What do you think?....advise needed

Hi,
I am in the process of investing in a polytunnel (went to see one today that I will most likely buy). I'am planning to grow a good selection of organic herbs and lettuce in raised beds.
Growing up I did learn alot from my mums greenhouse, but this is my first real gardening venture and will be investing about 2000 pounds as i'am going to be getting a 16metre x 5 tunnel. I just wondered if you more experienced gardeners might have any advise for me concerning poly tunnels or growing organic?? I guess now that I am past the planning stage, and just about to spend, i'am getting a little bit nervous

 

my concern is that if you want to grow plants in elevated beds instead of in the ground, it must be a very large polytunnel, because otherwise the plants will not have space to grow and will be too close to the pastic and too hot during a sunny day.
But you say that the size 5 m, so I think it should be big enough.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner There will be someone along to advise shortly.

Are you planning on making a living from the venture or is it just for personal use?

 

Hi,
Hopefully....i would like to try to sell to local restaurants, i am a chef, and so understand that side of things. At the moment i'am looking at it as a part time venture, and if it takes off great (maybe add another tunnel)!! if not I will be able to use the tunnel for home use as I have many hungry relatives living nearby, and love to cook from home.

 

Hi,
Thanx for your reply, appreciate it. Probably my question wasn't clearly written. Sorry, I thought about the polypropylene fabric as a base for whole tunnel and than wooden frame sides. So it is going to look like beds on the ground.

 

Cool, I used to grow Garlic & herbs to supply local restaurants & greengrocers. Never made a fortune, but it kept the wolf from the door & I enjoyed doing it. Would have got bigger but I lost the land & got onion white rot.

Only thing i've grown in polytunnels was mushrooms so thats not much use to you.

You've got the right idea though, herbs will be much more manageable in a tunnel, only thing i'd worry about would be the heat driving the essential oils off.

 

That is the good point. What I was thinking to give more ventilation by keep the door open etc. to reduce the heat in the hot days... My only concern would be that I wanted to plant lettuce as well, so it could be a bit tricky.

 

Lettuces have been growing outdoors up north here for as long as I've known. They don't need the heat and shelter of a polytunnel, although I guess that would speed them along a bit which I guess would be important if you were doing it commercially.

Most herbs I know (except Basil, which is a proper softy) will happily grow outside in the UK climate. With the likes of Rosemary and Thyme, you have to strike a bit of a balance, a trade off, because rapid growth from polytunnel conditions will give you lots of tender leaves and stems but at the expense of flavour.

 

Yep, lettuce might cook in the middle of summer in a tunnel, but there are others on here who can advise you better.

 

Have you considered Saffron?

 

...
Well, i didn't considered saffron. How does it work in this climate?? I was just wondering what kind of lettuce would be the safest to grow in the tunnel?? Thank you very much for your brilliant advices....

 

My thoughts:

For a Polytunnel I would be looking for:

Near-vertical sides to allow planting close to the "walls"

Cropping bars (side-to-side allowing wires to be strung the length of the house and from that strings for, say, Tomatoes to climb).

Ventilation. Tunnels get very hot. Best (IMO) are sides that can be rolled up - they usually have a netting as well, so that insects etc not blown in, and that tempers the wind somewhat

Ground anchors - so that the thing doesn't take off in a gale! These are flat plates, welded onto the vertical supports, which are buried in the ground when the tunnel is constructed.

Irrigation. Could have along the cropping bars with sprinklers every few feet that wet the whole area, or along the soil (but they then get in the way of planting / clearing crops)

I think Lettuce is difficult to grow well, mid Summer, whether inside or not. But inside the Lettuce doesn't get full of soil when it rains, which might be important to restaurants.

I would look at high value crops, rather than things that might be "lifestyle" crops. Strawberries perhaps? I bought a 30' (glass) greenhouse from a retired lady. She and her husband, both teachers, had grown Tomatoes in it as a side line.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Garden101,
as a chef, you probably know the Brits eat more curries than anything else? So -coriander as an addition to your ever expanding list of possibles....?
hope you enjoy being in this forum. It's full to the brim with good people who love to help pioneers,
best of luck in 2013,
Jenny namaste

 

I wouldn't put coriander in a polytunnel. Lots of people complain that it bolts enough as it is. Part shade in moist soil is what's needed for that

 

Rosemary, Sage, Mint, Coriander, chives, thyme, Moss curled parsley all grow well outdoors, consider Chervil, Flat leaf Parsley, (get flattened easily in rain) indoors along with Dill, Oregano, Basil and any other specials you might want.

Even with a tunnel the size your buying you'll struggle to maintain a regular supply of edibles all year round, herbs may be your best bet but you'll have to sell an awful lot to make any reasonable amount of money from them.

You might be best advised to do what the Hugh Fairy Whittering fella does and grow things to make into others...then sell those on. So a good tomato crop could have you making a good passata with your own organic toms, garlic and herbs.

I have two of my own tunnels (2 x 3m x 6m) and being an ex chef myself, nearly everything gets made into something else so it stores well for our later use.

Depending on how much outside growing space you have you may consider growing to sell the following. Speciality potatoes such as Pink Fir Apples/Charlottes or maybe asparagus, then later Purple sprouting brocolli.

But I would not bother with raised beds in the tunnel more than six inches as you will need that height. You'll grow an awful lot of tomatoes in your 16 x 5 tunnel, probably 4 rows (100metres) will give a tremendous yield for reworking into something saleable, then fill the rest of your tunnel with the herbs.

Part of your tunnel should be turned over to getting seed started and growing on of plants for puting into the ground outside, Polytunnels are great for this and my two grows everything I need to fill my two allotment plots (approx 120ft x 45ft).


Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

Steve...