All gardeners should know that caring for tomatoes in a greenhouse is fundamentally different from caring for them in open ground. What is the reason for this? Firstly, a microclimate is formed in the greenhouse, which favorably affects plants, but at the same time contributes to the development of diseases and the appearance of pests. Secondly, to create this very microclimate, you need to make a lot of effort (more than in the garden).
Where to start caring for tomatoes in a greenhouse?
The first step is to prepare the greenhouse itself and the soil in it. The room must be equipped, that is, have windows, doors, lighting fixtures and other necessary fixtures. Peat, humus is introduced into the soil in the fall, and if it is clayey, then straw. In the spring, digging the ground, do not forget to add fertilizers and ash, and after all the preparatory procedures, pour hot potassium permanganate solution (for disinfection). Now the greenhouse is ready for planting tomatoes. Caring for them consists of many activities, but the main ones are:
- watering;
- top dressing;
- stepsoning.
In addition, tomatoes need to provide the necessary lighting, temperature, and prevent diseases and pests.
Watering
When you transplanted seedlings, immediately pour it with warm water. In the future, you must be careful with water. Abundant watering of tomatoes in the greenhouse begins only when warm days are established and fruit ovaries appear. Before that, it is enough to moisten the soil once every two weeks, or even less. It all depends on the weather outside the greenhouse. As a rule, when seedlings are planted (this is about the beginning of May), it is cold outside, so the plants lack the moisture that they received after the transplant, and they can get a lack of it from the formed morning dew. As soon as the first fruits began to appear, then it is already possible to increase watering by using about 10 liters per square meter. Pouring must be strictly at the root.
Stepson
Caring for tomatoes in a greenhouse consists of pinching. To get an early harvest, you need to grow tomatoes in one stalk. To do this, pinch the top of the stem, while no more than 8 brushes should remain on one stem. The plant itself needs to be tied to a trellis. Pasynkovka spend in the morning. This should be done periodically, that is, as the shoots grow back.
Top dressing
In the greenhouse, you need to provide your tomatoes with nutrients - planting and caring for them require multiple feeding at all stages of growth. Once the seedlings have taken root, you can begin to fertilize. To do this, use liquid products containing phosphorus and potassium. They are brought into the soil until harvest. During fruiting, nitrogen is also added to these fertilizers. The amount of fertilizing depends on the condition of the soil. Therefore, before planting, it would not hurt to study its composition, especially if you grow plants on it for the first time. If a tomato crop has been going on this land for more than one year, then top dressing is carried out according to the old scheme.
Tips & Tricks
1. If your greenhouse is fully equipped with a heating and lighting system, then planting tomatoes can be carried out already in early April, if it is heated only by sunlight, then not earlier than May.
2. After pinching, you need to help the plants pollinate, to do this, shake them early in the morning, if they are tied to a wire, then just shake it.
3. If the greenhouse is not heated, it is recommended to plant fertilizers in warm water.
4. Lower leaves are advised to be removed, since they still do not take part in the development of the plant (this should be done gradually, removing 2-3 leaves a week).
5.To prevent the leaves from curling, spray them with boric acid.
6. In order to avoid fungal and other diseases, abundantly water tomatoes with potassium permanganate.
6 Carbon dioxide is useful for plants, so the dry ice carbonation method is used.
In these simple manipulations is the care of tomatoes in a greenhouse. Put a little effort and patience, and soon you will have delicious tomatoes on your table.