Construction Site 10: Tomato Shelter

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Please go to;   http://tomatoes-tomatoes.blogspot.com/

Our group met on Tuesday at UEL. We consist of myself, a part time MA student, and four full time diploma students.


We discussed the suitability and properties of materials for this project. This structure needs to allow the light through, be light weight  and portable, so we came to the conclusion that the sheltering element will need to be plastic, maybe polycarbonate, and the supports probably steel. Even though these materials have a large eco footprint, they fulfil the neccessary criteria.


Gavin,  our group leader, has set up a group email, and we will communicate through this. We have allocated tasks and will email the research and initial designs to each other.
The diploma students will set up a meeting with the client, and we have a budget of £100-£200 which is pretty generous.

Potatoe blight is a fungus that can devastate an entire crop very quickly. It is caused by the plant getting too wet and the sun not being hot enough to evaporate the moisture.

Tomatoes are a thirsty plant and will not produce juicy fruit without sufficient quantities.
So too much or too little water will affect the success of your tomatoe crop in a typical Northen European climate.

My initial ideas have been around the irrigation of the plants. Tomatoes have a dual root system; the top roots feed the plant and the lower roots drink the water. Therefore the rainwater needs to be directed down to these lower roots. 

Irrigation

The rainwater will run down the sloped 'roof' through drainage holes and be directed into 'irrigation stores' (Plastic bottles the base cut off and 3 or so holes pierced in the lids then buried near to the roots)

A sloped 'roof' directing the rainwater into guttering at soil level

Irrigation 2

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