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Many novice gardeners do not dare to start growing vegetables. in greenhouse, considering it a difficult and troublesome business. It's actually not much more difficult than growing a plant outdoors.
One of the most crucial stages in growing greenhouse tomatoes is planting seedlings. Mistakes made when replanting to a permanent place can significantly affect the yield.
Shelter types
Most often, the following types of shelters are used for growing tomatoes:
- Capital glazed greenhouses, usually heated;
- Polycarbonate greenhouses, can be heated or unheated;
- Covered with plastic wrap, with or without heating;
- Temporary shelters, as a rule, use a film, heating is not used.
The preferred type of greenhouse is determined based on the goals. For example, for winter growing tomatoes, a glazed or polycarbonate heated greenhouse is used. To keep tomato seedlings from spring frosts, a temporary film cover is used.
To reduce costs, for temporary shelter of tomato seedlings from night frosts, plastic wrap is pulled over arcs. You can use metal or plastic. The film is stretched over arcs dug into the ground and fixed. It is advisable to cover the ends of the film with soil so that the film is not blown away by a gust of wind. When the weather is stable at night, the shelter is removed and stored until autumn.
Dates of planting seedlings
To determine when to plant tomato seedlings in a greenhouse, one general rule must be taken into account - the soil temperature must be at least 15 degrees Celsius.
This is not true, because the roots of tomatoes will develop at a depth of about 35-40 cm, the temperature of this layer must be measured.
The timing of planting tomato seedlings in a greenhouse depends not only on the region, but also on the number of sunny days. In cloudy weather, the ground warms up much more slowly. To speed up the timing of planting tomato seedlings in the greenhouse, you can additionally warm up the soil. For this, several methods are used.
If a heated greenhouse is used, it is not difficult to warm up the soil, but it must be borne in mind that it is impossible to get flowering and fruiting of tomatoes in conditions of short daylight hours. If you plant grown seedlings in a greenhouse, when the daylight hours are still short, it is necessary to provide the tomatoes with additional illumination, the total number of light hours should be at least 14 per day.
To warm up the soil in an unheated greenhouse, you can cover the soil with black foil. The black color attracts the sun's rays, so the temperature can be increased by 4-5 degrees. Also for these purposes, you can overlay the greenhouse with water bottles. Water keeps heat longer, gradually releasing it to the environment. Using this method can increase the temperature in the greenhouse by 2-3 degrees.
Another way is to spread damp straw or other organic matter on the soil. In the process of decaying organic matter, heat is released. In this way, you can increase the temperature of the soil in the greenhouse by 3-6 degrees, depending on the amount of organic matter.
Consideration should be given to nighttime temperatures, which can significantly cool the air in the greenhouse. For normal development, tomatoes need a temperature of about 18 degrees. The planted tomatoes will tolerate a short-term cold snap to 12-15 degrees without losses, but lower temperatures can cause irreparable harm to the planted tomatoes.
Greenhouse preparation
The preparation of the greenhouse for the spring planting of tomato seedlings must be started in advance. Advice! It is advisable to dig up the soil in the greenhouse in the fall and apply complex fertilizers, as well as treat the land with pesticides, destroying harmful insects and pathogens of infectious diseases.
If the greenhouse cover is not used for the first season, it is imperative to thoroughly wash it both inside and out, using disinfectants. Pathogens of various diseases could remain on the walls of the greenhouse from the inside, which later, together with condensation, can get on the leaves of tomatoes and cause unpleasant consequences.
The outside of the coating must be washed to clean it of dust and dirt, which significantly reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the tomato seedlings. If the tomatoes do not receive enough sunlight, the growth and development of the bushes slows down, the formation of ovaries stops.
Before planting tomato seedlings in the greenhouse, you should check the serviceability of windows and doors, if necessary, lubricate the moving parts. In wooden greenhouses, after wintering, they can become damp and increase in the size of the base of window frames; they must be repaired and dried. If you cannot open them, you can remove part of the cover to open access to air.
Greenhouse soil
When preparing the greenhouse for planting tomatoes, special attention must be paid to the soil. Tomatoes prefer light soils, with acidity closer to neutral. Soil with high acidity must be treated with deoxidizing substances, for example, lime, dolomite flour, ash. In addition, ash contains a large amount of potassium, which tomatoes need.
Often, when laying a greenhouse, the top layer of soil is removed to a depth of 40-50 cm. Straw or manure is placed in the resulting depression, which, decomposing, raise the ambient temperature by 2-4 degrees.
The first symptoms of carbon dioxide poisoning are dizziness, burning in the eyes. If you feel dizzy, you need to leave the room as soon as possible. To avoid poisoning, it is necessary to regularly ventilate the greenhouse.
If fertilizers were not applied in the fall, it is imperative to add nutrients when planting tomato seedlings. You can use ready-made complex fertilizers for seedlings. They can be applied with dry matter into the hole, by watering under the root, or by spraying the green parts of the tomatoes. Many gardeners oppose the use of chemicals in growing tomato seedlings, preferring natural fertilizers. From natural nutrients used:
- Humus - contains a significant amount of nitrogen;
- Manure is a source of nitrogen compounds, magnesium, sulfur, calcium;
- Ash - contains a large amount of potassium, manganese, magnesium;
- Organic Tinctures - Contains all the essential nutrients.
Natural fertilizers are applied to the planting hole, mixed with the soil to avoid scalding the tomato roots. Several fertilizers can be used at the same time.
If tomatoes have been grown in the same soil for several years in a row, it is advisable to change the top fertile soil layer. The depth of this layer is about 40 cm. To avoid this complex process, you can sow greenhouse greenhouses for one season.
Seedling preparation
Proper preparation of tomato seedlings for planting in a greenhouse is very important. Unprepared seedlings will require a lot of recovery time, significantly delaying the timing of fruiting.
To reduce transplant stress, it is necessary to harden the tomato seedlings before the equine system is disturbed. To do this, tomato seedlings are placed within 1-2 weeks in conditions as close as possible to those in which the tomatoes are to grow. This is especially important for seedlings that were grown in an apartment on a windowsill.
If possible, tomato seedlings are placed in a greenhouse, where they are to grow, for several hours, gradually increasing the residence time. After one week, it is advisable to leave the tomatoes overnight so that the seedlings can get used to the drop in temperatures at night.
After 3-4 days, the plant will get used to bright light, the shading coating can be removed.
If there is no opportunity to place tomato seedlings in the greenhouse in advance, you can start hardening in the apartment using a balcony or other well-lit room with a low air temperature.
Seedling age
The ideal age of seedlings for planting in the ground depends on the varietal characteristics of the fruiting of tomatoes. Experienced growers recommend the following dates:
- Ultra-ripe tomatoes - 25-30 days;
- Early ripening - 30-35;
- Early and mid-early 35-40;
- Mid-late and late 40-45.
It is often difficult for novice gardeners to determine the age of purchased tomato seedlings, sometimes the variety of tomatoes does not correspond to the declared one. In this case, you can focus on the number of leaves.
If it has flowering buds, it means that the tomato seedlings have overgrown a little, the adaptation of such plants is difficult.
Sometimes it is impossible to follow the recommended disembarkation times exactly. In this case, you need to follow the rule: "Better sooner rather than later." Planted earlier than the recommended term, tomatoes get used to new conditions quickly enough, they easily restore intensive growth.
Overgrown tomato seedlings requires a whole range of measures aimed at restoring seedlings and facilitating adaptation to a new place.
Disembarkation rules
There are two ways to plant tomato seedlings - in the mud and in dry soil. For the first method, the holes are filled with water, the seedlings are placed in a well filled with water, sprinkled with soil. Tomato seedlings continue to be poured until the soil becomes homogeneous, all the lumps should dissolve.
For the second method of planting tomato seedlings in a greenhouse, the holes are left dry, watered with an earthen ball, in which the tomato seedlings were grown before transplanting. Watering tomatoes is carried out a week after transplanting. The advantage of this method is that the dry soil allows the oxygen to pass through, which is necessary for the development of the tomato root system.
In any case, it is advisable to water the seedlings in the greenhouse only with warm water, the temperature of which should be at least 15 degrees. Watering with cold water can significantly reduce soil temperature. A drip irrigation system can solve this problem. During the time until the water reaches the roots of the tomatoes, it will have time to heat up.
Holes in the greenhouse are prepared in advance about a week before planting. The depth of the hole should correspond to the root system of the seedlings. If a tomato is planted about 40 cm long, you can deepen the stem by 10-15 cm, the hole should be about 40 cm deep. In this case, the seedlings are planted vertically. The width can be 20-30 cm.
If an overgrown tomato seedling with a length of more than 40 cm is planted in a greenhouse, it is recommended to position the stem of the plant obliquely in order to form additional roots. In this case, the hole is made shallower, but wider. Enough 30 cm deep and 40 cm wide.
The distance between the holes is determined taking into account the size of an adult tomato bush. Tomatoes planted too close will produce significantly less fruit. Placing the bushes too far will waste greenhouse land.
Recommended distance for different tomato varieties:
- Stunted - 40 cm;
- Medium - 45 cm;
- Tall - 50-60 cm.
The holes are made in a checkerboard pattern, not forgetting to leave a passage every two rows. A distance of 60 cm is sufficient for caring for tomatoes.
Avoid placing the holes too close to the edge of the greenhouse, as adult tomatoes will not have enough room to grow.
The rules for planting tomato seedlings in the ground are easy to follow, the main thing is the desire and attentive attitude to the plants. Every effort will pay off with a great, early tomato harvest.
