No idea where to begin...help.

[bobbin]

I'm not allowed to have a poly tunnel on my allotment...( or greenhouse or shed or any type of shelter ..or dance naked by the moon....Actually I made that one up but but it wouldn't be allowed as veg would wilt on mass!!!)
Sorry...anyway MOH agrees the bottom end of the garden which is a bit no mans land could house a modest poly tunnel. I'd like to grow some strawberries and the general stuff my crappy old greenhouse does not grow well at all,tomatoes as well.Nowt fancy man, as they say in Newcastle.
Would it be a plastic covering and are they terribly expensive? If I look on line I will be bombarded with ads on here and everywhere else so I'm asking the experts. (Mind you my dad used to say ..experts stood for X as in Has Been and SPERTS as in Drip Under Pressure! which applies to none of you good folk)
I'm so excited about this I probably need to get out more. Please put me on the right poly tunnel route. Does anyone out there have such a modest set up and are the results worth the effort do you think. Do you grow amazing stuff..

[muddled]

I have an old plastic greenhouse with the whole front missing off it and the window in the jammed fully open position.

Modest is a nice word for it....I think it looks post apocalyptic

Grows all sorts of good stuff.

[Scarlet]

I haven't got a tunnel, I decided on a GH. I mainly grow tomatoes and chillies so it seemed a good option to me. Why would you prefer a tunnel? How much will you be growing in it? Will you be using it to start off your seeds/seedlings?
I'll find some threads for you to read
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...use_88309.html
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ice_86181.html

[bario1]

Are you planning to put it in the space where your 'crappy old greenhouse' is now? If so, you might want to ask yourself why it's crappy... probably not because it's old, but some other reason... and that reason would more than likely affect your new polytunnel too.

[Thelma Sanders]

When I had a polytunnel, the only difference I noticed was the extra height in the tunnel. I got extra trusses on the cordon tomatoes and peppers grown on the staging had enough head room, I also grew a few early climbing beans, because it could take the cane height.
It was one of the green plastic ones on ebay, that I had and it didn't look very nice, so when the cover died after 2 years, I scrapped it and bought a greenhouse instead.

[bobbin]

The greenhouse is old and definitely crappy bario1. Broken glass etc. I think you may have all put me off
A polytunnel. I thought it would extend my growing season and enable me to grow different stuff.
Maybe I should scrap the idea.

[muddled]

Its not that polytunnels are bad....its just that they aren't a magic wand!
There are some excellent reasons to have one like;

You've got loads of room and a windy, exposed plot
You want to be able to garden in comfort in rainy weather
You produce all of your family's veg and need your results to be more predictable...

So, decide what you want from your growing space and then decide the best way to get that rather than set your heart on an expensive piece of kit that may not be what you need.
If you want to grow a few indoor tomatoes, a couple of panes for your greenhouse will be a cheaper option...and strawberries grow very well outside.

[Scarlet]

The greenhouse is old and definitely crappy bario1. Broken glass etc.

I was gifted an old and crappy green house. Cleaned it up, washed all the glass in my kitchen sink, bought new panes for the broken ones. My guttering is a lot to be desired but my tomatoes grow well in it.
Is it really that far gone that it's not worth fixing it up?
Can you post some photos?

[bario1]

I certainly didn't mean to put you off getting a polytunnel, Bobbin! I just wondered why you would choose to replace the greenhouse you already have, rather than fixing it up? As far as what they do is concerned, the differences are negligible as far as I know. I love my little 12'x6' tunnel, but if there'd already been a greenhouse there, I wouldn't have bothered with the expense.