Poly tunnels

#1 12/01/04, 02:37 PM

Hello,

Please can any one help? I am looking for blueprints or designs of poly tunnels. Does any one know where these can be purchased. I'm England but I thought I'd try here as your site has a lot of information on it.

Thanks

sisterpine · #2 12/01/04, 02:38 PM

Cant help till you tell me what poly tunnels are LOL

sylvar · #3 12/01/04, 03:09 PM

Farm Tek sells the kits. Their online catalog is a little lame though. Go to www.farmtekcatalog.com. go to page 304. The ones in the picture are covered with cloth, but you can buy the poly covers too. These are ok. I have been trying to find the plastic with the wire embedded in it. Can't find it anywhere, but I see pictures of it in some of my gardening books.

sbeerman · #4 12/01/04, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by English Guest

Hello,

Please can any one help? I am looking for blueprints or designs of poly tunnels. Does any one know where these can be purchased. I'm England but I thought I'd try here as your site has a lot of information on it.

Thanks

Hi, I have the web address for a couple that might help. Happy Growing

http://www.westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html

http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublicatio...25/eb1825.html

http://www2.moment.net/~wingnut/hoophouse.htm

Sandie OR.

sylvar · #5 12/01/04, 08:47 PM

I like the one made from cattle panels. I might have to try one of those. The stuff I am looking for is for use on a smaller scale than a hoop house. More of a green house/row cover thing for over my planting beds.

kabri · #6 12/01/04, 11:44 PM

I've done the hoop houses before, harvested spinach in February that year! I think England is similar climate to western WA here, so it should work for you as well. I used 1/2" PVC pipe over rebar driven in the ground. The plastic was held onto the pipe with plastic clips, they are called "garden clips? Here's a site with good pictures

Or, they have them here as well: https://secure.groworganic.com/a/pdf...VFSMain11c.pdf

Happy gardening!

3girls · #7 12/02/04, 11:32 AM

On another forum I saw cattle panels used with "T" steel fence posts which made it a lot larger. The fence posts with the cattle panels made the sides, and more cattle panels bowed across the top. I think it was about 14' wide.

The garden clips to clip the poly to the poly pipe can be gotten at Charley's Greenhouse, and I think, Gardeners Supply. I have used them to attach the poly to a long polypipe to form the sides of my hoop house.

Freeholder · #8 12/02/04, 01:33 PM

I would be afraid to try to make the cattle panels span too great a distance. They would almost certainly collapse under the snow load in the winter, even a fairly mild snow load would be too much, I think. The only reason you get some strength from the cattle panels is the arched shape, but you can only span maybe eight or nine feet and still retain sufficient arch for strength. Now, if you live where it never snows, you might be able to span fourteen feet with a sixteen foot cattle panel. I do wish they came in twenty foot lengths, as you could manage a ten foot span then.

Thanks for the links posted above, by the way. I've bookmarked all of them, I think they will be very useful next spring!

Kathleen

sylvar · #9 12/02/04, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kabri

I've done the hoop houses before, harvested spinach in February that year! I think England is similar climate to western WA here, so it should work for you as well. I used 1/2" PVC pipe over rebar driven in the ground. The plastic was held onto the pipe with plastic clips, they are called "garden clips? Here's a site with good pictures

Or, they have them here as well: https://secure.groworganic.com/a/pdf...VFSMain11c.pdf

Happy gardening!

Ouch! The clips are 50 cents to $2 apiece. THat can get pricey quick.

Freeholder · #10 12/02/04, 02:04 PM

You can do it the old-fashioned way. Wad the plastic around a small rock (walnut to egg-sized), tie a string around the plastic to keep the rock inside as if in a plastic bag, and tie the string to the stake. The rock keeps the string in place and the string keeps the rock in place -- neat, huh?!?

Kathleen

flutemandolin · #11 12/02/04, 02:18 PM

I had a small hoop house over a 4 x 8 foot raised bed this year. For fasteners I bought some of the metal clips that are used to hang brooms, tools etc. on the wall. They fit over 3/4 inch PVC pipe perfectly and I think they were maybe 50 cents each at the hardware store, maybe less at a big discount store.

Sara in IN · #12 12/04/04, 11:24 AM

I don't know what building supplies are available in the UK these days, but what works for me is thirty-two concrete cinder blocks, ie builders' blocks (optional),twelve 2 foot sections of rebar, six 10 foot sections of 3/4" PVC pipe, 4 or 6 mil thickness "clear" plastic sheeting that is 10 foot wide and 25 foot long, twenty-four 6" sections of black plastic water line pipe and a heavy pair of shears, or aircraft (metal cutting snips)snips. Using the shears/snips, remove a quarter section of each 6" section of black pipe so that you have a three-quarters section of 6" black plastic pipe.

First step ( optional ) I laid out a garden bed of 4' by 15' and put the concrete blocks on the outside of the perimeter. Do what you need to in order to get a rectangle, then I added lots of chopped leaves, straw and rabbit manure, with a layer of moist peatmoss on top, so thatit was to the top of the blocks.

Second step, pound (Ok,push, the ground was soft) about a foot of the rebar stakes into the ground just inside the block perimeter. Spacing: 0 '(corners) 3',6',9',12', 15'(corner) Next slip one end of the 10 foot pvc pipe over the stake, and bend the pipe to fit over the rebar stake on the opposite long side. When all the hoops are in place, on a calm day with a helper, spread the plastic over the hoops.Center the plastic so that is hangs evenly touching the ground on both sides and both ends. Gather the plastic draped over one end, should be 5 ft excess and weigh down with a big rock or concrete block. Do the same at the other end. Move the hoop and stakes in a bit or slant them inward if you need, so that both ends are closed.

Third step, snap four pieces of three-quarter sections of black plastic pipe on the plastic sheeting over the PVC hoops, evenly spacing the sections on the hoop. Add more 3/4 sections if you need for wind protection. Tuck the edges of the plastic down between the concrete block and the leaves/straw/manure/peat mix. Let this cook for a couple weeks, watering if needed. On a warm day, take the black clips off of one side,roll up the plastic and put in transplants or seed directly.

You may also fill the holes in the concrete blocks with a compost soil mix and plant with hardy perennial herbs or cold tolerant vegs such as onions or radishes.

Mid Tn Mama · #13 12/04/04, 07:49 PM

We built a hoophouse using pvc pipe and rebar too. This winter (I know, we are a little late) we will put plastic over it and hold that down with straw bales. The straw bales will decompose and then be spread around in the spring as mulch.

English · #14 12/05/04, 02:32 PM

First of all thank you very much for your replies to my question. I now know what a Hoop House is!!

I'll have a go at the rebar and poly pipe method and hopefully I should be able to get my seedlings on a little quicker next year.

Many thanks again and merry Christmas to all of you.

Valmai · #15 12/06/04, 01:24 AM

I've collected most of what I need for my tunnel house (hoop house) The only thing I didnt get for free is the plastic. The hoops will be made from rubber/plastic? pipe (used by telecom for fibre optic cable) I will dig a trench about 30 to 50cm deep, hammer in watatahs put the rubber/plastic hoops over them. Conduit -rigid about 10cm in dia- lengthways for stabalisation. Then pull the plastic over the hoops with enough plastic to sit in the bottom of the trench and then fill in the trench. Noway that sucker is going to blow over in the first gale. :haha: