A high tunnel puts two demands on the cloth on its floor that an open field does not. The first is the drip line: tape runs down the row and the cover has to be slit so it lies on the soil rather than pinning the tape down. The second is the edge. The cloth is cut to length on site and the cut edge is what fails first, so this grade is heat sealed at the selvedge rather than left raw. The weight is 150 gsm, heavy enough to lie flat and take a barrow, and it blocks 99% of the light that would germinate seed in the row.
The floor of a high tunnel is not just soil with a cover over it. Drip tape runs down every row, water is applied under the cloth, and the cloth is cut to length on site rather than ordered in the exact length of the house. Those three things are what decide whether a floor cover lasts, and they are what this grade is put together for.
At 150 gsm the cloth lies flat on prepared ground without needing to be weighted at every corner, and it is heavy enough to take a wheelbarrow or foot traffic without the weave distorting round the load. That is the range a tunnel floor actually works in: light enough to be handled and lifted at the end of a crop, heavy enough that it is not chasing the edges after a season. Blocking 99% of the light is what stops the seed under it germinating, and the permeable weave is what lets the irrigation reach the soil instead of running off down the row.
The cloth covers the ground between and under the rows, and it is cut and slit to suit the drip tape so the tape still sits on the soil where it was laid. On a tunnel floor the same cloth is used under the walkway and down the side of the house where hand weeding is awkward. Because water passes through the weave, the irrigation can be operated over the top of the cover without ponding at the emitters. Growers raising the crop in containers on the same floor often order a planting bag alongside it, and the shade net range covers the covers that go over the crop rather than on the ground.
| Model | WB-008 |
| Material | UV stabilised woven polypropylene |
| Weight | 150 gsm as standard, other weights to order |
| Width | 1 m to 6 m |
| Length | Made to order |
| Edges | Heat sealed |
| Light blocking | 99% |
| Colour | Black |
Two details decide how long the cover lasts on a tunnel. The selvedge is heat sealed, so the cut edge cannot unravel and start a run that widens every time the cloth is dragged. The slitting is done to suit the drip tape: the cover is opened where the line sits so the tape stays on the soil and the cloth lies either side of it, rather than the tape being buried under a sealed sheet or lifted by cloth that has been laid over it. Grommet positions can also be set to order where the cover is being stapled or tied down, which saves drilling or punching on site. Where the requirement is covering the crop above ground rather than the soil, a knitted monofilament net is the better fit.
Width, weight, roll length, slitting and grommet placement are all made to order, and widths run from 1 m to 6 m. Rolls ship flat packed rather than as round rolls, which takes a useful amount off the container volume on a bulk order. Tell us the house width, the row spacing and where the drip tape runs and we will confirm the slitting and the drop widths. Buyers tracking what is being laid on tunnel and protected cropping floors can follow trade coverage such as HortiDaily and FreshPlaza for what growers are installing.
Can the cloth be slit for drip tape?
Yes, the slitting is made to suit the tape layout you are using, so the tape stays on the soil and the cloth lies either side of it. Tell us the row spacing and where the line runs.
Why is the edge heat sealed?
A raw cut edge on a woven cloth can unravel, and on a tunnel floor the cut edge is usually where a cover starts to fail. Heat sealing the selvedge stops the weave running back from the cut.
Does the cover have to come up between crops?
It can stay down if the crop rotation allows, and it can be lifted and relaid when the ground is being worked. Tell us how often the house is turned over and we will advise on the weight and the fixing.
Tell us the house width, the row spacing and the drip tape layout, and we will confirm the width, the slitting, the grommet positions and the packing that suit your order.
Mark Wu, Co-founder & Technical Director, Sichuan Zhifang Net Industry. 15 years manufacturing agricultural nettings for growers in 32 countries.
