Things You Do Want To See In Your Polytunnel

[taff]

Taff, can I ask what you mean by tanks please as I've got lots of celery to
plant and I might try this.

Also has anyone sown carrots in a polytunnel and if so have you had to cover them still?

Sorry, I was away
Right...the tunnel I was growing in had old water tanks down one side, the owner had been growing his aquatic plants in there, but they grew too fast , so he put them backoutside again, but left the tanks in there.
We filled them with soil and manure, and grew tomatoes/chillies in there the first year then the second year, topped up with compost and manure, and I planted one of the tanks with celery. They grew really well because there were no holes in the tanks to drain excess water, so you could make the soil really boggy, and it was sheltered and warm, so they grew like crazy and shaded the stems too, so they self blanched that way. The tanks were about a meter square, and I put nine plants in one.

[VirginVegGrower]

Sorry, I was away
Right...the tunnel I was growing in had old water tanks down one side, the owner had been growing his aquatic plants in there, but they grew too fast , so he put them backoutside again, but left the tanks in there.
We filled them with soil and manure, and grew tomatoes/chillies in there the first year then the second year, topped up with compost and manure, and I planted one of the tanks with celery. They grew really well because there were no holes in the tanks to drain excess water, so you could make the soil really boggy, and it was sheltered and warm, so they grew like crazy and shaded the stems too, so they self blanched that way. The tanks were about a meter square, and I put nine plants in one.

Sounds a fab idea!

[marchogaeth]

Finished raised beds. Not quite taken a year to get there. In the end I just went for the biggest possible bed, all this having paths big enough for wheel barrows is just wasting valuable growing space.

This is now planted up with aubergines, peppers and chillies.

[VirginVegGrower]

My path is two foot wide and I'm already thinking of making it eighteen inches instead It was a tropical oasis in there today when everywhere else was freezing.

[Vince G]

I've got melons (Emir)

If you'll pardon the expression OWG, how are your melons looking?

I've got 2 Emir in the polytunnel, and they're growing up strings but thus far are only about a foot up them. Is this about right?

[marchogaeth]

My path is two foot wide and I'm already thinking of making it eighteen inches instead It was a tropical oasis in there today when everywhere else was freezing.

I'm down to 50cm and still squeezing in pots of things like marigolds and herbs which can be moved either out of the way or to catch light.

Very focused on how much shelving I might ultimately be able to get in there now without beggering things up!

[VirginVegGrower]

Mr VVG with the watering can. I'd like to see him in there today, in preparation for taking over for a few days...I wonder if he can hear this message.

[marchogaeth]

Ha! and then he'll do it all wrong. I don't know how they manage it! I've got lots of big plastic bottles up ended in the beds with strict instructions that you can fill those. I also advise hiding the rose so that water has to be applied specifically to plants and not as a general monsoon impression.

[marchogaeth]

A lovely, great big sleepy bumble bee resting on my beautiful, purple flowered Delinel dwarf French beans overnight ready for some more work today, just the one along with the solo ladybird. Thank goodness for the spiders who really do seem to eat the aphids or at least frighten them away.

[VirginVegGrower]

Ha! and then he'll do it all wrong. I don't know how they manage it! I've got lots of big plastic bottles up ended in the beds with strict instructions that you can fill those. I also advise hiding the rose so that water has to be applied specifically to plants and not as a general monsoon impression.

Yep I know but I have to trust him sometimes. Rose is already hidden

[VirginVegGrower]

Celeriac will be going in there now, as I was going to pop it onto the allotment, but with this weather I need all the help I can get and five tomato plants have just made room. I am expecting lots more room soon owing to blight, which leads me to my next post...

[marchogaeth]

This season's saving grace.

Dwarf and climbimg French beans, totatoes, cucumbers, chillies, peppers (all be I'm not getting the fruit set I'd like), aubergines, leeks, lettuce (and associated), land cress, chicory, spicey leaves, carrots, cabbage, spring onions, radish, rocket, calabrese. kohl rabi, rainbow chard, stir fry leaves, courgette, butternut squash, strawberries, cape gooseberry, parsnips, dill, parsley, coriander, fever few, nasturtium, chives, tarragon, cerinthe, marigoldes (calendula and tagetes) cornflowers, poached egg plants, gentian, tatsoi, basil, love in a mist, (for planing out) turnips and kale, cauliflower, PSB.

[veggiechicken]

Looks like Paradise, M

[redser]

Dwarf and climbimg French beans, totatoes, cucumbers, chillies, peppers (all be I'm not getting the fruit set I'd like), aubergines, leeks, lettuce (and associated), land cress, chicory, spicey leaves, carrots, cabbage, spring onions, radish, rocket, calabrese. kohl rabi, rainbow chard, stir fry leaves, courgette, butternut squash, strawberries, cape gooseberry, parsnips, dill, parsley, coriander, fever few, nasturtium, chives, tarragon, cerinthe, marigoldes (calendula and tagetes) cornflowers, poached egg plants, gentian, tatsoi, basil, love in a mist, (for planing out) turnips and kale, cauliflower, PSB.

Fantastic array of stuff there! Mind if I ask how big is your tunnel. WOndering am I pushing my space enough. Mine is 20 x 10 foot. Cheers

[marchogaeth]

Fantastic array of stuff there! Mind if I ask how big is your tunnel. WOndering am I pushing my space enough. Mine is 20 x 10 foot. Cheers

Mine is 12' x 24' (My friend has a 10 x 20 and it does feel quite a bit smaller.)

That's answered your question. As I'm hoping to bore for Wales on my polytunnel here's stuff you didn't ask for!

It sort of got built in two halves and as I said above, I have reduced the path space to a minimum and regret the fact the some of the original paths were a bit wider but I have pots planted up with "bee flowers"/marigolds/nastertiums/herbs that I stand on the floor or move to gaps around the tunnel as they become available. I feed regularly (comfrey, pee liquids and mulch with nettles, exhaust comfry and goat manure) and I try to water fairly specifically to reduce the humidity eg I have 2l plastic water bottle upside down buried round the tomatoes and in the middle bed (which is drier) so the water goes into the root area and not on the soil. Also, I ventilate and am lucky enough that even when I'm at work my OH will open or close up if he thinks about it as the weather changes.

I try to use the space under the crop bars as much as possible - you can see the hanging baskets and I've just started using the mushroom boxes. Hopefully, these are small enough not to cast shadows for too long on the crops below.

I do tend not to sow in the borders but to grow plants so that when I have space there are no gaps and they are really ready to take off - no dead time. I am very new to this, it's only my first full year so it could all go pear shaped but I have one book which is my bible and I know I keep recommending it but it is brilliant. I know a lot of people like the Joyce Russell one and I enjoyed reading it and got some good additional ideas from it but the "How to Grow Food from Your Ploytunnel All Year" is just a more solid approach to my way of thinking also he really pushes the planting distances (and I push the even more!)

My winter production was patchy last year so I'm hoping to get that a bit better this time round.

The other thing is to be ruthless - rip plants out before the absolute last bit of production if you need the space (it's heart breaking but has to be done). Try things, too like my leeks were spare to the garden and I stuck them inbetween the peppers thinking I'd harvest them as soon as they looked to be struggling and eat them small but they seem to be loving it even though I would have said they were crowded out now.

The tunnel is at it's best in the photos but it is virtually givng us all the veg we are eating (at least four of us every day) (not potatoes but we did have a good crop of earlies in there) and I'm freezing some stuff and selling a little bit in the local shop.

Hope this helps give you an idea of where you are with your tunnel. PM me if you think we are moving into specifics that are off the forum a bit. (I know I just have!)