new uv, permeable plastic

[patterkillar]

professional nursery growers have found, that plants grow healthier when exposed to uv light,

so you can now get plastic to cover poly tunnels that let uv light threw,

how suitable do you think for tortoise and turtles to being housed in poly tunnels ?

[Alan1]

I don't know but you can buy tortoise enclosures that are made from plexiglas alltop which lets UV through, a member on here has one, have to get them from Germany though unfortunately.

I think someone who looks in here now and again got a poly tunnel or was going to get one

[burnt toast]

I remember reading something by Andy Highfield that he had used them very successfully at the begining of the season. Suppose it depends how exposed your area was to the elements as I dont know how strong they would be.

[NATURALIS]

Originally Posted by patterkillar

professional nursery growers have found, that plants grow healthier when exposed to uv light,

so you can now get plastic to cover poly tunnels that let uv light threw,

how suitable do you think for tortoise and turtles to being housed in poly tunnels ?

do you have a link to what you mean ?

[Alan1]

there are hundreds of them here, they grow all the strawberries etc in them at waist height for easy picking. they are massive and open at both ends

[Ozric Jonathan]

C and A Plastics on the edge of London do a bendy thin material which they say is uv-transmitting. This stuff is cheap and could be used to make a sun tunnel. I haven't tried it.

http://www.cabp.co.uk/index.html

I just looked at the online catalogue and couldn't find this very bendy and thin material but it is definitely in the paper version of the catalogue (I've got one). This stuff is 1mm and like clear plastic in smallish sheets.

What I have bought from C and A plastics was sheets of 3mm uv transmitting acrylic. This was quite cheap and did the job at the time. Its easy stuff to work with, you can cut and drill it like any other acrylic sheet. The uvb transmission was useful, over 50%. They are quite clear on the C and A site which materials are uv transmitting.

The polytunnels used for growing stratwberries are very unlikely to be uv transmitting. Mostly people want stuff that is not uv transmitting. The plexiglass that is uv transmitting is really quite expensive and although whole greenhouses have been made out of it, the cost quickly becomes crazy. Plexiglass is better than acrylic beause its like double glazing and retains heat well, which acrylic doesn't. Acrylic is also very easy to scratch and its' uv transmission is less than plexiglass.

From time to time I hear of new materials with uv transmitting properties being developed but they never seem to get down to my level. With new hi-tec products is often a minimum and a pallet load that has to be purchased.

[Alan1]

the basic storage box material allows uv through but it becomes brittle after 3 years, maybe even two if it's been a good summer (do they still exist?)

[NATURALIS]

Originally Posted by caledonia

the basic storage box material allows uv through but it becomes brittle after 3 years, maybe even two if it's been a good summer (do they still exist?)

i think they do alan , i tested some from asda and found they let over 50% through

[Ozric Jonathan]

Alan is right but this is where you really must have a uvb meter because no-one selling plastic storage boxes will have a clue if it transmits uv or not. Some do, some don't.

[Ozric Jonathan]

Chris you might want to try C and A plastics if you want to try the sun tunnel idea.