You might have seen an advert floating on some of the forum pages for polytunnels from £79.00. Well, I couldn’t resist so I’ve bought one for myself from Warehouse24. They’ve got three on offer:

• 3M x 2M for £79.00 Seems to be sold out!
• 4.5M x 2M for £99.95
• 6M x 3M for £179.95

Polytunnels

Being me, I couldn’t resist so I ordered the biggest one. I have to say they’re pretty good on service. It arrived the next day, which I couldn’t complain about – especially as it’s free delivery.

I’ve not put it up but I’ve opened the box and checked all the parts are there and had a good look at it.

Now, to some extent, you only get what you pay for. A ‘proper’ polytunnel with baseplates, doors, vent kits etc of a similar size would set you back the best part of £900!

A quality tunnel, properly built, will last for years and withstand the worst of storms. Eventually the cover needs to be replaced but that’s something that will set you back around £50 to £70 so not too expensive, but a half day job for two people to fix it.

The tunnel I’ve bought is more like those plastic greenhouses you find in the supermarkets and discount stores. The frame is 25mm steel, powder coated like the more expensive tunnels from the specialists, but no stabiliser bars. A little minimal.

The cover is pretty good though, although a green rather than clear.

The assembly instructions are one sheet and basically just how to connect the frame together. Still, pretty foolproof as each piece is labelled. I’ve no doubt it will go together easily enough and then it’s just a matter of putting the cover over.

It’s a one piece job with built in roll-up vents and roll-up zippered doors. So no ‘construction’ work to do.

My only concern is that the style would be fine on a solid surface (the base of the steel supports have plastic feet covers) but not on soft soil. Also there’s no instruction for anchoring the structure.

I’ve seen entire glass greenhouses lifted by the wind and tossed in pieces onto the next plot. The plastic polytunnel is far lighter, only 30Kg including everything! I think I’ll need to provide slabs under the feet, ensuring they’re square and level, before setting the tunnel up.

There appears to be enough skirt on the base of the cover to either bury in a trench or hold down with battens of wood, perhaps fence posts, fixed to the ground. Remember the problem is it taking off in a strong wind.

So overall here’s my conclusion. It’s a fabulous deal. Not the same quality as the tunnels five times the price but still excellent value for money. You need to be a bit more creative about how you set it up and fix it but for £750 I can do that!

Available at point of writing from Warehouse24