I’m building a Polytunnel.

wildest_jjk · 24 Apr 2021 at 20:39

Looking fantastic mate, good job.

Now to start planting?

easyrider · 24 Apr 2021 at 20:57

wildest_jjk said:
Looking fantastic mate, good job.

Now to start planting?

yeah...a few little things to finish up. Sliding door fixings etc....I had had a few seedlings on the go and some tomato plants I planted from seed and had in my conservatory....so I’ll transfer them. I have some strawberry plants to go in...I’ll transfer a few herbs from pots outside into it...

easyrider · 10 May 2021 at 22:55

watercooledman · 10 May 2021 at 22:58

Nice work well done

easyrider · 10 May 2021 at 23:06

watercooledman said:
Nice work well done

Thanks mate....just got to sort my Pump and irrigation out....do you or anyone know about pumps....? I need to access the water from the IBC and ideally would like to use my hose and spray gun for now..

looking at one of these ...

https://www.waterpump.co.uk/dab-jetinox-132-m-garden-pump

and getting one of these that switches the pump off when I close the spray gun...so the IBC behaves just like a mains supply...

https://www.waterpump.co.uk/dab-control-d

easyrider · 10 May 2021 at 23:21

This was the run off today of the garage after I redirected both down pipes to the IBC....heavy shower lasting about 5 mins. Had to add water butts as the IBC began to overflow.

BigBoy · 11 May 2021 at 19:24

That is stunning mate really well done, I do wish I had a larger garden

easyrider · 11 May 2021 at 19:38

BigBoy said:
That is stunning mate really well done, I do wish I had a larger garden

Thanks Amigo,

I ordered this today https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08J452B57/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to use my spray gun directly from the IBC

montymint · 11 May 2021 at 19:42

What a wonderful build @easyrider , insanely jealous - my current yard is smaller than your tunnel (joys of a mid terraced house).

rodders · 11 May 2021 at 19:57

How big is your garage roof, don't think my house roof even catches that much water!

clv101 · 11 May 2021 at 19:58

easyrider said:
Thanks Amigo,

I ordered this today https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08J452B57/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to use my spray gun directly from the IBC

Wow that's a powerful pump, probably an overkill for a spray gun. I have something very similar, use it with a 19mm hose to move water from lower tanks up to higher tanks but the flow rate is too much to use anywhere near actual plants without blasting them out of the ground.

When using 19mm hoses which are far better than 13mm, you only need ~1m of head from an IBC to achieve perfectly decent flow rate for watering. In a polytunnel it's a good idea not to spray everything, try and keep leaves dry, the damp and high humidity can be bad.

I do most of my polytunnel watering with gravity fed drip lines, and the bits that aren't plumbed in I tend to use watering cans. It's great to water half the tunnel with a single turn of a tap.

easyrider · 11 May 2021 at 22:00

montymint said:
What a wonderful build @easyrider , insanely jealous - my current yard is smaller than your tunnel (joys of a mid terraced house).

Thanks mate. I’m pretty pleased with the end result. Lots to learn

rodders said:
How big is your garage roof, don't think my house roof even catches that much water!

It’s a double garage with three stables attached to it....23m long x 6m wide...I redirected the water all to that IBC was amazed how quickly the IBC filled up. So I want to use this water as much as possible.

clv101 said:
Wow that's a powerful pump, probably an overkill for a spray gun. I have something very similar, use it with a 19mm hose to move water from lower tanks up to higher tanks but the flow rate is too much to use anywhere near actual plants without blasting them out of the ground.

I watched this video and thought that looks beefier than the one I’m ordering and he’s was doing exactly what I wanted. The run from the IBC is about 25m so I’m thinking the pressure will drop enough for my sprinkler . I bought the regulator switch as well so when the spray gun is closed the pump switches off...open the gun the pump turns back on.

When using 19mm hoses which are far better than 13mm, you only need ~1m of head from an IBC to achieve perfectly decent flow rate for watering. In a polytunnel it's a good idea not to spray everything, try and keep leaves dry, the damp and high humidity can be bad.

I do most of my polytunnel watering with gravity fed drip lines, and the bits that aren't plumbed in I tend to use watering cans. It's great to water half the tunnel with a single turn of a tap.

Yeah with my spray gun I can get accurate watering under tomato leaves etc....I’m not sure how I could rig up a gravity fed system....do you have pictures of yours?

I just don’t want to have to fill watering cans up all the time...

clv101 · 11 May 2021 at 23:12

Our whole site is on a gentle slope, I store 8000 L off the house & veranda which is around 3-4m higher than the big poly some 30m from the house on a lower terrace.

But I also have a smaller poly, where I just have an IBC on a bank only a foot or so higher and that's enough head for the drip line/watering with the 19mm hose.

easyrider · 11 May 2021 at 23:32

clv101 said:
Our whole site is on a gentle slope, I store 8000 L off the house & veranda which is around 3-4m higher than the big poly some 30m from the house on a lower terrace.

But I also have a smaller poly, where I just have an IBC on a bank only a foot or so higher and that's enough head for the drip line/watering with the 19mm hose.

I think I need a few more IBC’s

clv101 · 12 May 2021 at 00:31

easyrider said:
I think I need a few more IBC’s

We have a couple of these round the back of the house, they are over 2m tall which helps with head and reduces their footprint:
https://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/enduratank-3000-litre-water-tank-non-potable/p534

easyrider · 12 May 2021 at 02:29

clv101 said:
We have a couple of these round the back of the house, they are over 2m tall which helps with head and reduces their footprint:
https://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/enduratank-3000-litre-water-tank-non-potable/p534

I think I need a bigger tank

PlacidCasual · 12 May 2021 at 09:29

It's a very nicely put together polytunnel you got the sheet nicely tight and even, good job.

Worthy · 12 May 2021 at 09:35

Honestly, the impression I got of you from your postings was of some all-thumbed useless git. I can hold my hands up though and say I was wrong - that's a really impressive job and some decent graft. My back was aching just from looking at the trench you dug to mount the posts.

mickyflinn · 12 May 2021 at 09:51

Loving the build @easyrider

Have you done a rough calculation of how much water you need per day ?

easyrider · 12 May 2021 at 10:31

PlacidCasual said:
It's a very nicely put together polytunnel you got the sheet nicely tight and even, good job.

Thanks mate. The aluminium base rail was so worth the extra in the end .

Worthy said:
Honestly, the impression I got of you from your postings was of some all-thumbed useless git. I can hold my hands up though and say I was wrong - that's a really impressive job and some decent graft. My back was aching just from looking at the trench you dug to mount the posts.

Thanks

This was hard work but the Pond build was Epic.

mickyflinn said:
Loving the build @easyrider

Have you done a rough calculation of how much water you need per day ?

I watered it yesterday purely form the Waterbuts in the Car Port . I have rigged up a pump station in there to shift the water to the IBC or other places ( still to decide) I used about 1/3rd of a 210l butt .So around 70 litres

I’m building a Polytunnel.

Pet Northerner

I haz 4090!