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Polytunnel fruit

LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
in Fruit & veg
What fruit & veg could I grow in my polytunnel? Obviously it gets less direct sunlight but still gets warm.... Any ideas?

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  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,594
    In our polytunnel...we grow pak choi, kohl rabi, chillies, peppers, carrots, salad crops,
    aubergines, tomatoes, strawberries, melons, chinese yams.
    Always good harvests.
    All doing better now that the weather has warmed up.
  • LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
    I was lead to believe you need more sunlight than what a poly tunnel can give you for growing tomatoes... bertrand-mabel said:
    In our polytunnel...we grow pak choi, kohl rabi, chillies, peppers, carrots, salad crops,
    aubergines, tomatoes, strawberries, melons, chinese yams.
    Always good harvests.
    All doing better now that the weather has warmed up.
    I was lead to believe you need more sunlight than what a poly tunnel can give you for growing tomatoes... Do you grow all what you listed from seed to harvest in you're polytunnel? Must be a good size... Mines a 6x8 but I have gravel in mine
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,854
    I grow tomatoes and chillies in ours and cucumbers too.  I have also grown melons, cucamelons, lemon grass, oca and a couple of other things that need a bit more warmth or fertility.  We pile on a thick mulch of home-made compost in spring to refresh the soil and use a seep hose to water at the feet rather than spraying.  

    Clearly here there is stronger sun and higher temps than the UK but we open the doors at both ends and put on a green shade net from mid April to end of September.

    In winter it's home to my 3 citrus plants in pots and the tender fuchsias and any young seed grown plants or cuttings or divisions.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,594
    edited May 2021
    Ours is 10 feet by 16 feet.
    Yes we do grow all that I listed but last year we did do cucumbers as well  but this year we are doing cucamelons for the first time.
    All are mainly veg plants and they all do need to be watered daily.
    We have 2 openings but in the last few years only one has stayed open all year round.
    A great part of our garden produce and has been now for 15 years.
  • LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
    bertrand-mabel said:
    Ours is 10 feet by 16 feet.
    Yes we do grow all that I listed but last year we did do cucumbers as well  but this year we are doing cucamelons for the first time.
    All are mainly veg plants and they all do need to be watered daily.
    We have 2 openings but in the last few years only one has stayed open all year round.
    A great part of our garden produce and has been now for 15 years.
    That's a big fekker!! Haha. What could the average simpleton up north in an 8x6 polytunnel grow? 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,854
    Do you ever watch the Beechgrove garden show?  It's set in Scotland, up near Aberdeen and they grow all sorts in their polytunnels - asparagus, sweetcorn, squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes - anything that needs a longer growing season than it would get outside the tunnel.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • LewisiumLewisium Posts: 122
    Obelixx said:
    Do you ever watch the Beechgrove garden show?  It's set in Scotland, up near Aberdeen and they grow all sorts in their polytunnels - asparagus, sweetcorn, squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes - anything that needs a longer growing season than it would get outside the tunnel.
    Never watched that. I'll try find it. 
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,721
    Lewisium said:
    I was lead to believe you need more sunlight than what a poly tunnel can give you for growing tomatoes... Do you grow all what you listed from seed to harvest in you're polytunnel? Must be a good size... Mines a 6x8 but I have gravel in mine
    What do you mean? most commercial tomatoes are grown in pollytunnels, I'm just across the water from Aberdeen and we grow tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, peppers.. anything that needs a bit of extra heat. greenhouse plastic only reduces light transmission by 10-15% which isn't enough to bother plants.

  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    You are most likely sorted by now, but we have just re-covered our polytunnel and I have found this site really useful ...
    (sorry, I don't know how to do a link on the ipad)

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