Anyone that has owned a tunnel knows how it is truly versatile.  Especially if you have a farm you know that a tunnel can be used for growing and propagating, but also for animal protection, implement protection or tractor storage.

But when it comes to growing plants tunnels are great at extending your growing season, but they are also amazing crop protection.  Here are a few ways that tunnels are the perfect way to protect your crops.

     1. Frost Protection-  If you live in a climate that gets cold enough to freeze you know that some plants will survive a frost while others will not.  While a tunnel is not a greenhouse to keep in heat overnight, it is a great way to help keep the frost off of your plants.  This will keep plants healthy, not stressed and generally producing sooner and better.

     2. Rain Protection-  A good soaking rain is the life of a garden and will stimulate amazing growth quickly.  But what about too much rain?  Or sometimes worse, run off from the rain!  Tunnels can provide protection from run off and rain because a) it is covered and the amount of water inside a tunnel can be controlled but b) the edges of the tunnel can be built in such a way to prevent run off water or soil from entering your crop and causing problems.

     3. Pest Protection-  There is nothing more frustrating than a beautiful crop that gets attacked by hungry pests.  While a tunnel cannot guarantee keeping all pests out it can close every side and control the environment much more than in the exposed open.

     4. Wind Protection-  Wind is always a problem to topsoil.  But it is especially a problem in high wind areas where topsoil may be blown away all together.  While the wind is blowing an enclosed tunnel can keep your plants and soil not only intact but flourishing.

     5. Heat Protection-  Heat is a blessing and a curse.  Heat is what causes plants to grow well, some needing more heat than others.  But too much heat will stress or even kill plants quickly.  A tunnel can help with this by opening the sides for ventilation and watering to keep the ground moist and cool without direct sunlight.  This helps keep stress away from plants that could cause many problems.  In addition, shade cloth is always a dependable ally against heat by both diffusing the direct sunlight as well as allowing additional ventilation to release the hot air upwards.

     6. Less Processing-  Depending on the crops you are growing, if the water hits the ground hard it splashes dirt onto your plants.  For corn or tomatoes this might not be as big a problem as with greens or lower to the ground crops.  Since a tunnel provides protection to the plant it has the capability of splashing less dirt onto the crop thus creating less processing to clean the plant.

Although there are additional reasons that a tunnel is good crop protection these will help you realize what a great investment a tunnel is at protecting your precious crop from as many problems as possible.

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