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Poly tunnel siting


confused of chalus
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I've just taken delivery of my poly tunnel! We bought it in an effort to stop the tomatoes getting blight again, having lost the crop three years running. Plus getting things started a bit earlier. Looking forward to experimenting.

Does anyone know if there is a preferred orientation, North/south or east/west facing doors? It's a sunny spot, but very open. Wind is likely to be the main issue I think. The strongest gusts tend to come from the north and east, especially in the winter. There are doors at each end, but windows only on one side. Which way round should I put it? And should I take the cover off to overwinter it, or keep it on and be prepared to renew more often?
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I can't speak from personal experience - only to say that the only professional nursery that we regularly visit has its polytunnels both north- south and east- west, so that's no bloody help whatsoever !!

Where they're situated, you couldn't get much more Mistral-y, so firm anchoring and the quality of the covering must be paramount I'd have thought.

Which leads logically on to your question re winterising. I wouldn't imagine for a minute that a professional nursery would remove the cladding in Winter, but for you the answer must surely depend on (a) the quality of the cladding and (b) how long it would take you to dismantle and then re-assemble. If the answer was a few hours was half a day twice a year, then I suppose it's a no-brainer.

How big is the polytunnel BTW?

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A few years ago we bought a polytunnel from eBay - 2 x 4m £65. After one season in the windy garden we moved it to a more sheltered area and erected in with the sides dug in to the ground. Even then the cover chafed on the frame and started to rip. After one season we 'repaired ' the tears and gave it another go, but this winter it self-destructed as it was no longer fully secured. I guess you get what you pay for - there appear to be lots of 'pro' qulity ones around here that last for years [:)]

Our tomatoes never had blight in the tunnel, so this year we're going to try in growbags (terre universal bags, actually)

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Thanks for answering gardian, and your reply was what I expected, really. Googling the subject I found that the 'experts' were firmly on the fence. Roughly 50/50!

The tunnel is 6x3, bigger than I had first wanted, but the smallest with a thicker tube (32mm) , doors instead of zip up openings and a quality cover. I am sure that just like my old greenhouse in the UK I will have no trouble filling it! We have plenty of space, but not much shelter. Cost less than the pro ones, but a bit more than the lightweight special offers currently on sale in the supermarkets and bricos - and a third of what the big garden centres expect you to pay..

I looked on both UK and french sites, and when I found what I wanted it turned out to be an English supplier through ebay.fr delivered in three days.

I think anchoring will be the key. My neighbours don't take theirs down in winter, but they do have it tucked behind the house. Round here the sight of frames with flapping shreds of plastic is pretty common!

,
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  • 10 months later...
Just looking at my back garden from the elevation of the velux in the roof, it strikes me that a sort of southwest - northeast axis is probably going to suit me for mine: after all, you're after the max heating effect in late winter/early spring,  and - for me- presenting a side to due East is no good because of the number of trees in the way. Once the sun's been up for a couple of hours it clears the obstacles and hits the part of the garden where the PT will be.

Also, with that orientation, it then presents a corner, rather than a flat end, to the prevailing west wind roaring up the field.

I'll let you know if the practice matches the theory!

p

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