked great, really a lot more substantial than ours and we are in an exposed area too. Will definately look at it again when we are ready to replace ours.

[Reedy]

Yes definately get the biggest one you can fit on the land, they soon fill up!
We had one from first tunnels polytunnels a few years ago but we had problems with bits missing and it wasn't very strong. So this year we went with premier polytunnels and we definately made the right choice, it is bigger metal hoops so very strong and the aftercare service is excellent. We had a question when we were putting the polytunnel up but we called premier up and they answered even though it was 7.30 at night!