Greenhouse or Poly tunnel?

pookiewn

Hello,

My amazing OH has agreed to indulge my gardening addiciton some more and concurred it's time to get a proper greenhouse or poly tunnel. :j

Can anyone give me some pros and cons and experiences of either to help us decide.

As far as money goes, I think we can get more poly tunnel for our buck, if we got a greenhouse it would be preloved (we are looking on ebay/gumtree etc).

Which ever one we get would be sitting on concrete, the base of a knocked down garage which seems to be a bit of a wind trap. Are poly tunnels as likely to blow away as the little green houses? The small plastic green house I have, had six paving slabs in the bottom and two rather heavy pots to stop it blowing away! The previous year, I was dancing round the garden with it

Because of the location of the concrete (it's right outside the kitchen window) I am a little worried that a poly tunnel may not be as aesthetically pleasing as a green house would. Most of the poly tunnels I have seen in our price range seem to be green rather than clear. If this had been a couple of years ago, the aesthetics wouldn't have mattered so much, however I've nearly re-landscaped the whole thing and got rid of the mess that was inherited! :mad:

Any thoughts please? Are there any significant benefits to either?

I think I've rambled enough! Thank you

Smoffi

Personally I'd have a greenhouse... Can't put my finger on exactly why

My view on poly tunnels are that they may be better of being small and over your patch and easy to take on and off if required.. Anything to help things grow is good..

Just make sure you make the decision soon.. OH may change mind lol

Mayflower10cat

Having had both, if cost is a major factor then polytunnel (as high as you can) is great.Line it with bubblewrap for max warmth. A greenhouse looks prettier but (except 2nd hand) will cost more. I'd say - go for a new good quality polytunnel now and save up for a pretty greenhouse brand new!! We had three 20m tunnels in our last house (furthest away from the house, 150ft away) plus two medium size greenhouses. The greenhouses were in the back garden and we could heat them from mains electricity, ever so easy but not cheap. I also trialled paraffin heaters one (hard) winter and to be honest, the electric space heaters were much more effective. The polytunnels I chose not to heat as, unlike the previous owners, I only used the greenhouses for overwintering tender stuff.

pookiewn

Thank you for both replies

Can't say that make's it any easier to decide, lol!

Does a greenhouse not keep it's heat as well as a polytunnel? Could I not line the glass with bubble wrap to achieve the same effect? I hadn't thought about heating it, I thought perhaps it may extend the growing season a bit and protect from the frosts in the winter.

The concrete patch is no more than two meters away from the house and there is no where at the end of the garden to put the tunnel, so perhaps a green house is a better option. I think I'll keep looking on ebay and see how it goes!



OH says that the thumb print on his forehead wont let him change his mind :rotfl:

foreign_correspondent

Greenhouse every time - my dad has a couple of commercial greenhouses and tried a couple of poly tunnels several years ago - he found he had lower yields in the poly tunnels, more condensation, more slugs, more mildew etc... decided they were not worth investing in again after they started getting ripped and damaged. They were also difficult to ultilise the space well in - the curved sides mean some plants need to be quite a way in from the sides - the straight uprights of a greenhouse are more useful space wise.

pookiewn

Thanks for that. Green house it is!

Just missed one for a tenner There will be more!

pookiewn

Are polycarbonate greenhouses any good? Think I've found a decent one, but it's polycarb. Not sure!

Thank you!

Lucywu2012

I'd like to have a green house!! Nowaday, it's very hars to living in green!

Pyjama_Gardener

The Amateur Gardening Magazine recently did an article about Polytunnel v's Greenhouse, you can see it here -

firsttunnels.co.uk/docs/whichisbest.pdf

peter_the_piper

Polytunnel every time. Cheaper to buy, cheaper to re-cover. Easier to use a different colour sheet so reduces the need for shading. Try to get one with a more upright side instead of a normal curved one.

pookiewn

Pyjama_Gardener wrote: »

The Amateur Gardening Magazine recently did an article about Polytunnel v's Greenhouse, you can see it here -

firsttunnels.co.uk/docs/whichisbest.pdf

Thank you, that is a very interesting and helpful article.

I think perhaps that due to the position of where the greenhouse/polytunnel would go that a Greenhouse would stand up to the wind better, block less sun into the kitchen and be more aesthetically pleasing.