What Can You Grow in a Grow Tunnel
Whether you're a seasoned gardener, a farmer looking to boost productivity, or simply passionate about homegrown produce, this article will guide you through the benefits of growing in a greenhouse. If you’re thinking about growing vegetables, flowers, seedlings, microgreens or nursery plants, a covered growing area offers countless advantages. Polytunnel-style greenhouses, such as our GROWTunnels, allow you to harness the power of a controlled environment and cultivate a wide variety of crops all year round, regardless of external conditions. From beans and tomatoes, to berries, kale, celery, and beetroot; the possibilities are endless.
Explore the benefits, techniques, and tips for growing vegetables (and whatever else you can dream of) successfully all year round. We’ll also discuss the differences between summer and winter cultivation, the role of shade nets and ventilation, and how to optimise your greenhouse for maximum yield and quality. Get ready to embark on a journey of sustainable and bountiful production that will have you enjoying the taste of fresh, homegrown goodness throughout the year.
GROWING VEGETABLES IN A GROWTUNNEL
Growing your own vegetables offers numerous advantages for gardeners and farmers alike. The controlled environment of a polytunnel provides optimal conditions for plant growth throughout the year, regardless of the external climate. The ability to regulate temperature, humidity, and light helps extend growing seasons, while also protecting crops from harsh weather, minimising pests and disease infestations and reducing the need for pesticides and promoting healthier plants. This enables growers to enjoy prosperous crops through both winter and summer, and cultivate a wide variety of vegetables.
Additionally, growing in a polytunnel allows for better water management, as water can be efficiently recycled and reused. The result is a more sustainable and resource-efficient method of vegetable production. By harnessing the power of a high tunnel structure, such as a GROWTunnel, growers can enjoy higher yields, superior quality produce, and the satisfaction of enjoying homegrown vegetables throughout the year. You can read all about the benefits of growing in a polytunnel here.
WHAT VEGETABLES TO GROW IN A GROWTUNNEL
BEANS
A greenhouse, or polytunnel, provides a favourable environment for beans to grow, allowing for more consistent temperatures and protection from wind. With controlled conditions, polytunnels encourage healthy bean plants that can produce a continuous harvest, ensuring a steady supply of fresh, crisp beans throughout the growing season.
BEETROOT
Growing beetroot in a greenhouse creates an ideal setting for their development. The controlled environment allows beetroot to thrive, resulting in vibrant, tender roots that are perfect for adding a touch of earthy sweetness to salads and other culinary creations.
BERRIES
Berries can thrive in a greenhouse environment, as it offers numerous advantages to growing outdoors. The controlled environment allows for extended growing seasons and protection from frost. Strawberries in particular can benefit from growing in a polytunnel greenhouse in Australia.
CELERY
Growing celery in a protected environment, such as a greenhouse or GROWTunnel ensures consistent moisture levels in the soil and temperature. As well as protection from pests, resulting in robust celery stalks that are perfect for soups, salads, and snacking.
KALE
Kale is a nutrient dense vegetable that is perfect for year-round production in a greenhouse, regardless of the external weather conditions.. Adding a shade cloth to your tunnel in the hotter summer months will help this crop grow better, protecting it from too much sunshine and direct-heat. The nutritious green leaves can be harvested continuously for use in salads, smoothies, and a variety of other dishes.
TOMATOES
The high roof structure of a GROWTunnel makes a greenhouse or polytunnel an ideal environment for growing tomatoes, as it can be quite a sensitive crop. The protected cropping environment allows for extended growing seasons and protection from adverse weather conditions, such as heavy rain, which can split the fruit.
GROWING PLANTS IN A GROWTUNNEL
Raising plants in a covered structure such as a GROWTunnel, greenhouse or polytunnel offers a versatile and controlled environment for a wide range of species, including fruit trees, nursery plants, and houseplants. The greenhouse setting provides optimal conditions for both grafted and non-grafted nursery stock fruit trees to flourish, ensuring consistent warmth, humidity, and protection from harsh weather. This enables the nursery stock fruit trees to develop a healthy root system before transplanting into an orchard or garden.
Plastic tunnels or plant tunnels serve as ideal nurseries for young plants, providing them with the necessary care and protection during their delicate early stages. From seeds to saplings, the controlled environment fosters healthy growth and allows for efficient propagation of nursery plants. Additionally, polytunnel greenhouses offer a haven for houseplants, replicating the ideal conditions they require to thrive indoors. The greenhouse environment can provide a nurturing haven for all types of plants, supporting their growth and ensuring their vitality.
GROWING FLOWERS IN A GROWTUNNEL
Propagating flowers in a greenhouse presents a host of advantages for florists, gardeners, farmers and enthusiasts alike. The controlled environment of a greenhouse provides optimal conditions for flower cultivation, enabling consistent temperature, humidity, and light levels. This allows for extended growing seasons, protection from adverse weather such as heavy rain or wind, which can wipe out a flower crop in minutes, and the ability to grow a diverse array of flowers throughout the year.
The greenhouse environment also minimises the risk of pests and diseases, reducing the need for chemical treatments and fostering healthier blooms. With careful attention to watering and nutrient management, greenhouse-grown flowers exhibit vibrant colours, strong stems, and prolonged vase life, making them ideal for bouquets, floral arrangements, and other decorative purposes. Moreover, the greenhouse offers a space for experimentation, hybridisation, and the cultivation of rare or delicate flower varieties, enhancing the diversity and beauty of floral displays.
GROWING MICROGREENS IN A GROWTUNNEL
Farmers, chefs, and health-conscious individuals can all benefit from growing microgreens in a covered structure, such as a greenhouse or GROWTunnel, as the controlled environment provides optimal conditions for cultivating these nutrient-packed seedlings. With regulated temperature, humidity, and light, greenhouse growers can ensure rapid and consistent growth, resulting in tender and flavourful microgreens with vibrant colours and concentrated flavours.
Year-round production, independent of seasonal limitations, can be achieved inside a polytunnel structure, providing a steady supply of fresh and nutritious microgreens. Additionally, the controlled environment minimises the risk of pests and diseases, reducing the need for pesticides and promoting the production of safe and organic microgreens and allowing for organic certification if grown in soil. By harnessing the power of a polytunnel, growers can efficiently produce a wide variety of microgreens, enhancing culinary experiences and adding a nutritional boost to salads, sandwiches, and other dishes.
Ready to start growing your own microgreens in a GROWTunnel? Learn all about it in this post.
GROWING SEEDLINGS IN A GROWTUNNEL
A covered structure, such as a greenhouse or polytunnel, offers a highly efficient method of propagation for a variety of plants. The controlled environment of a greenhouse provides optimal conditions for seed germination and early growth stages. Growers can create the ideal microclimate for successful seedling development, by reducing wind and rain through the physical environmental barrier. The enclosed setting promotes accelerated growth, allowing for faster propagation and establishing robust and healthy seedlings.
This method is particularly beneficial for delicate or hard-to-germinate species, as the polytunnel provides protection from external factors that could hinder germination success. By utilising a greenhouse for seedling propagation, growers can ensure a high success rate, consistent quality, and a steady supply of strong young plants ready for transplanting into gardens or larger-scale cultivation. Shade tunnels or shade nets inside the polytunnel offer a further diverse micro-climate for seedlings.
PUMPKINS
Growing pumpkin seedlings in a greenhouse provides a nurturing environment for their early development. Propagation away from the external elements is easy and the controlled conditions of a greenhouse allow for optimal germination and growth, ensuring robust and healthy pumpkin seedlings ready for transplantation into the garden or paddock.
GROWING IN A GROWTUNNEL ALL YEAR ROUND
Covered growing structures, such as greenhouses, high-tunnels and polytunnels provide the opportunity to cultivate plants all year round, regardless of the external seasons. There are however some distinct considerations that need to be taken when growing in a protected environment, providing for the variations in climate between summer and winter. During the summer months, greenhouse growers can take advantage of the warmer temperatures by starting and growing heat-loving crops such as tomatoes, capsicums, and cucumbers earlier in the season and prolonging them for later in the season. In some growing regions all year round production is possible.
Adequate ventilation through methods such as roll up sides on polytunnels become crucial to prevent overheating, and shade nets can be used to protect plants from excessive sunlight and heat stress. The physical barrier of the greenhouse reduces the incidence of pest and disease, wind damage and heavy rain damage. With careful management of temperature through extraction fans, humidity, and irrigation, greenhouse gardeners can ensure optimal conditions for summer crops, resulting in abundant and consistent yields.
In contrast, for the winter season greenhouse production is all about keeping the heat in and allowing extension of the season so that farmers and growers can achieve premium prices for their crops when the demand is high and supply low. Greenhouses also enable faster growth in the winter months for cold-tolerant crops like kale, spinach, and lettuce that can withstand lower temperatures. In the winter months roll up sides are usually left down all night and only opened a little during the day time to allow some air flow. This keeps the greenhouse warmer at night, reducing the risk of frost and reduces stress on the plants.
By carefully adapting to the seasonal differences, greenhouse growers can extend their growing seasons, maximise productivity, and enjoy a diverse range of fresh produce throughout the year.
The use of a greenhouse structure, such as a GROWTunnel, offers countless benefits for farmers and growers looking to maximise productivity and cultivate a wide variety of crops throughout the year. The controlled environment provided by a greenhouse allows for optimal conditions, regardless of external factors, resulting in higher yields, superior quality produce and the ability to grow year-round produce. Whether it's vegetables, plants, flowers, microgreens, or seedlings, polytunnel production offers a versatile and sustainable method of cultivation.
