Benefits for growing plants

Season extension

• Earliness; 3 weeks earlier using a combination of row cover and tunnels.
• Autumn protection; secure production to into the autumn depending on the time of the first severe frosts

Class one yield

• Example 30% to 35% higher class one yield for many cut flowers.

Class One %

• For example 15% higher class one percentage (normally from 70 to 75% to 85 to 90% class one) for strawberries

Spray days

• Guaranteed spray days

Harvest days

• Guaranteed harvest days (no stopping pickers because it is raining!)

Lower moisture related disease

• Significant reduction in moisture related diseases such as botrytis, black spot, downey mildew and monilinia. About 55% of our production at Haygrove is organic and all under tunnels.
• The tunnel also can provide a good infrastructure for biological controls and insect net etc

Ability to deploy polythene, shade net, insect net on the same structure

• This has been excellent for crops that need rain cover at certain times, but only shade at other times (e.g. ornamentals, seedlings etc)

Benefits versus steel permanent greenhouses:

• Better venting than fixed vent tunnels
• Moveable
• No site leveling required
• Simpler and quicker to build.
• Significantly lower cost
• Ability to add gantry rails for carrying and picking trolleys etc