Topic: Diy polly tunnel pics at last

[the-goodlife]

Well some of you may remember i built my own tunnel last year, well over winter i moved it & made some improvements, so this is tunnel 1 version 122.3!

so from this in feb 2 days before it snowed!



to this.









As you can see full of toms & chillis & peppers  ;D

If you would like to build your own i will be more than happy to advise with the problems i had & maybe come & help ;)

[northener]

Thats just how i remember it. How much was the cover Steve?

[Hector]

well done the-goodlife :)

[the-goodlife]

sheet from a company called rhodes packaging, they have an ebay shop 500gauge 50mtr x 4mtr £48.99 + del £10.00 i think??

[gardentg44]

9sheet from a company called rhodes packaging, they have an ebay shop 500gauge 50mtr x 4mtr £48.99 + del £10.00 i think??]

Cheap at twice the price :D

[Digeroo]

Most impressive.  Is plastic cover uv resistant or will crack up after a year or two

[the-goodlife]

non uv, but i have put some green scaffold netting over the top and i loaded my knapsack sprayer up with total sun block had 2 bottles watered down and sprayed all the tunnel  8)  this may work i hope :-\

[BarriedaleNick]

Top tunnel the-goodlife!
Can I ask what you used for the supports or is there a previous thread from the first build?
I may try to emulate you next year.
One other question - what do you do for ventilation?  My little plastic covered greenhouse gets so hot and damp that my toms just rotted in their pots - I was busy and didnt open the door for several days...

[the-goodlife]

on the door the scaffold net extends down so i can have the door open and no pests getting in ,at the other end i have 2 external vents taped in position see link,

http://www.allaboutelectrics.co.uk/doc/12/vid/275/4INCH_WHITE_EXTRACT_FAN_GRILLE_.html

purchased them from this site too, The wood for the frame is from a sheet steel fabrication place they are 2.4mtr long i deal! its what the sheet steel gets deliverd on ,if your lucky like i was 1 pallet was a heavy redwood. the tube is 20mm pvc conduit from an electrical wholesalers pay no more than about 90p per mtr then you will need some through boxes & eight tee boxes, 20mm metal spacer bar saddles glue for pvc tube and boxes, nails & screws, saw,8 cans, warm day, couple of hinges, i made the door from a large pallet wood, the side panels on the tunnel are from the electrical wholesalers again where they had some floor trunking deliverd on them.

When all the tube was done and glued and all in position i then put some wood on top (spine) of the tunnel screwed down then some fleece to protec the sheet,
once i had the sheet with the join in the centre i then put some more wood along the top to clamp the sheet down, i joined the sheet at home in the garden not so windy!! i used double sided tape from a carpet shop works ok so far, gaffer tape not good in the humid conditions, dug a trench for the sheet to go in, pulled tight but not too much then back filled, once sides are done do the back end & then the front, i then cut the door way out, leave enough to fold round into the tunnel then tack it with felt nails or other method.
Note to self!!! dig your beds first not after as it gets hot hot hot!! :o .

The tee boxes: on the first & second and last & one before the last hoop 1.5mtr from the bottom cut and insert these boxes and cut a piece of tube to go across this will act as a support for the end hoop, as i found once the poly sheet is tought the end hoops pull in! do this befor the sheet goes on!! lol.

then get planting! makes a good warm shelter when it starts raining ;D.

i did read somwhere that toms like the humidity rate high mine only get a pint a day, i have 4 buckets with water in  :)

[davyw1]

Tomatoes like venilation, cucumbers like humidity.

[the-goodlife]

i did see it though  :) aids pollination i also watched it on sky channel 279 rural tv had a chap on there who grew toms for a living, also my chillis like it humid too

[BarriedaleNick]

thanks the-goodlife and davyw1.  I'll book mark this for later!

My cues survived but my toms mostly didnt - still a lesson learnt for next year!

[davyw1]

thanks the-goodlife and davyw1.  I'll book mark this for later!

My cues survived but my toms mostly didnt - still a lesson learnt for next year!

There are a lot of lessons to be learned when it come to polytunnels, and i believe every gardener would love one, but there are also some bad points to building one.

Not knocking your tunnel Goodlife cos i think you have made a mighty fine job of it but i think you should have asked for a bit of advice before you went ahead and put polythene on instead of a propper skin.
Polythene sweats so you will get a lot of condensation good point you wont have to worry about Red Spider Mite.

You have to either remove the skin at least every 3 years or change the soil to stop the build up of salts and minerals and flush the soil through every year.

If anyone is about to buy a new skin for a tunnel you should be aware that you can put one on inside out.

[the-goodlife]

davvy thanks for kickin me down!!!  the tunnel is still on trial & yes im aware of the skin and all the problems faced with a poly tunnel!!! but all im doing is a homemade project to help folk on this site if they want to do somthing like this!! with a budget, i will also point out since it was built i have had the best crops of toms & chillis & aurbergines, herbs,peppers, cucumbers & gherkins going!!!! in 2007/2008.

How do you think poly tunnels started before uv skins!!!!?, YES IT WAS A NORMAL SHEET OF POLYTHENE FFS!!! i do know what im doing i have been succesful in every way for 25years now with growing my own plants veg and trees, and for the record i do have other poly tunnels as i sell them over internet and also have 3 more elsewhere full of bedding plants!!!!,

So what if the skin is not uv if i get 2 years out of it hey so what! its a trial, hence why i put the scaffold netting over to minimise the effects of uv.

so i thank you to keep your opinions to your self, im happy that folk on here are willing to give it ago too thats the fun of it, im still coming up with modifications which will be put into use next year.

so lets see you do something!!!! of this calibur or better just keep  :-X

[davyw1]

Quote The Goodlife  [so i thank you to keep your opinions to your sel :-Xf, im happy that folk on here are willing to give it ago too thats the fun of it, im still coming up with modifications which will be put into use next year.]

An opinion i am entitled to if you don,t like other peoples opinions then don,t read their replies to your posts.

As for kicking you down i stated i thought you had made a good job of your projet prey tell me where did the boot go in there.

Perhaps you did know the facts that i posted i am not to know that, but how many others that read it did not know, perhaps they are now that little bit more knowledgeable about polytunnels.
Now about your last comment, complete with keep my mouth shut smiley
 [so lets see you do something!!!! of this calibur or better just keep ]

To be honest if i was to build something as badly made as your effort the surrounding Gardner's would extract the urine that much i would have to take it down out of shame.

[cornykev]

Now now girls lets put a lid on it.     ;D ;D ;D

[tim_n]

http://www.instructables.co.uk/id/Simple_easy_Greenhouse/

http://www.instructables.co.uk/id/Build_an_Easy_5_x_5_Home_Greenhouse_for_under_25/

Can't see your pics, but I assume it looks something like the links above?  If not, I'd look at making an instructable.

Doesn't matter what it looks like or whether it only lasts two years.  Most polytunnels last 10-15 tops, if they're not vandalised or destroyed by high winds.  Yours probably costs 1/10 of a manufactured one so if you loose one, it doesn't matter as much.

Never cared what my allotment neighbours think.  After I started raised bed gardening everyone started wittering about 'the plot with the giant blue boxes'.  Two years later almost everyone else had to keep up with the jones.