We decided to custom build ourselves a polytunnel so we can see if composting under a Five Star Polytunnel, and keeping the bins dry will speed up the decomposition process.  We wondered if compost could be too dry, but it seems that the composting process works far better if it is dry and warm rather than wet and cold. We compost everything we can at Five Star Polytunnels, we grow fruit and vegetables in three Five Star polytunnels all covered with XL Horticulture Superthermic  EVO Anti Condensation Polythene and on about 1/2 acre of  outdoor area. We sell our produce ..read more

We are often asked the question  Greenhouse or polytunnel? So what is the difference between a polytunnel and a greenhouse as far as food production is concerned? There is lots of discussion about this, especially as people seem to think that a greenhouse looks better in the garden but as we continue to see food production under threat and increasing prices in the shops, the need to ‘grow your own’ is becoming more and more popular. Not only is is better for the environment but knowing exactly what has happened to your food before it arrives on your plate is becoming more important to m ..read more

Some years ago Chris was working on an organic farm in Rhydlewis in West Wales providing vegetables to farm shops. Each year they grew runner beans inside the tunnel, to provide an early supply at a top price, before anyone had them ready in their gardens. Since we have been growing vegetables at Five Star Polytunnels for our roadside shop we have always grown the runner beans outside, we have been unable to find the variety that did well in the tunnels in previous years. Last year as an experiment we grew a few runner beans at Five Star Polytunnels inside, initially they did well, we were b ..read more

Five Star Polytunnels make their commercial polytunnels from high tensile steel and are available in different widths ranging from 18ft (5.5m) to 30ft (9.1m) We have sold our Five Star commercial polytunnels for many uses: Dog exercise areas, boat workshops, sheep housing,  calf housing, cut flowers, fruit and vegetables. All of our Five Star commercial polytunnels are sold with polythene supplied by XL Horticulture. The leading importer of top quality polythene in the UK. The polythene  range offers covers that allow shading, ideal for animals or shade loving plants, Pol ..read more

At Five Star Polytunnels we supply our polytunnels with a choice of Polythene from XL Horticulture. The most popular choice of polythene is the Sunmaster Superthermic Evo Anti Condensation  This polythene has 8 layers of technology including a layer with evolution in Anti Condensation performance. This is now a layer within the polythene rather than the usual coating and is the best and longest lasting anti condensation system available. Others polythene films have a coating to prevent the condensation drips which lasts a season or two, but the anti condensation layer in the Sunmaster ..read more

At Five Star Polytunnels we supply our tunnels with a comprehensive set of instructions, colour coded and picture based. Its a step by step process and it is perfectly acceptable to install your own tunnel and lots of people do. However, we are also lucky to be able to recommend either James White or Ed Field to construct our tunnels. The installation and covering of your tunnel is the key to its longevity and if you are at all unsure, it is a good investment to pay to have the work done for you. The Superthermic EVO Anti Condensation Polythene supplied by XL Horticulture comes with an 8yr UV ..read more

The Community Garden Yr Ardd in Llandysul found themselves in a sticky situation with the construction of the Five Star polytunnel they purchased several months ago. As often with these projects, the people who offered to help ran out of time, the work was harder than predicted, took longer than anticipated and the tunnel remained half finished. Eventually after several months and emails back and forth with the committee, Five Star Polytunnels along with James White and his team agreed to donate some time and money and  install the tunnel, starting afresh. The ground was difficult to wo ..read more

For the second year running we decided to try growing runner beans in the polytunnel. Last year we grew a few plants as a trial, this year we have done a few more In past years on a different site it had been very successful but we could no longer get hold of the variety we were using so had given up trying. However, after a few years of fairly unsuccessful  crops outside due to our site being very windy site and exposed we decided to give it another try. We chose a variety from Real Seeds called Czar. Seeds were sown in mid march in 9cm pots and kept heated at 25 degrees and planted in ..read more

At Five Star Polytunnels we are trying to grow melons in our Polytunnel for the first time. We are trying  ‘Sugar Baby’ . This is a new and very early watermelon with sweet red flesh that was bred for smaller fruit, to allow a harvest in shorter summers. The skin gets quite dark as its ripens, helping absorb more heat from the sun. We bought organic seed and had a good germination rate and now have 12 plants successfully growing in the polytunnel. We are using the RHS advice on how to grow the melons in your polytunnel. We need to select 4 strong trailing shoots and be prepared to short ..read more

We’re really pleased to announce the launch of our brand new, shiny website – we hope you like it as much as we do! We have been hard at work redesigning and updating our website over the last few months and are excited to share it with you now. Our goal in creating the new website was to create an informative, welcoming, and user-friendly website to better inform our customers about our polytunnel products and the various options as well as try and simplify the selection of these options. We also wanted to update our overall look and feel for the website to a slightly more modern and clean ..read more