Polytunnel and Now a Greenhouse

[Two_Sheds]

the annual rainfall on the area of a polytunnel must be significant if only it can be collected....

The best place to store water is in the soil if possible. Make the soil absorb & save more water by adding liberal amounts of humus (rotted compost/manure).

I use upturned one gallon water bottles to water into. I wonder if you could sink a load of them under/beside the polytunnel, so the rain is directed into them and into the soil. A trench all the way round?

[bazzaboy]

The best place to store water is in the soil if possible. Make the soil absorb & save more water by adding liberal amounts of humus (rotted compost/manure).

I use upturned one gallon water bottles to water into. I wonder if you could sink a load of them under/beside the polytunnel, so the rain is directed into them and into the soil. A trench all the way round?

Yes, good thinking 2S... I've seen your water bottle tip before and I successfully used it last year with courgettes and marrows, good one. But you still have to collect the water to pour into them!

So your idea is the rain runs down the OUTSIDE wall of the tunnel and then somehow gets directed INSIDE (my allotment is on a gentle slope so worth pondering how that might be possible...) Land drains reversed?

I've just written to one of the polytunnel companies to see if they've any (polite!) suggestions.... I can well imagine some less than polite ones....

If they come up with a good one I'll put in on here.

[veggiechicken]

Seen this?
Heres an innovative way of collecting Rainwater from your Polytunnel « Polytunnel Gardening

[bazzaboy]

Thanks VC. I notice the daughter has a duck too! (Plastic one, very sensible.) I suspect the longer-term snag with any fixture to the side is that strong buffeting and winter freezes etc (and my loti is quite exposed) will soon compromise the cover. I notice one of the illustrations in your reference has side ventilation... I think that's the Haygrove model I saw demonstrated at the Lincs Show which has a roller gadget down each side (each side? one side? can't remember...) which might offer a means to collect rain.... (Unfortunately it's one of the most expensive on the market duh!). I suspect the problem is that when it rains you're supposed to wind the sides DOWN whereas to collect the rain you'd need to leave 'em UP. But you don't need to collect stormy Winter rain when the sides would def need to be down and secure or rather than a tunnel you'ld have a kite....

Can't be insoluble, am keen to find the answer!

[veggiechicken]

BB When you said you'd be getting ducks next I didn't realise you meant plastic ones!

[bazzaboy]

rather than a tunnel you'ld have a kite....

SUDDEN THOUGHT: Maybe that's the solution, if it blew away I wouldn't have to worry about watering it, problem solved!

[veggiechicken]

Just like Bradlo's greeenhouse http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ses_62964.html

[bazzaboy]

BB When you said you'd be getting ducks next I didn't realise you meant plastic ones!

LOL.... Thought it would be easier. I have got some plastic flowers, very convincing, can you get plastic veg to dig up and from a distance annoy your neighbours....? Prize Parsnips.... Easy! Carrots....? Not a carrot fly to be seen....

[veggiechicken]

I tied plastic roses to a bush in winter once, to annoy my neighbour who worships his roses. I knew that he wouldn't be able to tell whether they were real or not from that distance. He eventually asked me about them and I was forced to confess!

[Potstubsdustbins]

I don't know how big your shed is but may I ask if you ever go to the lottie and find your butt overflowing. The reason I ask is that the amount of water runoff during a rain storm is immense and I am wondering if extra storage might help.

Colin

[bazzaboy]

Just like Bradlo's greeenhouse http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ses_62964.html

That's a good idea, VC, a polytunnel without the poly, perfect, then rain can get in no problem.... And in fact without the tunnel too coz above the ground. Problem solved! Thank you.

[bazzaboy]

I don't know how big your shed is but may I ask if you ever go to the lottie and find your butt overflowing. The reason I ask is that the amount of water runoff during a rain storm is immense and I am wondering if extra storage might help.

Colin

Good point Colin, it's a small shed and last summer was so dry it didn't keep one butt full (until of course I didn't need it, then it overflowed...); and I've a couple of dustbins on standby and a small butt for comfrey tea so storage is less of a problem than getting the darn stuff there! But I agree a shed (or greenhouse of course) can gather a lot.... I'd really like to try the tunnel because I've never done that and they seem SO productive once in operation... I think I've got to somehow use the slight incline of the allotment to advantage but can't quite think how to do it.....

[Two_Sheds]

So your idea is the rain runs down the OUTSIDE wall of the tunnel and then somehow gets directed INSIDE

Not quite: it runs down the outside walls, into a trench which is lined with one gallon pots, thereby taking the water deeper into the soil.
The water doesn't have to be directly under the polytunnel for the plants to be able to access it: it just needs to go nearby

[Two_Sheds]

Would experienced grapes put a polytunnel (or greenhouse) on an allotment that has NO DIRECT WATER SUPPLY

This book, Gaia's Garden, has some really inspirational stories about veg gardens in desert conditions, well worth a read (order from your library?)

Other desert gardening books are available, but that's a great book.

There's some technical info here that you might be able to make use of on a small scale: rainwater harvesting in Tanzania

[Alison]

ps Alison, is your battery timer one of regular ones available in garden centres for fixing to taps?

Yes, it's a Hoselock one which I got when B&Q were selling it off cheap because it had battered packaging.

I'll try and take some piccies of the watering system this weekend if I can brave the cold so hopefully it'll make more sense than my wordy explanation