Coping with the storms at Five Star Polytunnels

Every time the weather forecast mentions the name of a storm we are on edge here at Five Star Polytunnels. With 3 tunnels of our own full of produce all year round and complete exposure to the South Westerly winds, we know how everyone feels. Here are a few pointers for how we are  coping with the storms at Five Star Polytunnels

Its difficult to give actual advice because every site is different, surrounding buildings, or structures like hedges can offer protection or they can actually create wind tunnels and make situations worse. Its important to get to know your site, how it affects your tunnels and react accordingly, especially as there is no warranty on polytunnels for wind damage and it seems more and more insurance companies are not covering them.

Initially its important to make sure that the ground tubes are sufficiently concreted in and that the polythene cover is drum tight. We give out specific instructions for each size tunnel with a minimum suggestion for each ground tube and the unique jacking system on our hoops gives an extra chance to get the polythene super tight.

Most small damages are caused to tunnels by things flying around and cutting the polythene, we do a visual before every storm to make sure we have everything possible pinned down, obviously its difficult to account for everything and tree branches will always be a problem.

None of us really know the extent of the wind we are expected to cope with but we do find that the door and window panel system works well. The doors can be kept shut, these are very vulnerable when its windy and then we do one of 2 things.

If we have crops to protect we shut the end of the tunnel in the direction of the wind but we leave the opposite end panels open, we are hopeful that with the doors and windows being the weakest point, if these collapse then the wind can escape out the far end. If the doors and panels on the far end are closed the wind will find a way out, maybe by pulling the whole tunnel out of the ground.

or if the tunnel is empty, we leave the panels open allowing the wind to blow right through, obviously everything inside needs to be fairly clear so the contents is not blowing around.

So far we have been lucky coping with the Storms at Five Star Polytunnels and our way seems to be working at the moment, fingers crossed for any future storms coming our way and its always best to remember to be safe, do the best you can to  prepare and then stay indoors.