Polytunnel Panic!!

Hey there. Only been on a few days but loving every minute as you guys are all great! :D Posted a question or 2 on the new members intro but was advised i would get a better response here(cheers Dendrobium! )I am pretty new to growing veg but have decided to buy and erect a(now)18ft by 60ft polytunnel and grow ALL my fruit and veg in it as need old veg patch for pigs and to plant an orchard. Is this possible i.e. do potatoes,onions,leeks,sprouts do well in a tunnel? I am also planning on growing tomatoes,peppers,cucumbers and fruits which i know should do well in a tunnel. I am also planning on growing all from seed. Do i realy need a propigator :confused: or will my well lit ,well heated porch be sufitient to germinate seeds and bring on young plants? Got a million other questions but think thats enough to be getting on with!!

 

heres a really good book for polytunnel growing.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardening-Under-Plastic-Cloches-Polytunnels/dp/0713484489/sr=1-1/qid=1170612734/ref=sr_1_1/203-5055186-8647926?ie=UTF8&s=books

 

Blondie the biggest problem with a polytunnel is the temperature fluctuation this last week on a sunny day it reached 94f in the day at night fell to just below freezing as you know it would be cost prohibitive to heat something that size what I am doing with mine is building a 6ftx6ftx6ft frame inside the tunnel out of 2"x1.5"timber I am going to doubleglaze it with clear plastic or polthene and heat that with a small tube heater and use this to raise my seeds

 

Great stuff. Got that book and the polytunnel companian and read them both!! They are both full of plenty information but still stuck on a couple of points. If i intend to have the tunnel up by the end of April then when should i start sowing tomatoes,cucumbers,peas,beans and peppers for planting out then? I intent on sowing and bringing them all on inside with a constant temp and plenty of light. Should i be starting to sow now or leaving it untill the end of the month? And can anyone recomend a good tomato for hanging baskets and a cucumber for beginers

 

The weather forcast is bad for the next couple of weeks so I would hold of till the end of the month at least.
You could start to sow leeks etc in trays at home now and just keep on the window sill.
They will nearly be ready for planting on by early next month.

 

To be honest you are better off buying the onions as sets and the likes of leeks, lettuce and brassicas as young plants ( buy a packet of cabbage seed and you will have something like 2000 seeds, how many do you want? )Potatoes, I would just plant second early seed potatoes grown in deep pots and used as new potatoes, ( Beware, do not grow potatoes and tomatoes in the same polytunnel nor smoke in a polytunnel ( or greenhouse ) where potatoes or tomatoes are growing. I hope this is of some help and does not put you off. David.

 

Is that because of the poison in solanums, Dai? I hadn't heard that bit of advice, but as I don't smoke, and don't use a polytunnel I'm probably ok! I grow tomatoes in the greenhouse, and potatoes outside, as probably most of us do.

 

Potatatoes and tomatoes ( and Nicotiana ) all belong to the Tobacco ( Solanum )family any disease affecting one of them will infect all of them. This is especially true of potato or tomato blight. Anybody who smokes, even if they don`t do it in a greenhouse/polytunnel enviroment, risks contaminating their potato or tomato crops if they don`t wash their hands after smoking. David.

 

Its just a thought but I would imagine that the commercial growers of tobacco have got any disease problems well under control, and therefore its not likely that tobacco would be able to pass on any problems in much the same way that bought in vegetables dont affect all our veg that we grow.
You didn't get this from an anti-smoking source by any chance did you David?
After all, I bet we all buy tomatos at some stage, and peppers, should we wash our hands after handling these?

 

The potential for problems caused by tobacco has been known for many years Pete. It's not just a recent thing dreamt up by anti-smokers. I can remember my father telling me about it years ago.

Here's quite an interesting link -

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1168.html

 

Well Pete, I smoked for over thirty years and for most of that time I grew veg as well. But I was always told by people who were better gardener`s than me, that you should never smoke in your greenhouse if you were growing tomatoes in there, and that you should most definitely wash your hands before working with your tomatoes or potatoes. I no longer smoke, that is my choice, my wife smokes, that is her choice. If you smoke that is your choice. I wish you well. David.

 

Well I've never heard it before, I also smoked for many years (dont anymore) and have grown toms for quite a while as well but I cant believe smoking and contact with tobacco could be a main cause of infection.
I assume we are talking about a greenhouse here and not a laboratory.
With all those possible hosts of the disease in your link Dave and all those greenfly moving from plant to plant I would have thought the tobacco risk minute.

 

What an interesting debate but i dont smoke(unless on fire :rolleyes: ) so at least thats one less thing to worry about! Was hoping to plant potatoes at one end of tunnel and tomatoes at the other sunniest end(60ft long) so are you suggesting that its not the best thing to do? Pretty new to this so be as honest as needs be! Are tommy tumblers the best tomatoes for hanging baskets? And any suggestions on easy care cucumber varietys?

 

There is a danger from tobacco mosaic virus it doesn't actually kill plants but is highly contageous I am not so sure the manufacturers are on top of it if the plants had it I am sure they would still use the crop after all they are not interested in peoples health,most plant viruses are not passed on growing plants from seed even seed from an infected plant they are passed on through plant material and as Pete points out greenfly,whitefly etc and they would have no problem flying for miles let alone the length of a polytunnel, I can see that when smoking you are actually bringing in plant material so being exposed to a source of infection so it is wise to be cautious

 

Oh god, i hate myself for this..........I smoke, i roll my own, I grow toms etc. I don't have time to wash my hands between tweaking tom plants and rolling baccy. I have never had a problem...... if i'm inside watering and enoying a smoke, i notice the green and white fly disappear. I would like to add. i only pick crops in the morning and as it happens, the only time my hands are clean. Other than that, i pinch out, weed, cut the leaves off and tie in at all times of the day or night.