Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse - the secrets of a bountiful harvest

Tomatoes are a natural source of vitamins, especially if grown with your own hands without the use of various chemicals. At the same time, tomatoes can be used for preparing all kinds of dishes, and not just for salads and canning. That is why any gardener considers it his duty to cultivate these plants. Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse is not an easy task, because this crop is capricious and demanding of growing conditions. But any summer resident can obtain and harvest a generous harvest of tomatoes.

Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse

Types of greenhouses

Greenhouses vary in design. Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages. Arched shelters are most suitable for growing tomatoes. They provide good lighting. The material from which the greenhouse is made also matters.

In most cases this is polycarbonate or film. The first option is more preferable. When choosing a film structure, you should focus on the number of layers. There should be two of them. The second one is removed after the temperature has reached +18…+20 °C.

Common Mistakes

• Wrong choice of seeds. Hybrid varieties are suitable for large planting volumes. They get sick less and also have higher yields.
• Wrong landing site. For example, outdoor varieties are planted in a greenhouse, and greenhouse varieties are planted in open ground.
• Thick polyethylene film for greenhouse.
• 24-hour light and high air temperatures.
• Daily watering and water falling on the leaves.
• Late planting when the height of the shoots is already more than 4 cm. It is better to plant in the morning and when the shoots are still small.
• Fertilization with manure. As a result, plants form powerful shoots and large leaves to the detriment of the fruits.
• Refusal to prevent disease.
• Procurement of hybrid seeds for further cultivation.

For good growth and development, the lighting period should be at least 12 hours a day. For this purpose, phytolamps are often used in greenhouses.

Advantages of growing tomatoes in a greenhouse

Gardeners who choose this method are guided by the following advantages:

• Temperature adjustment. Tomatoes are sensitive to this factor. It should also be noted that they do not tolerate excessive humidity. Thanks to the film cover and a well-thought-out ventilation system, the planted crop will not suffer from adverse weather conditions.
• Increased productivity. If all necessary requirements are met, it will increase 2-3 times.
• Faster ripening of vegetables.
• Resistance to late blight. This disease rarely affects tomatoes grown in a greenhouse.
• Improved taste.

To ensure that the harvest obtained at the end of the season does not disappoint, the summer resident will have to take into account many nuances. Caring for tomatoes that were planted in a greenhouse is quite difficult. In the absence of knowledge and appropriate information, the risk of seedling death is quite high.

Autumn and spring preparation of the greenhouse

This stage is especially important. It all starts with cleaning the room. It should be carried out at the end of each season.

• The remaining fruits and tops need to be removed from the greenhouse. This reduces the risk of fungal diseases. Pathogens can be located in different parts of the soil, in its upper layers.
• After removing the residue, wash the greenhouse with soapy water.
• The next step should be stripping, priming and painting the damaged areas. This is necessary to prevent corrosion and improve the appearance of the structure.
• Wooden parts are treated with antibacterial and antifungal agents. Copper sulfate is distinguished among them. Mixtures can be purchased at a specialized store or made with your own hands. After using preparations containing sulfur, the metal frame may acquire a darker color. This is due to the properties of this substance. Therefore, you will have to refuse products with such a composition. In the current circumstances, the structure must be covered with a solution of chlorinated lime. The composition of water and the active ingredient must be infused for 4-5 hours. Processing of the greenhouse should be carried out wearing gloves and a respirator.

Before you start digging, you must:

• remove the top layer of soil;
• disinfect the soil with a solution of copper sulfate;
• apply mineral and organic fertilizers.

A nutrient mass prepared from organic substances is applied to a depth of 2-3 cm 14 days before planting tomatoes in the greenhouse.

When preparing the soil, natural green fertilizers are often used. The richest sources of green manure include beans, phacelia, lupine, rapeseed, sweet clover, oats, mustard, alfalfa and barley.

By taking land from areas where these crops were previously grown, the summer resident will be able to get a good harvest. Cleaning is carried out in the autumn. The remaining activities can be completed in the spring.

2 weeks before planting the seedlings, the soil must be loosened and the weeds removed. This will ensure good aeration. If the soil is not fertile enough, it is fertilized with organic matter. 2-3 kg of organic fertilizer is required per 1 m². The beds are formed observing the following parameters:

• height – 40 cm;
• width – 90 cm.

There should be at least 60 cm between trenches or holes. Tomatoes need good lighting, so the greenhouse should be located in an open place, from east to west. Even slight shading can reduce yields.

The ridges are formed 10 days before planting the seedlings. To insulate the selected area, straw, sawdust or pine needles are placed under the soil. The layer thickness should be at least 10 cm. Then compost and soil are laid. In winter, the soil should be covered with snow. He will prevent it from freezing. An additional bonus is soil moisture in the spring.

Variety selection

How to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse? First you need to buy seeds for indoor soil. When choosing tomato varieties for indoor soil, you need to determine in advance the purpose of the crop , since the properties of vegetables grown for salads, sale and preservation vary. All varieties are divided into determinate and indeterminate.

The first ones are low (suitable for small greenhouses). The latter grow as long as weather conditions allow, which they tolerate better than determinant ones. Let's consider the best of the hybrids of both types:

1. “Azhur”, “Bourgeois” (large, ultra-resistant to weather conditions), “Doll Masha”, “Spring of the North” (pink, large and sweet).
2. “Sprut” (leading variety), “Major” (sweet salad variety), “Happiness Russian” (fast growing).

You can find out how to grow Cherry

Surely you are interested in the question: what is the yield of tomatoes in a greenhouse? Let's look at this issue. Many gardeners prefer a greenhouse.

Tomatoes are a heat-loving crop, so they feel more comfortable in closed soil, and as a result they bear fruit well. So feel free to plant vegetables in the greenhouse! And also get acquainted with useful information about what kind of proximity of vegetables in a greenhouse is acceptable.

After discussing all pressing issues, let's get down to business. Below you will see recommendations for growing tomatoes in a polycarbonate greenhouse.

And in the table below you can clearly compare the yield indicators of different varieties of tomatoes grown in a greenhouse and without it:

Growing and caring for seedlings

For the greenhouse, you should choose hybrid self-pollinating varieties. One of the most popular is verlioka.

Preparation of seeds, soil, containers

The first step is preparing the seeds. Fitosporin-M is used for their treatment. This procedure usually takes about 20 minutes. Afterwards a growth stimulator is used.

It is strictly forbidden to plant seeds in soil that has not been treated. To get strong seedlings, follow a certain algorithm:

• Collect turf soil from the area.
• Leave the bags on the street or balcony.
• A month before planting the seedlings, they are brought into a warm room. The soil is sifted, freed from debris and spilled with clean water.
• The treated soil is taken out into the cold. This procedure is called freezing. Thus, parasites and pathogens are eliminated. To enhance the effect, the soil is steamed. To do this, it is kept in a water bath for several hours.
• The prepared soil is mixed with humus and peat. All components are taken in equal proportions. Water, ash, coarse sand and superphosphate are added to the mixture. No additional ingredients are added to purchased soil. The soil should be loose and nutritious.

Disinfect containers for seedlings and rinse them with running water. The minimum height is 7 cm. Place the soil mixture into selected containers. They spill it. Leave the boxes alone for 10-14 days.

Read more about preparing tomato seedlings at home here.

Sowing seeds for seedlings

Tomatoes are sown between February and March. The procedure is quite simple:

• Moisten the soil in the boxes.
• Grooves are made, the depth of which does not exceed 1.5 cm.
• Seeds are placed in them. Equal spaces must be left between them.
• Sprinkle the seed with soil.
• Cover the box with transparent plastic film. It is left until sprouts appear. From time to time the film is opened slightly for ventilation.
• Containers with seedlings are placed in a room where the air temperature is +22 °C or higher. After the seedlings appear, this indicator drops to +18 °C.
• Sprouts that are grown in cassettes and boxes need picking. Timely implementation of this procedure will ensure good development of the root system. The first picking of tomatoes is carried out 7-10 days after the leaves appear. The seedlings should not be watered before starting the procedure.

Plants must be moved into a separate container with extreme care. Otherwise, the root system may be damaged. In order for tomatoes to take root in the ground faster, they need to be hardened off for several weeks before planting. Boxes are allowed to be taken outside if the air temperature is above +12 °C.

Also read about the best time to sow seeds for seedlings according to the Lunar calendar.

How to properly prepare for planting?

Before planting tomatoes, the greenhouse must be prepared. Since an artificial heating system is not installed in greenhouses, maintaining an optimal temperature inside the structure is difficult, but quite possible.

First of all, it is necessary to ensure the impermeability of the coating so that at night the air heated during a sunny day does not escape through the cracks.

To do this you need to do:

1. Cover with tape all the places where different parts of the material meet.
2. Cover the film lying on the ground with soil along the entire perimeter.
3. Build another layer of coating on top so that there is an air cushion between the layers.

You can heat the space inside a greenhouse using biofuel consisting of dry leaves, bird droppings, fresh manure and food waste. This method helps improve the composition and fertility of the soil.

1. In the fall, a pit 50 centimeters deep is dug at the site of the future greenhouse.
2. A frame is placed over the resulting pit, since in the spring the frozen ground will not allow this to be done.
3. With the arrival of spring, snow is removed from the pit, biofuel is placed inside, filling the hole three-quarters, and fertile soil is placed on top, which was dug out of the pit in the fall (it must be preserved).
4. After this, it is necessary to stretch the covering material onto the installed frame.
5. The resulting greenhouse is insulated according to the scheme proposed above and left closed for two weeks.

Planting seedlings in a greenhouse

Tomatoes are susceptible to cold, so raised beds must be prepared before planting. To speed up the warming process, the soil must be covered with dark polyethylene. The air temperature inside the greenhouse must be at least +20 °C. Seedlings are planted according to a well-thought-out scheme. It is determined based on the tomato variety. Particular attention should be paid to the distance between sprouts:

• low-growing and branched - no less than 40 cm;
• low-growing, forming one stem - 25 cm;
• tall - more than 60 cm.

Tomatoes in a greenhouse are planted in a checkerboard pattern. Taking into account all the recommendations, they are guided by the following algorithm:

• They make holes. Their depth should be greater than the height of the container.
• Spill the holes with a pre-prepared solution.
• Carefully remove each plant along with a lump of “native” soil. If the tomatoes are planted in peat pots, then this step can be skipped.
• Plant tomatoes in holes. In this case, several important nuances should be taken into account. For overgrown seedlings, you will have to dig deeper holes. They do not need to be completely filled. The soil should completely cover the root system. After strengthening the latter, a fertile soil mixture is added to the hole. The soil level should increase by 12 cm. Tomatoes are replanted in the evening or in the morning. The weather should be cloudy.

The planting date is chosen taking into account the type of structure and varietal characteristics. Tomatoes are planted in heated greenhouses in late April. If the film shelter is not equipped with an additional insulation system, replanting is carried out from May 20 to May 25. The optimal soil temperature varies from +12 °C to +15 °C. The structure will have to be insulated with an additional layer of film for a period characterized by sudden temperature changes at night.

Experienced gardeners often plant several varieties at once in one greenhouse. They are placed in different rows. The first is done near the edge of the structure. Determinate early ripening plants are usually located in this part. The second row is formed at the inner aisle. Standard varieties and tall giants are planted here.

Regardless of the varietal characteristics, the following rules must be observed:

• The most suitable age for transplantation is from 45 to 50 days. Plants at this stage are resistant to greenhouse conditions.
• Tomatoes must be well watered before planting.
• Seedlings that have grown greatly should be removed from the lower leaves.
• In order for the root system to be evenly distributed throughout the hole, the hole should be filled with water.
• The soil around the plant needs to be compacted and mulched.

Another mandatory step is prevention against late blight. To do this, you can use a solution of copper and water, as well as Bordeaux mixture. A week after planting, the soil needs to be loosened. This will ensure sufficient oxygen flow to the rhizome.

If tallness is included in the list of varietal characteristics, tying devices must be installed near the hole. Otherwise, damage to the roots cannot be avoided.

A summer resident can use one of the following methods:

• Pegs. They are made from scraps of fittings, thin plastic pipes, wooden stakes and metal rods. This method is considered the most durable. The pegs are driven 25-30 cm into the ground. The stem of medium-sized tomatoes is wrapped with pre-prepared material. These devices are driven in along the row. Steel wire and strong twine are pulled over them. The distance between the stakes should be at least 40 cm. Productivity increases due to the presence of side shoots.
• Trellis. They are most often used for gartering indeterminate varieties. In favorable conditions, tomatoes reach 5-6 m. Using trellises, you can save space. 1 m² is enough for 3-4 bushes.

The seedlings, whose height varies from 25 to 35 cm, are grown vertically. When planting it, you should not bury the stem. Otherwise, additional roots will appear, which will significantly slow down the growth of the plant. Another negative consequence may be the falling of inflorescences from the first cluster.

The greenhouse must have windows. It is advisable that they be located on the top and side. They ensure thorough ventilation. To attract bees and other insects into the room, you need to place a saucer of honey. If the weather is good, windows and doors should be opened slightly.

Trellis garter of bushes

Trellis are a special structure made of pegs driven into the ground and slats or ropes horizontally attached to them. This method is ideal for growing medium- and tall-growing, large-fruited, richly fruiting varieties of tomatoes.

Trellis dressing of tomatoes

Using trellises allows you to:

• make caring for plants easier
• reduce the risk of crop damage from fungal infections
• simplify harvesting
• extend the fruiting period

It is recommended to drive pegs 120-150 cm long not opposite each bush, but more often. Then the structure will be much stronger. Slats or tightly stretched ropes are placed every 20-25 cm.

When the tomato bushes begin to grow, you can carry out the first garter. To do this, the stem is fixed to horizontal supports using soft twine. Subsequent garters are performed as the plants grow, every 15-20 cm.

Caring for tomatoes in a greenhouse

Productivity depends on how and when the necessary agrotechnical measures are carried out. Tomatoes are crops that require special care. Must be included in the list of procedures.

Watering

The first is carried out 5-10 days after planting. The water should be warm (about +20 °C). 1 m² requires 5 liters of liquid. If the soil is too moist, the quality of the tomatoes will deteriorate greatly.

They will become watery and sour.

Top dressing

It is done several times a season, focusing on a pre-prepared scheme. It is determined taking into account the initial composition of the soil and varietal characteristics. The first procedure is carried out 2 weeks after the seedlings are planted. Fertilizers must be in liquid concentration. The solution is made from water, mullein and nitrophoska. Apply 1 liter of composition to each bush. The second feeding is carried out 10 days after the first. In this case, dissolved potassium sulfate is used. There are 5 liters per 1 m². After 14 days, the bushes are shed with a composition made from ash and superphosphate. After the fruiting period begins, sodium humate is added to the soil.

Ventilation

Through regular ventilation, the summer resident will be able to regulate the temperature. This procedure should be carried out 2-3 hours after watering. During the day in the greenhouse it should be +18...+26 °C, at night - from +15 °C and above. An effective ventilation system will prevent condensation.

Garter

With the help of special devices, damage that can be caused by the own weight of fruits and green mass is prevented. The stems are tied to stakes and trellises using plastic clips, strips of fabric, twine, and twine. The height of the trellis should be about 2 m.

Stepsoning

The procedure is carried out in order to ensure the formation of a stem without side branches. They are called stepchildren. They grow from leaf axils. Due to the large amount of green mass, the ripening time increases and the bushes become shaded. Additional disadvantages include the prevalence of fungal diseases. With proper care, the risk of their occurrence is almost completely absent.

The shoots are removed with two fingers. The length of the lateral shoots should not exceed 5 cm. Otherwise, the plant will hurt for a long time. Many gardeners use cut parts to create new bushes. This is true if the varieties are exotic. Stepchildren are transplanted into the ground after roots appear on them.

Tomato shoots grown in a greenhouse must be removed as they develop. You need to brush no more than once a week. The height of the columns with proper treatment of the plant is 2-3 cm.

Pollination

Tomatoes are considered to be self-pollinating crops. To speed up the process, the flower brushes should be gently shaken. The same effect can be achieved by tapping the stem. The next step is watering. Which is produced with watering cans or using a drip device.

As soon as the fruits are full, the gardener should get rid of the lower leaves. This will help reduce air humidity and effectively ventilate the green mass.

During the formation of the stem, no more than 8 brushes should be left. When there is a sudden cold snap, you need to put containers with hot water in the greenhouse. To enhance the effect, the seedlings should be covered. The material must be non-woven.

Characteristics of culture

At a young age, the stem of tomatoes is herbaceous and erect; later it becomes woody. On the nature of branching of shoots and the duration of growth of the main shoot

There are several types of bush:

• indeterminate (branching, their growth is unlimited, usually one brush is laid 3 leaves from the other)
• determinate (weakly branched, the growth of the main shoot ends in an inflorescence)

A variety of determinate varieties are standard varieties with a thick, non-lodging stem and shortened internodes.

Starting from a young age, tomato plants form side shoots in the axils of the leaves - stepsons. Indeterminate varieties form stepsons from the axils of all leaves, which takes away the plant’s strength to set and ripen fruits, so they require pinching (removal of side shoots). Determinate varieties produce shoots from the axils of the lower leaves. They can produce a crop, so determinate varieties, as a rule, do not need pinching.

The tomato inflorescence is a raceme that can be short or long, loose or compact. In early varieties, the first flower cluster is formed above the 5-7th leaf, and in later varieties - above the 10-14th leaf, approximately 30-40 days after emergence. Flowering begins 40-90 days after emergence; 45-65 days pass from flowering to ripening.

Fertilization of the flower occurs at an air temperature of 24-32 degrees. Lower or higher temperatures result in delayed fruit set.

The shape of tomato fruits can be flat-round, round, plum-shaped, pear-shaped, cylindrical; by color - lemon, orange, pink, crimson, green, red, purple. When ripe, the fruits change color from milky (light green with a whitish tint) to brown or blazing (brown with a light pink tint), and finally to the color characteristic of the variety.

Based on size and weight, fruits are classified into:

• very small - less than 20 g.
• small - 21-50 g.
• average - 51-100 g.
• large - 101-200 g.
• very large (beef tomatoes) - more than 200 g.

Mr. Summer Resident informs: tips for growing tomatoes in a greenhouse

When caring for tomatoes, you need to consider the following recommendations:

• To prevent the occurrence of diseases and negative effects, bushes are often treated with garlic infusion. It is prepared from 10 liters of water and 40 g of the main ingredient. The latter is pre-crushed.
• When regulating the temperature regime, the phase of plant development should be taken into account. For example, during the filling period in the greenhouse during the day it should be +24...+26 °C, at night - +17...+18 °C. The optimal air humidity is 60-65%.
• It is recommended to water tomatoes early in the morning with water that has had time to settle. When feeding tomatoes, you need to alternate mineral and organic fertilizers. To increase the concentration of vitamin C, boric acid should be included in the fertilizer.
• To achieve maximum yield, after watering the tomatoes, the room needs to be ventilated. Weeding and loosening of the soil should be done only the next day.
• Healthy tomatoes are brightly colored. The same can be said about the corollas during the flowering period. The leaf blades curl slightly during the daytime. At night they crack down.
• If the fruits have acquired a brownish tint, they must be removed without waiting for ripening. Otherwise, both appearance and taste will suffer.

Harvest and storage

The harvest must be harvested until the daytime temperature drops to +8 °C. To determine the harvest date of tomatoes, you need to take into account the stage of maturity. At first the tomatoes are green, then they turn pink, milky or brown. At the last stage, the fruits acquire a rich color. Cleaning is best done in the morning. During this period, tomatoes are more elastic.

The fruits are placed in baskets, which are lined with fabric on the inside, or in buckets. After sorting, the tomatoes are placed in wooden boxes. The capacity of the latter is usually 8-12 kg. The shelf life of tomatoes largely depends on the ripeness and color of the peel. For example, bright red and fleshy ones are stored for only 5-7 days. Brown tomatoes are most often used for preparations, so keeping them for more than 12-14 days is strictly prohibited.

If long-term storage is planned, you need to pick the fruits at the initial stage of ripeness. Tomatoes that have not yet ripened are placed in 3 layers. You need to add several ripe fruits to them. Tomatoes should be stored at a temperature of +10…+12 °C. Air humidity should not exceed 80-85%. Otherwise, the tomatoes will begin to rot. The ripening process usually lasts for 2-3 months.

Many summer residents use a rather original storage method. A week before the first frost, bushes with unripe tomatoes are dug up and hung on nails in the basement. Air temperature varies +1…-5 °C. There should be soil left on the roots located on top. In this case, the tomatoes begin to sing at the beginning of winter. The ripening period extends for a week. Late-ripening varieties last the longest. To extend the life, you need to put birch sawdust and peat chips in wooden boxes. Each tomato should be wrapped in soft paper before placing in a container. However, keeping them in the refrigerator is strictly prohibited. Otherwise the aroma will suffer. Tomatoes that have already ripened are not recommended to be exposed to direct sunlight.

Many gardeners prefer to store harvested tomatoes frozen.

Fertilizer application

Greenhouse tomatoes must be fed. This is done 2-3 weeks after planting the seedlings and subsequently every 10-12 days. Tomatoes need phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. So, for 1 sq.m you will need 20-25 g of superphosphate and 15-20 g of potassium sulfate. And when the tomatoes begin to bear fruit, you need to add 2 tbsp to the soil. l. superphosphate and 1 tbsp. l. sodium humate, diluted in 10 liters of water.

To obtain an early harvest, foliar feeding is good: 16 g of urea, 10 g of superphosphate and 16 g of magnesium sulfate are diluted in 10 liters of water.