Adding mid-season high tunnels?

ddsack · August 2, 2009

Has anyone else been desperate enough to think of adding a large partial plastic enclosure for tomatoes 2/3's of the way through the season? We have only the month of August left here, and highs next week will only be in the low 70's (22C) so not a lot of hope for much change the rest of the month.

I've gotten a few ripe early tomatoes, but the big ones I really crave are behind and unless the weather heats up dramatically likely won't have time to ripen on the vine.

I'm seriously considering adding large plastic tents over at least some of the tomato beds to concentrate a little more heat during the day. The main problem is making the structure temporary, yet sturdy enough to stand some wind without flying away. Also, it has to be high enough to allow some added growth higher than the current support (I grow trellised on cattle panels) in raised beds, so that also affects the placement of supports, because of walking and access space etc. I am pretty creative and have lots of ideas, just limited in the amount of effort and money that I want to sink into this project.

If anyone has already done something similar and has ideas or pictures, I'd love to hear about it.

August 2, 2009	#1
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,221	Adding mid-season high tunnels? Has anyone else been desperate enough to think of adding a large partial plastic enclosure for tomatoes 2/3's of the way through the season? We have only the month of August left here, and highs next week will only be in the low 70's (22C) so not a lot of hope for much change the rest of the month. I've gotten a few ripe early tomatoes, but the big ones I really crave are behind and unless the weather heats up dramatically likely won't have time to ripen on the vine. I'm seriously considering adding large plastic tents over at least some of the tomato beds to concentrate a little more heat during the day. The main problem is making the structure temporary, yet sturdy enough to stand some wind without flying away. Also, it has to be high enough to allow some added growth higher than the current support (I grow trellised on cattle panels) in raised beds, so that also affects the placement of supports, because of walking and access space etc. I am pretty creative and have lots of ideas, just limited in the amount of effort and money that I want to sink into this project. If anyone has already done something similar and has ideas or pictures, I'd love to hear about it. __________________ Dee **************