A polytunnel ( hoop nursery ) is great for gardeners that ca n’t afford a actual greenhouse .
We build ours over 12 inch raised bed for about $ 600 admit most of the grease . We built it using raised beds as a base , greenhouse plastic , and using gray PVC tobacco pipe as the skeletal system .
One bonus was that we did n’t have to worry about flex the grey piping like the white-hot pvc piping with a pipage bender . Ours were attached in the midriff with a connector and the first twelvemonth it was an unresolved polytunnel with sides and no end covers . The 2nd yr we contribute plastic on the ends and just lifted them for atmosphere flow . you may get more intricate with the design for better air flow . We used our polytunnel for 3 years before motivate properties and gardening in a 20×20 footyear - round glasshouse .
In this military post , I ’ll discuss the pros and con of polytunnel nursery horticulture
Polytunnel Greenhouse Pros
Polytunnels are a great way to add extra heat to summer fond time of year crops like tomatoes , peppers , eggplants & melon . It was after we had 5 calendar week of rainwater one summertime that we settle to build up a polytunnel in the first place to protect our warm season crops .
Using a polytunnel during the summertime is a great way to total surplus passion and protect your crops from excessive rainfall . If you survive in a short time of year climate , that extra heat also signify your harvest have a right probability of ripeningsummer cropson the vine .
A major benefit of gardening with a polytunnel is that you may make a controlled environment without the gamey cost of a greenhouse .
Polytunnel Greenhouse Cons
The major drawback , other than the initial price , is if you get a stack of snow . A polytunnel inning wo n’t be capable to handle heavy , or even light , load of snow .
During the winter months we remove the book binding .
We would keep our large cover up until mid - December before the wakeless snowfall hit us . In the photo of our polytunnel in the C. P. Snow , we had set it up for early spring planting then had an inauspicious late leaping garbage dump of snow in March . Our polytunnel spelunk inwards in the night , but astonishingly , the plastic cover and social organisation did n’t break .
During the springtime we another mini hoop burrow inside our polytunnel to add special heat for drop and fountain time of year extending .
This gave us a head bug out on warming up the soil for outflow planting .
We often usedmini hoop tunnelsbefore or after removing the larger polytunnel cover .
Will a polytunnel greenhouse work for you ?
That depends on your mood , horticulture goals and budget . Even though I opt our nursery gardening , I really loved the experience of using a polytunnel in the garden .
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