Category: Polytunnels

Pretty little Polytunnel

IMG_2375A 2.5m x 6m (8.5ft x 20ft approx.) Polydome Tunnel which we built recently during the Indian Summer.

A Polytunnel is a low cost way of covering a large area but it also has practical advantages – for example being completely safe.

Polythene has come a long way over the years – while we guarantee our 900 gauge cover (which maximises durability and light transmission)      for 6 years we have had many customers achieve life spans of more than 10 years – some even 12 to 15 years and believe it or not the longest life for one of our polythene covers so far is over 20 years.

Many things affect the lifespan – you don’t want the polythene too tight or too loose.  If you use chemicals that might shorten the life.  The main thing affecting the life of the cover is the sun – how many hours of daylight the cover receives.

Our 900 gauge polythene is manufactured to include the maximum grade of UV inhibitors the manufacturers offer.

We selected this polythene for its mechanical characteristics, it is supple so can be stretched as easily as lighter covers – and being supple it actually is less likely to be damaged during installation.

Our 900 gauge film is thermic – providing enhanced growing conditions and is clear as you can see from the photo which we find most customers prefer.

We have this cover in sizes from 2.5m wide up to 12m in width on jumbo rolls which we cut to your required length.  Wider covers are available but in a lighter gauge (800 gauge).

Call our sales office if you would like a quote for a replacement cover on 057 912 0424

 

Polytunnel growing training session re-run

Mr Tanguy de Toulgoet, is re running his training session to help people make the most use out of their Polytunnels.  It is on the 24th of October and he is in Durrow, County Laois.

As before he will teach on plant production, herb drying, companion planting, winter storage and much more.

The cost is 50 euro per person, it is a half day course and starts at 10am and  finishes at 1pm.

People who mention Polydome will get a 20% discount on the cost of the course.

Here is a link to a leaflet about it:  Course Leaflet

 

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Polytunnel recovering

IMG_2048   We recovered one of our Verticlair Polyunnels from Filclair, I think this photo is lovely.  As well as manufacturing Polytunnels we are agents for Filclair from France who we source Multispan structures from.  The Verticlair has straight sides and this particular structure has a fully automatic roll up side ventilation system.  A great Polytunnel cannot make a good gardener out of you put it is a tool that a good gardener can do great growing with.

Polytunnels

4.5m Tunnel with raised bedsA recent construction we did in Dublin was a 4.5m x 8m Polytunnel.  This Polytunnel had ‘side purlins’ fitted which are an optional extra providing extra strength particularly against wind.  The customer also ordered a large number of raised beds which we also supply.  This Polyunnel also has the optional attractive finish of having the ends of the tunnel without pleating and folding the polythene.  This feature is made possible by having an aluminium rail fitted over the end hoop so that a separate cover can be fitted to the gable end (and fixed into the rail over the end hoop as is the polythene on the roof).

We are pleased to configure our Tunnels to suit each customer from a wide range of options.

Good books on growing in Greenhouses

A Polydome customer asked recently: “What books are available on using greenhouses?”  Since you need to know how to get the best from the greenhouse you buy, it’s worth checking out.  And it’s good to read up on crops and techniques you haven’t tried yet.

One of the best-selling books is Dr. D. G. Hessayon’s The Greenhouse Expert.  One of a large series of titles on gardening, it is widely stocked in bookshops and garden centres and normally not too expensive.  It is well laid out, and the comprehensive index at the back allows you find whatever information you need quickly and easily.  Ornamental and flowering plants are covered in detail and vegetables and fruit in less detail.  On the debit side, it is geared almost exclusively to glasshouse gardening with only a nod to polytunnel use.

For polytunnels you might try The Polytunnel Book by Joyce Russell (published by Frances Lincoln).  It is well laid out and illustrated, and highly practical, with a good but slightly complicated index.  Subtitled fruit and vegetables all year round it does what it says on the cover.  Flowering and ornamental plants don’t figure at all.

Many more titles are available in bookshops.  Bear in mind that books published for the United States market relate to climates often very different from ours, and quote figures in inches and pounds.

There’s nothing like browsing bookshelves and seeing a book’s contents before you buy, but you could try online sites such as the Royal Horticultural Society’s bookshop at http://www.rhsshop.co.uk/category.aspx?id=10000100 or the likes of Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/177-7057071-0199916?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=greenhouse+books , or type ‘greenhouse books’ into a search engine.

Recording Thermometers Horticulturalist Peter Whyte gives some expert advice

Greenhouse users (both Polytunnel and Glasshouse) need to know what the temperature was when they weren’t around to check it.  Did it get too hot yesterday afternoon, stressing the plants and stopping the lettuce seeds from germinating?  Did it get too cold last night, and should I have closed the vents a bit more?  Did I overheat the greenhouse last night? A maximum and minimum recording thermometer will answer those questions.  Both digital and traditional analogue types are available.  Analogue types are generally cheaper and simpler to use, and need no power source.  Instead of a single tube and bulb with mercury or coloured alcohol, they have a U-shaped tube with a bulb at each end and a column of mercury in the middle.  A temperature change pushes the mercury down one arm and up the other.  The mercury pushes a floating pin along each tube as it moves and leaves it behind when it moves back, showing how far it went since you last reset it.  The thermometer is reset by tipping it up on end or pulling the pins back with a small magnet. Digital models are reset by pushing buttons as per the user’s manual.  For best results place the thermometer or its digital sensor at the level of the plants and shade it from direct sun, which overheats it and gives a false high reading.

Watering in winter, Peter Whyte gives some tips

As the days get shorter and cooler, greenhouse plants need less and less water. If you go on giving them as much water as in summertime, problems will build up.

Firstly, the plants may continue to grow soft young shoots that will be susceptible to frosts and disease, instead of slowing down their growth-rate and hardening up their stems for the winter.

Secondly, the dampness caused by all the watering will encourage the fungus growth that causes leaf moulds and root rots. This is made worse by the lack of sun to dry off plant and soil surfaces quickly after watering.

Thirdly, the excess water unused by the roots as it drains down through the soil dissolves essential plant nutrients out of the soil and carries them down beyond the roots’ reach. This process is called leaching (sometimes misspelled ‘leeching’, which is an entirely different thing).

Fourthly, you are wasting water.Fadrip tube at work

What can you do? If you are using a watering computer set it to water less often, for example every fifth day instead of every third.  The soil surface can dry off longer between waterings.  You could also set it to run for a shorter time.  Water in the early morning, so that leaves and soil can dry off before night, when humidity rises as the temperature falls.  Instead of spraying with a hose use a can to apply water to the bases of plants without splashing their leaves and wetting the soil between them.  Ventilate the greenhouse as often as you can.

Check pot plants by touching the compost surface with a dry finger: if it is damp enough it will feel cool and compost particles will stick to your fingertip. Give little or no water until next time.

Polydome New Office

We are delighted to announce we have moved into our new state of the art office.  The office is a converted stone barn that has been radically renovated to include geothermal under floor heating, insulation to virtually passive standards, heat recovery and a lovely open bright feel to it.  We will have an official opening in the spring.  At the moment we are in the process of settling in but of course are open for Glasshouses and Polytunnel sales, visitors are most welcome.  In due course we will have a showroom in the office for Greenhouse Accessories to complement our display area which has currently 24 structures (Greenhouses and Polytunnels) on show.