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Discussion in 'Gardening Discussions' started by jennywren, Nov 26, 2015.

  1. jennywren

    jennywren Gardener

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    Hi Everyone,
    I have two small polytunnels planted up with winter stuff like Texel greens, lettuce, pak choi etc. My preference would be to leave the doors open all winter - good or bad idea? Will it make much difference?
    Thanks
    Jen
     
  2. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    What's the concern? Temp and Humidity I guess. Is it in full sun? I suppose it could still get quite hot even over winter which would not be good, but leaving the door open all the time means it will get cold, especially over-night. Then you are losing most of the benefits of the tunnel. If you are able to just open it on warmer days to also let out the humidity that would be best.
     
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    • jennywren

      jennywren Gardener

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      They are the double zip type doors a proper pain in the derriere....so laziness I suppose :).
       
    • JWK

      JWK Gardener Staff Member

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      Oh the other things I forgot to mention is winter gales, sometimes it's better to keep doors shut in case the wind gets in and does some damage. I haven't got a polytunnel but for my greenhouse I know it is a lot worse if I forget to close the door and the wind gets up, I've sometimes had a pane or two blown out.
       
    • Redwing

      Redwing Wild Gardener

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      I would open the doors on sunny days and ventilate on mild days too. If it's frosty or windy, keep them closed.
       
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      • NCFCcrazy

        NCFCcrazy Super Gardener

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        WHen I had a greenhouse, I used to do exactly this. I used to house my semi tender plants in the greenhouse over winter and by keeping it open during the milder weather, they become more tolerant of the colder weather.
         
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        • jennywren

          jennywren Gardener

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          Since asking the question the weather has turned decidedly summer like - into the 20s some days so I've yet to close the doors. Everything growing away nicely apart from the potatoes which have yet to make an appearance.
           
        • Scrungee

          Scrungee Well known for it

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          Regarding winds, I have doors at each end and leave the ones at the rear facing East open most of the time to keep it ventilated and avoid conditions favourable to botrytis, only opening the West facing door in summer but not when there's strong westerly winds that could shake then cover to bits if they got inside, and there's been a lot of those recently.

          As for temperatures, I've got two USB temperature data loggers, have put one inside a tunnel and the other outside, and when it gets very cold there's not been very much difference overnight/early hours between in and out temps, especially in small tunnels, but I'll re-do that test over winter.
           
          Last edited: Dec 14, 2015
        • jennywren

          jennywren Gardener

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          @Scrungee would be interested in your results. I recently read a study that reported inside the polytunnel was colder than outside when temperatures were very low. My doors are still wide open and stuff growing away nicely...still no sign of the tatoes though...

          6_greenhosues.JPG 1_greens.JPG
           
        • Jimcub

          Jimcub Gardener

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          I have a very nice crop of conservatory plants in my polytunnel, just have to hope the planners have a good xmas. Then I can plant out the blighters, and er in doors can sit and enjoy the view .:dbgrtmb:
           
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