Growing chrysanthemums in a polytunnel

[germinator]

Hi everyone.
                 Has any one grown "mums" in a polytunnel before.
                 I have bought some late cuttings to have ,hopefully "mums" at christmas,the advice ,from the supplier is to grow them outside,in pots,and then bring them inside,the p.tunnel before the first frosts.
                 Well why not follow that advice,The reason is i have half of my p.tunnel going spare,plus it would protect them from the strong winds we get here in the north east of england,also it stops rain damage to the heads.i am just worried about the heat levels,inside p.tunnel during summer may spoil them if anyone has any experience of this i would appreciate your advice.

[germinator]

[Tee Gee]

Has any one grown "mums" in a polytunnel before.

I have to answer this as a No! but on reading further through your query I would like to give you an opinion!

hopefully "mums" at christmas,

To do this is all about timing and to be quite honest I think your flowers will be over by then.

In fact depending upon variety they could be over by November simply because of light levels.

Chrysant flowering is comensurate with available light and the tunnel skin wil  reduce available light so potentially make them flower earlier.

the advice ,from the supplier is to grow them outside,in pots,and then bring them inside,the p.tunnel before the first frosts.

Good advice! Again from a light and timing issue!

Well why not follow that advice,

There is no reason for you to follow that advice other than for the reasons I mentioned above!

The reason is i have half of my p.tunnel going spare,plus it would protect them from the strong winds we get here in the north east of england, also it stops rain damage to the heads.

This is why you got the advice from the supplier about growing them outside,in pots,and then bringing them inside,the p.tunnel before the first frosts.

i am just worried about the heat levels,inside p.tunnel during summer may spoil them if anyone has any experience of this i would appreciate your advice.

I don't think you will necessarily 'spoil them' but they will require a lot more looking after in terms of watering & feeding! than they would if they were out outdoors in pots.

Another factor is; 'Damping off & Spotting' this is a major problem with 'lates' due to temperature variations which invariably raises humidity.

So unless you get your ventilation and heating right you are (in my opinion) going to have problems.

But as I said previously I haven't grown them in a tunnel but I have grown them as your supplier has suggested, but then again I was growing them for exhibition so quality & timing was paramount.

Go for it if you wish but I doubt if you will have them at Christmas but then we might get an Indian summer and this could prove me wrong.

You don't mention if your purchases are Reflex,Incurve/Intermediate, Singles or sprays, because each of these can have their very own problem areas.

My point is; Growing lates is quite demanding!

Having said all that; depending upon how keen you are to produce flowers for christmas you can play about with lights & black polythene ( as the commercial people do) and you can get chrysants at any time of the year by playing about with Daylight - Night time availabilty. ::)

This is my way;  http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Chrysanthemum/Chrysanthemums.htm

[germinator]

Thanks for the advice tee gee.,the plants i have are called Hogmanay,from the maylord perfection family,supplied by Woolmans.
I have always grown veg. but am a complete novice when it comes to chrysanths.I will follow your advice.
                                                                                                                                                                        cheers.