The Case for Drone-Applied Polytunnel Shading in a UK Summer

The Heat Problem in Polytunnels

Anyone growing soft fruit or salad crops under polythene knows the mid-summer problem: on a clear day, internal tunnel temperatures can run well above the outside air, stressing the crop and, if it goes on long enough, showing up as scorch, wilting, or reduced fruit set. The usual manual responses, roof vents, hand-misting, shade cloth, work, but they're labour-intensive and rarely give even coverage across a whole tunnel.

What Shading Compounds Actually Do

Water-based shading compounds like ReduSol are a well-established answer in commercial horticulture: applied to the outside of the polythene or glass, they reduce average internal temperature by as much as 5°C, according to the product's own published data. That's a genuinely useful reduction in a crop's heat-stress window during the hottest weeks of the season, and the coating naturally washes off in autumn rain, so there's no permanent change to light levels once the crop no longer needs it.

The advantage of applying it by drone rather than manually is coverage and access: a drone gives even, consistent application across the whole roof area in a fraction of the time a ground-based crew would take, with no need for anyone to be up on tunnel structures or working overhead with hand equipment.

Why This Matters for Growers

Glasshouse and polytunnel shading and cleaning is a service Agrispray Drones already offers, precisely because it solves a real, recurring seasonal problem without needing anyone on site beyond the operator. If summer heat stress has been costing you fruit set or leaf quality in previous years, applying a shading compound before the hottest weeks arrive, rather than reacting to scorch after the fact, is the more reliable approach.

Get in touch if you'd like to talk through timing a shading application for your tunnels this season.