Poly tunnel ?

[rich62_uk]

Thinking of trying to teach myself and my 7 year old about growing some tomatoes/herbs etc in a small poly tunnel any ideas on where to get the best type for us ? We live in a windy area !

[witchschild]

Best advice we got was to buy one with the largest hoop/pole diameter we could afford - this is where the tunnel gets it's strength from. Look through EVERY catalogue from manufacturers you can get then decide on what your needs actually are. Also check the delivery charges - they range from zero to the price of another poly tunnel!!! We got ours three seasons ago and I wouldn't change it for the world!! All the best

[pig whisperer]

we have a Ferryman Tuff tunnel 65' by 12' it has been up 5 years & still looks good, we put up a windbreak & this has helped prevent wind damage. a word of caution, polys can be addictive. going in for 20 minutes can turn into 2 hours or more. Good Luck & enjoy yor poly

[rich62_uk]

Er I maybe used the wrong words lmao. I am looking for a tiny one maybe 6 ft long at the most ... Sorry but its only for a couple of tomato plants for my son and myself to learn :).

[pig whisperer]

They do smaller ones. its just a good tunnel & i would buy from them again,

[billmoseley]

try northern poly tunnels they seem to know what they are talking about for tunnels up in this area

[richardj]

I would recommend First Tunnels - and ask for 50mm tubing which will stand up to the gales, it cost a little extra on their smaller range of tunnels but well worth the extra money, they are also very helpful and friendly on the phone - our tunnel has survived last winters gales without a problem and is now into its third winter.
However if you really want to grow tomatoes then a glasshouse would be a better idea as we have found the tomatoes in the tunnel make a lot of vegetative grown and the tomatoes tend to stay green (great for chutney) rather than ripen, this is probably due to lack of sunshine during the summer - it is unfortunately a lot more expensive to buy a glasshouse as light, cheap ones will probably just blow down in the gales. We have just put up a Rhino from http://www.greenhousesdirect.co.uk/ and it has a strong design and construction ... just hoping it will cope with the Caithness weather although I think it will.
Good luck with your growing, a polytunnel does allow you to grow a lot of plants such as herbs, asparagus etc that does not cope very well in the Caithness climate.

Richard

[porshiepoo]

Think I got mine form northern tunnels. Personally I would prefer a glass house for Tomatoes up here, we just do not get enough sunshine for them to ripen in a tunnel. I've had my tunnel for 2 seasons and although the Toms produced alot of fruit, only about 10% ripened.
If you know a handy person you could possibly make a glass house out of second hand double glazed windows. I have a shed that is wooden at the bottom and double glazed all round the top half and plants tend to do much better in that.