Sallygarden Smallholding - The Forum For Sustainable Living

I'm writing a new book on polytunnels (hoophouses) called The
Polytunnel Handbook which will be coming out from Green Books here
in the UK in Spring 2009, and some copies will be going to the US too.

One of the sections in the book is all about the diversity of how
people use their tunnels. If you grow artichokes in January, or have a
hot-tub in there, I'd like to hear from you.

Hi Hedgewizard

I enjoyed filling our your form, there are some funky questions in there.

One of the things I forgot to mention in your section about any modifications made to tunnels ... we have overhead sprinklers but found that once they switch off they drip drip drip for ages which can damage seedlings directly underneath in quite a large area, and make a large hole in the veg bed about the size of a dinner plate. We have got around this problem by tying a string from the sprinkler outlet which leads down to the centre of the bed and is pegged in with a stick. It doesn't interfere with the sprinkling, but instead of dripping from a height after switch off the last of the water is carried down the string in a steady trickle and seeps into the soil at the bottom of the string without making a hole!

Do you find the overheads any use then?

I like the sprinklers, except when the hour changes and you are working in the tunnel, suddenly you hear the whir of the pump getting up to speed and it's a quick dash out before you get an unscheduled shower! Leaving coats and books in there by mistake also means you find it all soggy the next day! On the plus side it's also a good deterrent to cats who get an untimely wakening from their sunny slumber.

We (Dan!) made our own seep hoses; ordinary garden hose, melt holes with a hot skewer every foot or so (in an well ventilated area so as not to poison yourself with carcinogenic fumes, oh and don't burn yourself either), cover the holes with duck tape, use a pin to pierce a hole through the duck tape and into the larger skewered hole. This last step means the holes are small enough to let out a useful amount of water but also saves the garden hose holes from meshing over and closing themselves.

we made some seep / sprinkler hoses as well - using a small-bore electric drill to do the holes....
seemed to work really well (then I bought some bargain soaker hoses in a sale so use them instead)