How early do you all plant things like
courgette
tomato
peppers
french beans
sweetcorn
in the polytunnel.
Our night time temp is around 6 degrees at the moment so i was planning on transplanting the courgette and french beans next month.
How early do you plant in the polytunnel
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alan refail
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Tomatoes I sowed in the propagator two days ago; peppers and chillis on 21 February. I will plant them out in the tunnel when they are big enough - last year mid-May for tomatoes and a little later for peppers.
French beans I sow late April and plant out about mid-May.
Courgettes I wouldn't grow in the tunnel at all as they take up so much space. I sow late April and plant outside late May/early June after last serious frosts. Now is, to me, far too early to have courgette plants.
Beware the temptation to try and cheat the weather
French beans I sow late April and plant out about mid-May.
Courgettes I wouldn't grow in the tunnel at all as they take up so much space. I sow late April and plant outside late May/early June after last serious frosts. Now is, to me, far too early to have courgette plants.
Beware the temptation to try and cheat the weather
Hi Alan,
Oh how I agree with you! It is for this very reason that I am against the modern use of propagators because more often than not the plants are produced too early and then they get planted out well over their best.
The ideal is to produce a plant that has no checks in it's growth and sadly the use of propagators in most cases negates this process.
As you say never try to cheat the weather because the weather will win every time. The other thing is that with growing the whole idea is to have a good supply all year round and what seems to be the modern idiom is to plant up just the once instead of a steady supply of goodies all year round.
JB.
Oh how I agree with you! It is for this very reason that I am against the modern use of propagators because more often than not the plants are produced too early and then they get planted out well over their best.
The ideal is to produce a plant that has no checks in it's growth and sadly the use of propagators in most cases negates this process.
As you say never try to cheat the weather because the weather will win every time. The other thing is that with growing the whole idea is to have a good supply all year round and what seems to be the modern idiom is to plant up just the once instead of a steady supply of goodies all year round.
JB.
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alan refail
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chicken 4
The night time temperature of 6 at the moment merely means there is no frost around. I will guarantee that there will be frost in Bristol, and here, and almost everywhere else in the British Isles before June.
I know this makes me sound a pessimistic old so-and-so, but there is nothing worse than enthusiastic optimism (over-early crops) being dashed by a few nights of frost.
The night time temperature of 6 at the moment merely means there is no frost around. I will guarantee that there will be frost in Bristol, and here, and almost everywhere else in the British Isles before June.
I know this makes me sound a pessimistic old so-and-so, but there is nothing worse than enthusiastic optimism (over-early crops) being dashed by a few nights of frost.
Allan & John thanks,
It's my first proper spring with the polytunnel and knowing that my PT is very cold at night I'm pleased I questioned the suggestions made by the garden magazines in aiding very early crops.
I think I had better trust my own knowledge a bit more than beliving everything I read.
It's my first proper spring with the polytunnel and knowing that my PT is very cold at night I'm pleased I questioned the suggestions made by the garden magazines in aiding very early crops.
I think I had better trust my own knowledge a bit more than beliving everything I read.
Try to be organic, but finding it hard
theres so many variables that can influence what you get away with. if you try and start early you should have a later sowing in reserve in case the first lot gets frosted. i normally use the weeds as a guide, when the chickweed starts growing its normally time to think about sowing some salad leaves nd broad beans........ this year the weather has been a bit fickle the chickweed has been showig in the tunnel for about a month now, last week parts of south somerset had best part of a foot of snow, we missed it completely.... my first sowing of salad leaves is about ready for potting on now and the first broad beans are about ready for planting out in the tunnel (sown last week in Jan)....
will soon be sowing tomatoe seed in trays in the tunnel, they seem to do as well as in the propagater.
the propagater will get used for peppers,cucumber,pumpkin and melon partly because its in the conservatory and gets more attention than trays out in the tunnel and it doesnt get so cold at night. the propagated seedlings stay on the conservatory window sil until they are big enough to be potted up.
i think early sowing for the tunnel is more applicable to extending the season for salad leaves, early carrots etc rather than the "greenhouse crops" such as tomatoes which suffer in a cold spell.
will soon be sowing tomatoe seed in trays in the tunnel, they seem to do as well as in the propagater.
the propagater will get used for peppers,cucumber,pumpkin and melon partly because its in the conservatory and gets more attention than trays out in the tunnel and it doesnt get so cold at night. the propagated seedlings stay on the conservatory window sil until they are big enough to be potted up.
i think early sowing for the tunnel is more applicable to extending the season for salad leaves, early carrots etc rather than the "greenhouse crops" such as tomatoes which suffer in a cold spell.
Hi Richard,
This saying "what you can get away with" should be banned from the vocabulary. Do you remember dear old Allan and myself being at loggerheads over this very subject. The trouble is that until you have been growing for a few years and begin to get to know the ropes then you can begin to experiment.
Most people who try to 'get away with it' drop themselves in the Sh-t and generally end up with nothing and becoming disillusioned with growing and pack up.
Initially I would sow seeds only maybe two to three weeks in advance of crops for outside and that combined with growing under tunnel conditions will give a crop a month to six weeks earlier than outside.
JB.
This saying "what you can get away with" should be banned from the vocabulary. Do you remember dear old Allan and myself being at loggerheads over this very subject. The trouble is that until you have been growing for a few years and begin to get to know the ropes then you can begin to experiment.
Most people who try to 'get away with it' drop themselves in the Sh-t and generally end up with nothing and becoming disillusioned with growing and pack up.
Initially I would sow seeds only maybe two to three weeks in advance of crops for outside and that combined with growing under tunnel conditions will give a crop a month to six weeks earlier than outside.
JB.
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alan refail
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Chicken4
Welcome to polytunnel growing (by the way, Johnboy's advice is invaluable, based on years of experience).
I hope you do well this summer with all your crops.
On a more positive note than my last post: start thinking/planning ahead. A tunnel is marvellous over winter. Try a search on winter polytunnel crops. To get you started, there is some useful stuff on this thread from last year.
How big is your tunnel?
Best wishes Alan
Welcome to polytunnel growing (by the way, Johnboy's advice is invaluable, based on years of experience).
I hope you do well this summer with all your crops.
On a more positive note than my last post: start thinking/planning ahead. A tunnel is marvellous over winter. Try a search on winter polytunnel crops. To get you started, there is some useful stuff on this thread from last year.
How big is your tunnel?
Best wishes Alan
alan refail wrote:Chicken4
Welcome to polytunnel growing (by the way, Johnboy's advice is invaluable, based on years of experience).
I hope you do well this summer with all your crops.
On a more positive note than my last post: start thinking/planning ahead. A tunnel is marvellous over winter. Try a search on winter polytunnel crops. To get you started, there is some useful stuff on this thread from last year.
How big is your tunnel?
Best wishes Alan
It's 20ft by 14ft so a good size, covering a 1/4 of my plot. I put the tunnel up late last spring so missed this part of the year. I got blight last year but after reading a post by John I think this wasn't helped by an odd potato plant from the year before.
I did well over the winter, although still didn't make full use of the space -got a late crop of french beans, salad leaves, leeks and cabbages. My peas are now in, I cheated and sowed in root trainers. Coming into harvest I have spring cabbage and spinach. On the bench I have root trainers filled flowers and other veg and pots of strawberries.
I find growing in the tunnel a massive learning curve. Love the fact that I can catch up with the jobs in the tunnel in the rain and spend the nicer days working on the rest of the plot. People on my site thought I was mad getting the tunnel and such a size but this year I think I'll end up with one of the most productive plots. Just as well as I'm now the secretary
Try to be organic, but finding it hard
10 degrees for tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers and anything like. Less for lettuce and most greens.
6 degrees for micro greens and early leafs.
Something like the same for early peas, broad beans, general greens, beetroot, kale, most annual flowers.
6 degrees for micro greens and early leafs.
Something like the same for early peas, broad beans, general greens, beetroot, kale, most annual flowers.
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PLUMPUDDING
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Just something of interest: Today I've noticed a 2 inch high tomato seedling that has come up in the border in my cold greenhouse, so despite a few recent frosty nights, that little plant thinks the temperature is OK. I wouldn't risk the ones from the propagator though.
Hi Plumpudding,
It is amazing that these Tomatoes self seed and they have done in the past here and have been raised successfully. These were Gardeners Delight and went on to give a very early crop. They were grown on in my tunnel within a tunnel which has minimum heat.
The only snag is that unless you are sure that it is not a regeneration from an F1 hybrid because then you have no idea what you will get.
Last year I had seeds germinate inside a Gardeners Delight that had dropped and not been picked up but had not rotted and this was before
the last trusses were picked. I have no idea why this should happen and do not know the horticultural term for it.
JB.
It is amazing that these Tomatoes self seed and they have done in the past here and have been raised successfully. These were Gardeners Delight and went on to give a very early crop. They were grown on in my tunnel within a tunnel which has minimum heat.
The only snag is that unless you are sure that it is not a regeneration from an F1 hybrid because then you have no idea what you will get.
Last year I had seeds germinate inside a Gardeners Delight that had dropped and not been picked up but had not rotted and this was before
the last trusses were picked. I have no idea why this should happen and do not know the horticultural term for it.
JB.