[mashauk]

I don't want to add to your worries Masha (although I fear I'm going to!) but after checking out your link, this looks very similar to a plaggy greenhouse I was gifted last May.
The frame looked a bit flimsy to me, so I sank metal poles to a depth of about 3 feet, and lashed the corner poles to these.
The first good blow saw the whole thing do a Mary Poppins across two rows of gardens, reducing it to a pile of junk. All the ties and eyes ripped right out of the cover at the same time.

All may not be lost, however. What I would suggest is to make a frame out of scaffolding boards, the same size as the base. Fasten this down to well knocked-in posts or scaffold poles, and then use battens to affix the bottom edge of the cover to the inside of the frame. This way the wind can't get under it (the sides are too short to bury in typical polytunnel fashion).

It might sound like a bit of a palaver, but it's infinitely preferable to losing the whole thing in a stiff breeze.

I'm seriously wishing I'd flashed the plastic and gone for a greenhouse now.  We have a problem in that neither OH nor I drive and getting hold of things such as scaffold poles and boards is not as easy as it seems (never mind where do I get hold of such things), so presumably by the time I've found them, paid someone to deliver them etc etc, it would have been cheaper and easier to get a small greenhouse delivered!  Oh well, I suppose if it all goes belly up it's only £50 I've wasted (I'd be more worried about what I was growing inside blowing away than the actual polytunnel).  OH is, naturally, now claiming that he knew this all the time but let me order it anyway :x

Thanks for the advice anyway, sigh.

[mashauk]

I'm thinking now, rather than go to all this palaver, just to re-sell the thing straight back on Ebay without even opening it, what do you think?

[WG.]

I'm thinking now, rather than go to all this palaver, just to re-sell the thing straight back on Ebay without even opening it, what do you think?

You will have wasted £18 shipping plus eBay fees even if you do get £32 for the item.

I'm sure it will be just fine if you take steps to weigh it down.  Four or more 6 pint milk flasks full of sand tied to that lower side rail will take a heckuva wind to shift them.

[mashauk]

I'm thinking now, rather than go to all this palaver, just to re-sell the thing straight back on Ebay without even opening it, what do you think?

You will have wasted £18 shipping plus eBay fees even if you do get £32 for the item.

I'm sure it will be just fine if you take steps to weigh it down.  Four or more 6 pint milk flasks full of sand tied to that lower side rail will take a heckuva wind to shift them.

That I can just about manage.  I'll give that a go I'm just feeling a bit down and negative about it, having been over-excited at the weekend when I bought it (I am that sad!) - visions of peppers, chillis and tomatoes not to mention garlic

[WG.]

I was feeling bad about being a wet blanket but only had your best interests at heart.

Garlic doesn't need any protection BTW and you can still plant now.

[mashauk]

I was feeling bad about being a wet blanket but only had your best interests at heart.

Garlic doesn't need any protection BTW and you can still plant now.

And I thank you for that, a bit of honesty goes a long way, and I'm so new to all this that any advice is gratefully received, I'm learning so much at the moment, much better than books, it amazes me when I ask a question and 5 minutes later someone answers!  I've planted up some garlic already, from Tamar, but will get some more in once we've sorted the beds out properly, hoping (if the weather forecast is right) so have a few hours there on Saturday.

[Rob the rake]

I'm thinking now, rather than go to all this palaver, just to re-sell the thing straight back on Ebay without even opening it, what do you think?

You will have wasted £18 shipping plus eBay fees even if you do get £32 for the item.

I'm sure it will be just fine if you take steps to weigh it down.  Four or more 6 pint milk flasks full of sand tied to that lower side rail will take a heckuva wind to shift them.

I wouldn't bet on that, WG. I was convinced that mine would withstand a hurricane after it was lashed down, but once the wind gets in, and it will, it's bye-bye tunnel.

If it's relisted at the same buy-it-now price, with the same postage cost, then I suppose you will only end up losing the price of the Ebay fees.

Believe me, if you plant it without taking adequate precautions, then you will never stop worrying about it. Far better to cut your losses and buy a second-hand greenhouse out of the paper. Even though you don't have transport, the previous owner may deliver it for a bit of extra cash.

I've seen 8x6 ally greenhouses in the local Ad-mag, dismantled and ready to go for £50-60. Add an extra tenner for delivery, and you're laughing.

[philskin]

hello thought I could give a bit of advice here. Could you knock the frame into the ground more thus reducing the overall height this would give you an extra foot or so of overhang at the bottom and then bury this in the ground, im only suggesting this has i used to work in these many many years ago and this is how we tethered them plus some guy ropes ,hope that helps easy and cheap

[mashauk]

Tried to cancel the order this morning, just as I was logging on it arrived!  Typical, normally when you want something to arrive for the weekend it doesn't and when you don't it does.  We haven't decided what we're going to do yet, the first thing I'm doing is emailing the guy and voicing my concerns, and asking for reassurance that it won't blow down and is in fact fit for the purpose (i.e. it says you don't need any tools), and if he says yes and then it blows down it isn't fit for the purpose it was sold for and I will ask for my money back, under the Sale of Goods Act or something!