Poly-tunnels ??

[exile]

Good question LAF. As one who has lost 3 conventional greenhouses in high winds - rebuilt 2 but not as they were designed. I am interested if a Poly could do the job and not leave plastic film 3 departements to the East - let alone bend poles into shapes only envisaged by Salvador Dali..

[Polarengineer]

I use the same as the Dutch greenhouse industry, a reflecting shadow mesh. I got mine via friends in Holland, but it is available via the usual Chinese sites.https://www.alibaba.com/pla/30Aluminum- ... iQQAvD_BwE

[Quiksilver]

Good question LAF. As one who has lost 3 conventional greenhouses in high winds - rebuilt 2 but not as they were designed. I am interested if a Poly could do the job and not leave plastic film 3 departements to the East - let alone bend poles into shapes only envisaged by Salvador Dali..

Here's an article on fixing a tunnel cover using strong string. If the sides of the cover aren't buried, they can be rolled up and down as necessary...https://www.atoutloisir.com/blog/tout-s ... araichere/

[L Austin France]

Good question LAF. As one who has lost 3 conventional greenhouses in high winds - rebuilt 2 but not as they were designed. I am interested if a Poly could do the job and not leave plastic film 3 departements to the East - let alone bend poles into shapes only envisaged by Salvador Dali..

Here's an article on fixing a tunnel cover using strong string. If the sides of the cover aren't buried, they can be rolled up and down as necessary...https://www.atoutloisir.com/blog/tout-s ... araichere/

Rather others use this than me.
Mine's buried & still in one piece after about 10 years & some of the most horrendous gales I've experienced.

[Quiksilver]

Same here, LAF! The edges of mine are well and truly buried, but there are a lot of tomato producers hereabouts who went over to that system, until rigid structures with solar panels became all the rage

[L Austin France]

Same here, LAF! The edges of mine are well and truly buried, but there are a lot of tomato producers hereabouts who went over to that system, until rigid structures with solar panels became all the rage

A chicken producer not far from us kept thousands of chooks in huge green polytunnels built on timber skids so they could be towed to new places.
During a gale a year or so ago the lot took off & were deposited across the voie express some 100's of metres away with most of the chickens killed.

[exile]

Good question LAF. As one who has lost 3 conventional greenhouses in high winds - rebuilt 2 but not as they were designed. I am interested if a Poly could do the job and not leave plastic film 3 departements to the East - let alone bend poles into shapes only envisaged by Salvador Dali..

Here's an article on fixing a tunnel cover using strong string. If the sides of the cover aren't buried, they can be rolled up and down as necessary...https://www.atoutloisir.com/blog/tout-s ... araichere/

Our last destruction, the wind lifted the greenhouse - including around 120kg of concrete foundations right out of the ground.

[Quiksilver]

Impressive! Most of our worldly belongings were stored in our polytunnel during the renovation. Weighted down with blocks of stone and lengths of timber. What innocents Along came Klaus..... and 24 white-knuckle hours wondering where the mobile home was going to end up. Luckily, all it did was peel off the bâche and leave it in neat folds on one side of the frame. We got it back in place, and then two weeks later, along came another one

[Bayleaf]

Ah! That's an interesting idea, tieing strong cord across the outside of the plastic. Our's is attached at numerous points to the frame, and the frame is currently attached to concrete blocks using large g-clamps (we need to bolt it into the paving at some point). We've got some stretchy cord left over from putting up a huge windbreak one side of the hangar, so might give that a go to take the strain off the cover pulling the frame during a storm. It does specify that tunnels should be completely closed during high winds, and our current little tunnel is surrounded on three sides by a wall a metre high, so here's hoping it can't go far!

[Quiksilver]

There are so many factors to take into account, Bayleaf Mainly, which direction the wind comes from (it just whizzes over the curve if it hits the side) and how taut the cover is. Would stretchy cord perhaps 'relax' with time and exposure to the elements? Perhaps not if it's UV treated like the covers