Soggy tolypunnel, and ground source heat pump

[moorlander]

Hi everyone,

I built a 50ft tolypunnel (as we call it!) last year. Geat first season, tomatoes, aubergines, melons, what a revelation .

However, It now seems very wet in there. I have installed a leaky hose system, but it hasn't been on for ages. Last year I also had installed a ground source heat pump, and the trenches do pass within a couple of meters. I wonder if the ground work, a JCB trenching nearby and compacting the ground could somehow be causing water to leach back into the tunnel?

Irrespective of what is causing it, what is the best way of drying out a tunnel? Any tips would be very gratefully received. I should add I have brassicas in there at the moment.

Thanks for reading.

[hedgewizard]

Sounds like you've got an impermeable pan throughout the area, and water is flowing along the top of it into your beds. Bad news, my friend.

You can reduce the problem by putting tunnel gutters on, running into barrels (you can buy stick-on ones) but I suspect you'll need to put a land drain slightly upslope of the tunnel to really solve this.