Preparation and scheme for planting tomato seedlings in a greenhouse

Disembarkation dates

In order not to be mistaken in the time of planting tomatoes in the greenhouse, it is better to divide this process into two or three intervals. Planting tomato seedlings in a greenhouse with a glazed cover and additional heating can be carried out already at the end of April. At the beginning of May, planting can be carried out if there is no heating in the greenhouse, but there is a film cover of the plants.

In other cases, the tomato planting should take place at the end of May. But you need to take all precautions before planting tomato seedlings, so that in the event of a sharp change in weather, you do not lose the entire crop. I recommend wrapping the greenhouse in several layers of foil at a distance of several centimeters between them - this will slightly increase the temperature inside the greenhouse and increase the life of its inner layer.

Soil and seedling preparation

Before planting, the seedlings must be prepared for the "move": treated with a mixture to preserve them from diseases and "hardened". To do this, you need to leave the windows open day and night, on sunny days, take out the seedlings to the balcony, a few days before planting, cut off 2-3 lower leaves to ensure good survival. Preparation should start 2-3 weeks before planting seedlings in the greenhouse. You can start by reducing the amount of watering and increasing the periods of airing.

You can feed the plants with ash (for 10 liters of water - 1 glass of ash). A few days before planting, stop watering completely so that the seedlings do not overgrow, but on the very last day, before planting, the tomato is watered abundantly with water. If, before planting, buds have already formed on the plants and flowers have opened, you need to treat them with a solution of boric acid (one teaspoon of boric acid should be used per liter of hot water).

Not only must the seedlings be ready for transplanting, but the greenhouse itself must be prepared. It is recommended to use polycarbonate to protect the greenhouse from bad weather. The greenhouse should have vents for good ventilation. Before planting, the greenhouse must be removed - 10-12 cm of last year's soil must be removed, and the remaining one must be treated with copper sulfate.

The greenhouse cannot be used for planting tomatoes for several years in a row, as this can lead to the defeat of young plants by old infections that have remained in the soil.

Planting should be done on pre-prepared soil. The beds for planting must be prepared in ten days: loosen them, weed out the weeds and place humus.

Before planting seedlings, you need to make sure that the soil is sufficiently warmed up and ready for planting. For this, you can use a regular thermometer. It must be placed in the soil for ten minutes, if after that the thermometer shows that the temperature in the ground is +15, which means that planting can be carried out on this soil. At a temperature of +8 and below, plants should not be planted in the ground, they simply will not take root, it is worth waiting for a while until the greenhouse and the soil inside warm up.

For planting a tomato, it is better to use a clay or loamy soil mixture. It consists of humus, peat and sawdust. This mixture will ensure the successful growth of your plants. It is also worth treating the soil before planting seedlings in it. For this, I use a solution of copper sulfate, heated to 100 degrees. It will help protect the tomato from fungal diseases. Before planting, you need to cut off yellow and diseased leaves, and those greens that, when planting, will be under or on the ground. This procedure should be carried out in the morning, so that by the time you start planting tomatoes, the places where the sheets are torn off are already dry and not rot in the future.

How to plant

The scheme of planting a tomato in the ground

When you are completely sure that both the soil and the plant itself are ready for planting, you can get down to business. It is better to start disembarkation in the afternoon. Then the air is already filled with coolness, and solar activity gradually decreases. The distance between the tomatoes should be about 50 cm. The plants should be planted in a checkerboard pattern, and a peg should be placed next to it in order to tie a plant to it in the future.

In general, the planting scheme and the distance between plants will depend on their species, but the most optimal planting scheme is considered for the joint cultivation of ultra-early ripening, determinant and tall varieties. They are planted in two rows. In the first, near the window, they plant determinant plants, in the second - tall ones. Both species form into one stem. Ultra early ripening plants are planted between them and also only one stem is formed. Thus, while the high-speed tomatoes are only growing, the ultra-ripe ones will already yield the harvest.

Low-growing early ripening varieties are planted in two rows in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 35-40 cm. Standard and determinant tomato varieties are planted denser, but in this case it is worth making sure that the plants do not thicken. Tall varieties are planted in the same way as low-growing ones, in a checkerboard pattern, but the distance between them should be greater - 60-70 cm. Planting should be carried out at a depth of about 20-25 cm, because the deeper you plant the plant, the colder it will be.

During planting, you should pay attention to overgrown seedlings. A separate method of planting was invented for them: you need to make a hole in the soil by 12 cm, in it another one, under the width of the pot with seedlings. You need to plant a pot with a plant in the second hole and sprinkle it with earth, and after the seedlings have taken root, you can fill in the first hole. Thus, the growth of the tomato will not stop and the flowers will not fall off, because new roots will not appear on the overgrown tomato stem.

Leaving for the first time

It is important to know that after all the plants have been planted, it is not recommended to water them for about two weeks. After that, you need to water at the root in the morning. This will prevent water from reaching the fruit. On the third or fourth day after planting, the tomato can already be tied up. For this, the material must be chosen such that it cannot damage the tomato stem, for example, linear or frame trellises. The greenhouse should be ventilated from time to time, especially during flowering tomatoes - this will provide them with protection from waterlogging.

Sometimes it is also worth carrying out root feeding of plants, for example, using liquid mullein, wood ash or superphosphate. But it is worth paying attention to the fact that tomatoes cannot be fertilized with substances that contain a large amount of nitrogen. Fertilizers with a high nitrogen content can cause tops to grow instead of fruit. We must not forget to pinch the plants, i.e. break out the shoots that grow from the axils of the leaves, because their overgrowth leads to shading of the plant, the spread of diseases and does not allow the fruits to ripen.

If you strictly adhere to all the rules for growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, then a rich harvest of tomatoes will not keep you waiting.

Video "How to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse"

A note on how to plant tomato seedlings in a greenhouse correctly and in what time frame, what are the requirements for seedlings and how to properly prepare the soil.