This topic contains 13 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by charles 12 years, 9 months ago.
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A brief reply to your list…
The site sounds ideal. Tunnel needs full sun, any orientation is good, in winter an E-W tunnel picks up more of the midday sun; some writers say that this orientation is too hot in summer but I find it is fine in Somerset… and practically speaking the best orientation is up and down the slope rather than across, also that one end is close to your point of entry, and indeed some water (three quarter inch hose is better than half inch).Straight sides are worthwhile for your reasonably sheltered site, I have not bought a tunnel for years…. Beds can be created before or after erection, whichever you have time for first. I suggest starting with an 18×40′ tunnel and up to a quarter acre of outside beds. If as I suspect you are starting from grass and soil is loamy, a couple of inches of well rotted manure or Dimmer compost will be enough extra goodness but it depends how you plan to make beds… you could mulch now with black plastic (old silage sheets perhaps) to have clean soil by late autumn.
Good luck.
No it is a myth, in Britain at least where blight does not last over winter in soil (unlike in the USA apparently). I always compost my potato and tomato greenery, healthy or blight affected, and the compost is fine with no resulting diseases.
The quote sounds fair and Super Thermic polythene sounds interesting, supposedly reducing mildew on leaves and aphid numbers, but I hope the UV reduction does not affect growth in other ways. I don’t know any growers using it, will post a question on the OGA forum.
I recommend no wooden sides for beds in larger plots as they are expensive, harbour slugs and contribute to drying from the edges. All my beds are un-sided, raised about four inches and with gently sloping sides. Wooden sides are useful where just one or two beds are needed or for demarcating beds for special needs, trials etc but in general growing and allotments I recommend spending the money on compost and manure. It is good that you asked that as it is often assumed that sides are needed.For now I would just mulch the whole area you intend to grow on, no need to mark anything out. Beds can be made later, say from November once the grass is dead from mulching, simply by putting compost and/or manure on top of the mulched soil.
OGA forum is for members (costs £25p.a.) and it is worth joining, growers are an interesting bunch and full of helpful tips…
Hi Kate, sorry I am none the wiser on the tunnel polythene. The silage plastic can be laid as you suggest and if you have any manure or compost that can be spread before laying it, otherwise just get it in place asap.
Vegetables grow best in full light so avoid shade as much as possible. I think the Victorian idea of whitewashing glass to lessen summer heat in sheltered gardens has given the wrong impression about shade being somehow desirable for growth, except for certain ornamental plants.
More important than orientation is easy access, with doorways situated closest to point of entry in a garden or field, and slope plays a part too: I would prefer to be lined, lengthways, up and down rather than across a slope. Orientation comes third after that, north-south is recommended if you grow tall plants, so their shade is more evenly distributed, also so that summer sun is less intense with midday sun running along a structure instead of lighting it side on, more powerfully, on an east-west structure. However I have two tunnels lined up in each sense and the east-west one does not overheat at midday, as it has large doors for ventilation, which are standard.
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