How to Build an EASY Low Tunnel | Grow Ranunculus | Small Scale Flower Farming

You don't need a large hoop house and drip irrigation to grow ranunculus and other early spring annuals. We've discovered a cheap low tunnel hack that anyone can build and use to extend their growing season! Our tunnel has withstood February freezes and March winds.

After posting a few instagram stories that showed our low tunnel, we got a lot of questions about how we built it and how it works. We made this video as a result.

The first low tunnel we built blew away and landed unceremoniously in the rose bushes, so we've engineered a way to make sure that doesn't happen again. We wanted to be able to completely remove our plastic on warm, windy days.

Well, "engineered" might be a strong word. All it takes is some rusty rebar, bent metal hoops, greenhouse plastic, and weights for the plastic (we use bricks), and voila, a cozy micro-climate for your flowers and veggies.

The most important part of construction that we didn't mention is to weight the ends with cinder blocks or very heavy stones, as those are the anchors.

We planted our pre-sprouted ranunculus February 1st in order to have blooms by Mother's Day. It snowed the day we planted them. They have since survived single digit temperatures with the help of an additional layer of frost cloth and as of March 23rd are doing beautifully. We expect to see buds developing in a few weeks.

Links to our sources below:

JOHNNY'S HOOP BENDER: johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/greenhouse-and-t…

6 MIL GREENHOUSE PLASTIC: amzn.to/2wyD2uc

FROST BLANKET: amzn.to/2wrgUSC

3/4" ELECTRICAL CONDUIT: your local hardware store

You can likely get most of this at your local hardware, with the exception of the hoop bender.
We may make a teeny tiny commission if you purchase anything through these links.

Visit our website at rootdesignfloral.com
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