Kitchen Garden Forum

Having done the greenhouse and still not fancying working outside I had better move on to killing the polytunnel algae.
The often recommended Algon smells like vinegar. Another common one is Citrox which is obviously citrus based. The more aggressive Jeyes fluid doesn't sound to be a good idea for plastic.
As these seem quite simple formulations I wondered if anybody has got any home made recipes that are effective and cheap?

Yes, I have an economic suggestion that I know works on algae. Mangers (Decorating stuff) do an algaecide that is both effective in it's recommended dilution and cost effective if you can avoid the few dealers always testing the market for what the market will pay.

Our dealer charges £7.39 inc VAT but you'll find it advertised at £12. The bottle which I think is one litre dilutes in (I think) 12 litres. It kills the algae and spores but leaves behind the growth which you need to brush or scrape away.

Ha-ha, I've managed to of-help. I love it.

It even works on the red algae that we only get in coast areas.

Thanks for that Richard. Might consider it outside. I was hoping somebody would come up with a diy concoction to save me shopping. I have wiped it all down inside with just warm water and it looks a lot better. I have a little Algon left from when I tried it on the patio (not impressed) so I might spray that in the creases. The commonest advice seems to be spray with Algon and don't bother washing off.

Dont know about pollytunnels but I share a boat with my mate which is used for fishing we clean the bilges with coke a cola they get very oiley and dirty we also use it to clean the engine which is a 4.5 litre diesel around 25 years old and oiley

Hi there,

I was thinking about this same issue, but really I'm looking for something that:
1) will not damage the plastic or metal work
2) would be considered to be "organic", ie, won't do the soil / wild life any harm.

Has anyone had any further ideas since this thread was started in 2014?

Hi Mr-cecil,

For the past ten years I have used Jeyes Fluid and the plastic is still good. It hasn't suffered any deteriation at all.

Regards,
Gerry.

Dear All,
I find that a very soft brush (indoor fine dust sort) with some washing up liquid and water are quite sufficient for algae removal. A hand brush for low down, a long handled one for further up and where it is not possible to reach with either of those a window mop with a lambswool style cover on it. I have a 11m x 4m and a 2.5m x 5m tunnels and a 4m x 30m glasshouse to deal with.
I do have two buckets when I wash the tunnels as I find that there is less scratching when the mop/brush rinsing water is changed frequently. I rinse the brush etc then shake or squeeze as needed then reload with the soap mixture.

For internal cleaning I will use vinegar where there is limescale as it is not harmful to plants. Try to wash plastic on a damp day or wet it down frequently as this will soften the algae and make it less likely to scratch the plastic.

If you have a shade tunnel then the jet wash setting on your hose end is fairly good at algae removal.
Regards Sally Wright.

For info, I've kind of concluded that Citrox is probably the best approach from an organic point of view.