polytunnel's

[mitchel]

Considering buying some poly tunnels ive got a 40m x 50m concrete slab on my field i can put them is it worth some how heating them or just opening side flaps and letting nature do its business?

[sandspider]

I'd just open the flaps and let nature do its thing - it's free, it just takes time.

 

I think heating them would be a difficult and potentially expensive way to try and speed things up.

[cornish wood burner]

Polytunnels do not retain heat well so as sand spider says use the heat from the sun rather than provide additional heat that will escape quickly anyway. A poly tunnel can easily get into the 40s with a little sun.

When you build them make sure you have plenty of air flow when needed. Side vents are a good idea if it's going to be a reasonable length. Apologies if you know the following but a common mistake is not to have enough bracing / strength for the end hoops. There is a big pull from the plastic down the length of the tunnel especially in high winds so brace to

the ridge bar, crop bars if you have them, and two diagonals down the length to the ground.

Presumably you are not going to dig up the concrete to set in the ground hoops so you will need to make some bolt down plates with about a 300 mm tube upstanding to take the hoops. We tex screw hoops to ground tubes but make sure you use good quality if you do that.

[mitchel]

Polytunnels do not retain heat well so as sand spider says use the heat from the sun rather than provide additional heat that will escape quickly anyway. A poly tunnel can easily get into the 40s with a little sun.

When you build them make sure you have plenty of air flow when needed. Side vents are a good idea if it's going to be a reasonable length. Apologies if you know the following but a common mistake is not to have enough bracing / strength for the end hoops. There is a big pull from the plastic down the length of the tunnel especially in high winds so brace to

the ridge bar, crop bars if you have them, and two diagonals down the length to the ground.

Presumably you are not going to dig up the concrete to set in the ground hoops so you will need to make some bolt down plates with about a 300 mm tube upstanding to take the hoops. We tex screw hoops to ground tubes but make sure you use good quality if you do that.

 

 

Looking at the below at the moment as the bigger plant type are just plastic all way round and no side vents?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/121912963726

[farmer rod]

we have a tunnel for sheep, 50m x 9m, it has 800mm of netting/mesh at the bottom which provides plenty of airflow.

 

how are going to stack/unstack?

[cornish wood burner]

we have a tunnel for sheep, 50m x 9m, it has 800mm of netting/mesh at the bottom which provides plenty of airflow.

 

how are going to stack/unstack?

 

That's exactly what I was going to suggest.

Good evening mitchel

That tunnel in your link looks fairly DIY to me. How windy is your site. I suspect that one would stand much of a breeze. Hoops too small a diameter for a start.

A well built tunnel should stand up to 80mph winds, but open sides might reduce that slightly.

Best to have straight sides with mesh. This will give you good air flow but also more importantly give you chance to fix the sides down to prevent the wind blowing the tunnel away. Your concrete does present some problems but not insurmountable. In an ideal world how much covered are a would you like?

I imagine having concrete gives you scope to use a pallet truck to stack in the tunnel unless you have a small forklift. I can recommend some suppliers if you wish. Building your own is straightforward especially if you have some help to pull the sheet over.

[Logged On]

Build your own, it ain't that hard....

 

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OK, not huge, but you get the idea...

 

Scaff bars banged in ground for rigid uprights, poly pipe for the hoops. And the sheeting is from Mitie Generation Hire, Birtley.

 

That comes in 2, or I think 3m width rolls and is reinforced, so doesn't tear like normal poly covers.

 

My cover came in 2m width, so I had to cover it in 'strips', that's where the battens are, think 'sandwich'...

[drythropple]

Best to use proper polytunnel covers as they have a film on the plastic that prevents dripping, the moister sticks to itself and runs down the poly!

[Logged On]

Never had that problem in ours.

 

But if you're drying logs in them, as said, there'll be vents constantly open preventing moisture build up as you're wanting rid of it ASAP

[farmer rod]

I can drive our forks right through ours (when its not full of sheep) and even with this lot inside, the atmosphere is quite dry

Edited April 1, 2016 by farmer rod