Features of agricultural technology for growing tomatoes in a greenhouse

Greenhouse varieties

Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse involves the creation of such conditions when they are reliably protected from rain, wind, frost, and so on. All this has a beneficial effect on their growth and development. If you do not carry out competent constant control over the microclimate inside the greenhouse - to allow high air humidity, which in turn can lead to rotting of tomatoes, sudden temperature changes, especially in spring, overheating in the heat, the appearance of pests and diseases - then you will not be able to get a good and healthy harvest ... Agrotechnology of this culture, like many others, is a complex of important measures, the purpose of which is to achieve the desired result.

Growing tomatoes directly depends on whether the variety of vegetable crops is selected successfully. The optimal types of tomatoes that are advised to be planted in a greenhouse are those with strong immunity to diseases, easily tolerating changes in temperature regimes and some lack of light. The rest of the selection criteria are very dependent on the type of shelter. These are the estimated sizes of the future bush, and the terms of its ripening.


Experts recommend cultivating determinant and semi-determinant varieties of tomatoes in light seasonal greenhouses, since these types of vegetable crops are not very tall. They are able to grow in three summer months and give a good harvest. For such varieties of tomatoes, an early ripening period is characteristic, before the onset of severe frosts, all vegetables have time to ripen. In a larger permanent greenhouse, tall, indeterminate tomato varieties are best grown.

They need more space, and they have a longer period of growth and ripening of vegetables. They need to be planted in early May, so that fruit clusters in the right amount can form on the bushes. Since spring frosts are quite possible at this time, sometimes there is a need for an additional source of heating inside the greenhouse. If you decide to plant tall types of tomatoes in greenhouse conditions without heating, think about the possibility of creating the necessary temperature regime inside the room using stoves or modern electric heaters.

Preparing the soil

Growing tomato seedlings begins in advance - just like preparing the ground in a greenhouse.

Soil temperature for thermophilic tomatoes is no less important than indoor air temperature.

In no case should they be planted and grown in cold ground. Since the seedlings can freeze, get sick and eventually die. The soil should be warmed up well beforehand. It is not difficult to do this in a heated greenhouse, as well as when planting in May, when winter is already warming up without additional sources. But what if there is a desire to get a tomato harvest early?

In this case, it is necessary to carefully close all the vents in the greenhouse, to check that there are no cracks on the glass and a torn film. A greenhouse made of polyethylene or glass must be sealed with a second layer of film. Inside, you need to loosen the soil, put a dense black film on top of it, under which, provided the doors are well closed, it will heat up to the optimal temperature. After a couple of days, the soil temperature can be checked with a thermometer. An indicator of +10 is considered acceptable for planting seedlings, and even better - +15 degrees.
Experienced gardeners today prefer to create a greenhouse from modern polycarbonate material. It has become an excellent replacement for the outdated plexiglass known to all.

Polycarbonate is easy to process and provides good heating and illumination. In a polycarbonate greenhouse, you can warm up the soil using stove heating or installing a boiler. If a polycarbonate greenhouse is located next to a dwelling that has a gas boiler, pipes can be brought into the greenhouse directly from the house.

Transplanting

Planting tomato seedlings in a greenhouse should ideally take place at the age of fifty days from the moment the sprouts appear from the seeds. At the same time, their growth is about 30 - 40 cm. It is advised to keep them inside the greenhouse for a couple of days, so that the plants can get a little used to the atmosphere of the room. How to place tomatoes in a greenhouse correctly is decided by the owner himself, taking into account the variety of vegetable crops, their dimensions and those vegetables that will grow in the immediate vicinity. Tomatoes and cucumbers should not be grown in the same greenhouse, as their living conditions and care for them are very different. Also, a situation should not be allowed when tall crops shade low-growing ones.

Now you can start preparing the ground and the beds. After warming up the soil before planting seedlings, it must be thoroughly watered. Then holes are formed in the beds, in each of them you need to place a tablespoon of mineral dressing and pour it with a solution of potassium permanganate. Seedlings, together with the ground, should be planted in a prepared hole so that its cotyledonous leaves remain on the surface of the ground. Then you need to pour the future tomato with warm water and sprinkle with soil. Immediately before planting seedlings in a greenhouse, it is customary to remove the lower leaves from her.

Care

Agrotechnology of growing a high-quality and rich harvest of tomatoes is not so complicated as it might seem at first glance. It is necessary to adhere to all stages of caring for seedlings in a greenhouse, which consist of creating the required temperature regime inside the room, a well-organized system of sufficient watering, feeding, self-pollination and timely pruning.

Temperature indicators for growing tomatoes in a greenhouse range from 23 to 26 degrees Celsius. The leading role for creating a normal temperature regime is played by the coating of the greenhouse itself. It should be made not only of durable high-quality material, but also of one that will allow it to be heated normally and create conditions close to natural crops. Tomatoes should also be watered on time, but not excessively so that they do not crack.

And with an insufficient amount of moisture, an unpleasant change in the shape of the fruit may appear. The irrigation system should be selected according to the tomato variety. After all, some need water every day, while others can be watered once every couple of days. You can water crops using a hose or bucket. This system is rarely used nowadays. More modern irrigation with the help of automatic equipment is widely used today, which is capable of turning on and off independently. There are subsurface, sprinkler and drip irrigation systems.At the first, the pipes pass underground and water flows directly to the roots of the tomatoes; at the second, pipes are placed along the perimeter of the greenhouse at the desired height, and their ends have nozzles through which the water is fed down. With drip irrigation, water is supplied under the trunk in small portions.

After the seedlings are taken, it is advised to feed the tomatoes. The first time the fertilizer is applied after raising the seedlings, and the second - when the first ties begin to appear. Any complex fertilizer must be taken approximately 0.45 kg for each hundred square meters of land. Ammonium and calcium nitrate have proven themselves well in this case. For the possibility of self-pollination of crops, vents are made in the greenhouse. The pollen should be shaken off the flowers with a soft stick so that it settles on the ground. There are commercial products in which you can dip tomato flowers or spray them. The final stage of agricultural activities is the pruning of excess leaves and branches with a pruner. This process will help nutrients to get into the middle of the fruit, not the bushes.

Harvest

Harvesting is carried out as the vegetables ripen. There are several stages of tomato ripeness - green, milky, pink and full. Many pick tomatoes pink and place them in a warm place to ripen. If planting took place in winter, the first crop is harvested in spring at intervals of a couple of days. It is recommended to pick tomatoes without stalks, put them in boxes. Red tomatoes should be removed from the bushes immediately, otherwise they will become soft and tasteless. Cleaning is carried out until the temperature drops to zero at night, sometimes you can continue harvesting until the first frost appears.

Video "Growing a tomato"

On the record, a man talks about how to grow tomatoes in greenhouse conditions.