Whangaroa Tunnel Houses Timber Framed Growing Tunnels For Home, Business & Education 82C Wainui Road Whangaroa Tel: 09 4051311 Mob: 021 144 3184 Email:petegotzl@xtra.co.nz See our latest news, pictures & blog on our facebook page Introduction The Tunnel House Prices & Options Useful Tips FAQ Timeline Photos Grow Tomatoes Under Hoops This is a great Tomato tip. Plant the Tomato under a hoop reasonably close to the outer edge of the box. Use a short stake with about 500mm above the ground to support the plant in the early stages. When it is at the top of the stake use some ties or twine and start to train it up the hoop. The plant will then grow all the way up the hoop . You just need to keep it tied in places. Shade Young Lettuce In Summer Young lettuce seedlings can get a case of the wilts in a hot tunnel house without any shade. A good way around this is to use some 20mm irrigation pipe curved over with a bit of bamboo in its tube and pushed into the soil. You can then drape some shade netting over it. There are a lot of lettuce types that can handle the full sun, like frilly types but if it’s particularly hot this will keep them all happy until they harden up. Water In The Evening In my situation I do not have hundreds of litres of water to use everyday on my plants so I want to get the best results with the amount that I have set aside for my Tunnel House. I water every evening when the sun has moved off the Tunnel House and give the boxes a good soak. This will the stay wet and moist until around midday. So the plants only have to hang on through the hot afternoon. You do not need to over water but it’s good to be consistent. Chilli Peppers & Sweet Peppers Thrive In the Hot Summer Summer is a fantastic time in the Tunnel House if you like chilli’s and peppers. The warm temperatures send them into overdrive. If you get your growing brew right you will be rewarded with plants that grow large fruits. Some varieties of sweet pepper like the Cornos Red shown will grow 2.5 metres tall and bear 30 to 40 large peppers. We have a long season in Northland and you can still plant out seedlings at the end of January and enjoy fruit from April though to July Raised Beds Provide Useful Shelving As you get the bug to grew from seed you will soon be overrun with small potted plants and you need to stand then somewhere until they are ready to plant. A useful space is the outside lip of your raised beds. This can take care of quite a few pots and growbags. Use A Good Mist Sprayer On Seeds Growing seeds can sometimes be a stressful business and does not always go to plan. Give yourself the best chance by using a delicate water sprayer so you do not dislodge the soil and the seed when you are keeping everything damp. A good one like this Macgregor type has a number of settings and the mist setting is perfect. Use The Netting Door coverings To Keep Butterflies Out The roll up nylon mesh door coverings are important to use when the Butterflies start to turn up in numbers. The precise fit and securing timber strip on the base ensures that nothing will get past this. You can’t always have these down and when the odd butterfly lays its eggs there are good organic sprays around that can keep any caterpillar outbreak to a minimum. Making Seed Germination Easier A good table in the Tunnel House is really useful when you are germinating seeds and potting up. The one we supply can hold a large number of seed trays in the recessed top and the shelf underneath gives you more useable space. When the temperatures are really up during strong summer sunshine it is always a good idea to shade your seeds from the sun as otherwise they will cook. Beer and Snails You might not have snails to start with, but they will come. A good trick is to use some small dishes and put a bit of beer in them. The snails get attracted by the yeast in the beer and fall in when they get too close ! Grow Different Varieties There are lots of varieties of plants and seeds to choose from. I always grow quite a few varieties to find out which are the best. It is particularly true with Peppers and Chillies that some produce a lot of fruit and others do not. Find the ones that work and concentrate on those in the future.