POLYTUNNEL IN WINTER

Mo60

Bearing in mind our recent winters could anybody give advice as to what to plant in a polytunnel.

Clare man

I have the folowing planted in the tunnel, to get some early crops

Garlic, Broad Beans, Potatoes( too late now to plant), Cauliflower, florence Fennel, salads - rocket, gem, pak choi, Mizuna plus some herbs to over winter ie Parsley and coriander

so far so good

what kind of temp would a poly drop to when its cold outside?

eg -5 outside

Corsendonk

Deleted User wrote: »

what kind of temp would a poly drop to when its cold outside?

eg -5 outside

It can sometimes drop below the outside temp at night. You don't have the airflow of the garden outside. It also depends on how large your polytunnel is, the latest thinking is to build a high roof greenhouses/polytunnel to provide a substantial buffer of solar heated air to get your crops through the night while reducing the use of gas. Ideally you want to keep your crops in the polytunnel within a tight temp range and avoid high and lows temps. Best to invest in a good temp monitoring system, lidl had some good digital ones on sale last year.

Corsendonk

Clare man wrote: »

I have the folowing planted in the tunnel, to get some early crops

Garlic, Broad Beans, Potatoes( too late now to plant), Cauliflower, florence Fennel, salads - rocket, gem, pak choi, Mizuna plus some herbs to over winter ie Parsley and coriander

so far so good

What frost potection are you using?

kerosene

Corsendonk wrote: »

It can sometimes drop below the outside temp at night. You don't have the airflow of the garden outside. It also depends on how large your polytunnel is, the latest thinking is to build a high roof greenhouses/polytunnel to provide a substantial buffer of solar heated air to get your crops through the night while reducing the use of gas. Ideally you want to keep your crops in the polytunnel within a tight temp range and avoid high and lows temps. Best to invest in a good temp monitoring system, lidl had some good digital ones on sale last year.

Where would you purchase the digital tempeture monitoring system? Lidl usually have special offers on items like these but wouldnt have them on sale year round. Iv never seen one how are they powered, Electric?

redser7

I have one, got it in Lidl. They run on AAA batteries. Still going stong after a year. They have indoor and outdoor min max funtions. They had them recently, give them a ring.

kerosene

What heating device would posters recommend for a polytunnel just for the very cold nights in winter? I would not have access to a polytunnel where I am planning to erect my polytunnel.

redser7

Generally people don't heat their tunnels. They seal them up as best they can, remembering to ventilate them each morning. You should have hardy plants and over-wintering types growing that can withstand the cool temperatures. One thing you can do is have a cloche inside the tunnel. That will offer some greater heat.

kerosene

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is the benefit of the tempeture monitoring system?

redser7

It would just let you learn about the environment in the tunnel at different times of the year and different times of the day. So you can learn if or when you need to ventilate or use extra protection in the tunnel for different crops.