poly tunnel

i am thinking of buying a poly tunnel, my very tight budget wont allow for a greenhouse, ive seen one, but it has that green anti tear mesh, will this be any good, or do these sort of poly tunnels not give as much light, i wont to grow tomatoes , cucmbers.
thanks

 

Yes and no is the non simple answer! I have two of these tunnels both have the anti tear covering on them and you can look at a topic about both of them here http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/steves-polytunnels.33033/

The first one is now nearly four years old and the cover is still good, the second one is much younger and the cover has had it, the little squares started falling out this time last year, its now like a teabag all over.

Its a shame because the second ones galvanised frame is far superior to the first ones white powder coated frame which is now showing rust all over it.

However, its not all doom and gloom as the galvanised frame model is excellent and I will be recovering it this spring with proper polytunnel material, it'll cost around £80 to recover my 20ft x 10ft tunnel. With the original cost of the tunnel added to the cost of the new covering, its still a good strong tunnel for around £250.

Also have a look at Scrungees topic in the same polytunnel section of this site, its here http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/my-£50-polytunnel-from-ebay.31800/

There are a few other topics in there too which will help you decide.

Steve...

 

@savo318 What size tunnel are you thinking of? I've got two 2 x 4.25m (white coated tubes) and a 3 x 6m tunnel (10 x 20 feet) with galvanised tubes like SteveR's second tunnel.

I would reccomend getting a bolt together galvanised frame tunnel, not just because they are stronger and more durable than the white coated push fit frames, but because the suplied bolts can be swopped for inexpensive longer bolts (Wilko) enabling all sorts of things to be fitted to them like horizontal timber battens (for fixing canes, netting, twine, etc. to), staging, holding down straps, door posts, etc. They are also the right diameter for using saddle clips to fix stuff between bolt locations. I'll take a few pics.

The larger the tunnel, the smaller the temperature fluctations. Add a door before the zips break. Use anti-hotspot tape to prevent deterioration of mesh next to hot metal tubes and rubbing against projecting bolt heads (and in my case, also rubing against sadle clips). Green mesh has never been a problem for light, but replace with clear when it wears out. Anchor the frame down - don't rely on buried edges of the covering to hold it in place during a gale. Demountable polytunnel staging was one of the best ideas I've had. A tunnel with a zip up door at just one end is easier to adapt to hinged doors at the other as you're not restricted to making it suit zip locations.

Check ebay and Amazon for prices as the same supplier can have different prices depending where they're selling. Don't hesitate to ask for any advice, opinions, etc. before/after buying/installing whatever.

 

to be honest, the one you have on your thread looks just like the one i want, size wise its 200x200x450cm.
its not as wide as id hoped for, but for the cost and my not so massive garden it should be alright.
i tried to put a link in

 

You'll need to up your post count before posting links, but you could post a hint as to the seller you are considering.

At £104.99 this is a good buy
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Polytunnel-Galvanised-Frame-6m-x-3m-Greenhouse-Pollytunnel-Poly-Tunnel-6-Section/130851842524?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=28111&meid=57dcc4cd128d4022b0b67ac07cd1154f&pid=100005&prg=11472&rk=4&rkt=6&mehot=pp&sd=160789609237&rt=nc


Or is this what you're considering @ £66.90? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Green...t=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item61d1065d6f

 

the one i was looking at is being sold by 2011homcom for 59.99

 

@savo318 This one?http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dome-Poly...t=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item92bcfc7b22

They don't state the frame tube diameter plus there's less ventilation panels and less vertical hoops used on larger sized tunnels.

But being the 'wide doored' version, it should have the bolted together frame that enables all sorts of fixings to be used.

 

yep thats the one i was looking at, and i was thinking that id probably add a length of wood on a frame running along the top so that i could add hanging baskets, the top bar of the frame does not look too sturdy

 

An alternative would be to add raking struts fixed with brackets to the hoops at the junction with the top horizontals, and on that size tunnel they are at quite a high level enabling timber members fixed to them to run the length of the tunnel either side of a central path, or fixed across the pathway at high level which would mean ducking under every basket and having done that in a timber greenhouse I'm aware that you will occasionally forget to duck. Different supplier's models may have the rails at different heights. I use fixings like these, all made possible by swopping the supplied bolts for longer ones and utilising them to fix all sorts of stuff to the frame:

Top strut fixing (and top timber batten)



Lower battens, these have been located top and bottom of the mesh panels to make repair/like for like replacement easier, and the top rail (fixed with saddle clips) is to take the back edge of demountable staging.


The (extended) bolts for the very bottom rail also hold an edging board in place plus L shaped metal straps cast into concrete pad foundations that (together with those struts) hold the tunnel down rock solid.


A little bit of thought prior to installation can make a tunnel a lot more versatile.