Polytunnel Has Been Ordered

Hi All


I'm new to the forum and have a question for all you experienced polytunnel growers,

My tunnel has just been ordered and should be here in a week or so and then i have to install it.. but i am wondering if anyone uses a gravity fed watering system at all? and if they are worth the hassle of setting up (compared to hand watering nearly 200 plants, some of which will not make it into the tunnel due to space)

i will mostly be growing chillies (and toms and herbs) and don't really fancy using a watering can...lol

All help is gratefully received :WINK1:


Cheers

 

Automatic watering is good if you are away, working shifts or don't get home in daylight hours, or you have a lot of plants to water. But if a nozzle gets clogged then that plant gets no water ... same if there is muck in the system; orif the tank runs dry (and if a hose bursts then the place floods ...)

Manual watering means you get to see your plants as you water them and you can spot if things are wrong (Bugs, yellowing leaves, 10 of your best specimens missing!!). You can "lift" (or "lean" the pots over a bit) to gauge the weight, and from that determine how dry they are - relative to one another - and water accordingly. It's a knack that takes a bit of getting used to, but after all these years <sigh!> I can nudge a pot and know instinctively how dry it is.

Fill two pots with compost, and put one in a bucket of water, filed to the rim of the pot, for 10 minutes, then take it out and leave it to drain for half an hour, then compare the weight of the Dry and Wet pots - its a surprising difference!