Planting a tomato in a polycarbonate greenhouse: timing 

Tomatoes (tomatoes) have long been considered the most beloved vegetable on the planet. After all, it is not for nothing that breeders have created a huge number of varieties. Vegetables are essential for nutrition for children and adults. Therefore, it is grown not only in open ground and in greenhouses. Some gardeners manage to get good yields on balconies and loggias. But we will talk about a specific place for planting tomatoes: in a greenhouse made of cellular polycarbonate.

It is clear that the choice of a place for planting vegetable crops affects the yield, as well as the timing. Therefore, the question of when to plant tomatoes in a polycarbonate greenhouse is very important, especially for beginner gardeners.

What is important to know

Planting tomatoes in a greenhouse made of cellular polycarbonate has its own characteristics. No one will be able to simply name the deadlines for the work. After all, the question “when” in itself is not so unambiguous. Much will have to be taken into account.

The choice of planting time for seedlings in a greenhouse is influenced by many factors:

1. Firstly, when you need to sow tomato seeds to get strong seedlings.
2. Secondly, you need to prepare the polycarbonate greenhouse itself in a timely manner.
3. Thirdly, it is important to take into account the climatic conditions of the region.
4. Fourthly, the question of when to plant tomatoes in a greenhouse is influenced by the correct choice of varieties in terms of ripening.

In a word, the planting of tomato seedlings in a polycarbonate greenhouse is preceded by a large agrotechnical preparation.

How to deal with seedlings

When deciding on the timing of planting tomatoes in protected ground, you need to decide when to sow the seeds. The fact is that seedlings have their own requirements. She must be:

• strong, not stretched out;
• height no more than 35 centimeters. Higher seedlings are considered overgrown;
• seedling age up to 60 days;
• the tops should be green, the distance between the leaves is small.

Terms of sowing seeds

Vegetable growers live in different regions, the climate in Our Country is not the same. Naturally, the timing of planting seedlings in a polycarbonate greenhouse will be different.

How to determine the timing of sowing seeds for a heated greenhouse in any region:

1. Tall tomatoes are sown for seedlings from late February to March 10.
2. Seeds of early and medium ripening varieties should be sown on February 20-March 10.
3. Ultra-early tomatoes, including Cherry, in early April.
4. Sowing late tomatoes for seedlings is carried out after February 20.

In the Urals and Siberia when growing seedlings of tomatoes ripening late, the timing will be different. In heated polycarbonate greenhouses, seeds are sown in late March, early April. For the rest of the tomatoes from the 20th of April. You can use the gardener’s calendar, but compiled for a specific region. By the way, some vegetable growers sow seeds when the moon is in:

• Scorpio;
• Corpuscle;
• Cancer;
• Libra.

They believe that the seedlings in these cases grow strong and when it comes time to plant them in a polycarbonate greenhouse, they meet all technical parameters.

Favorable days according to the lunar calendar for 2018 for sowing seeds for seedlings (general data):

• in February – 5-9, 18-23;
• in March – 8-11, 13-15, 17-23, 26-29;
• in April – 5-7, 9-11, 19-20, 23-25;
• in May – all days except 15 and 29.

Choice of varieties

The question of when to plant tomatoes in a greenhouse also includes the choice of varieties. This applies to the time required to obtain fruits of technical ripeness: early, mid-season, late-ripening varieties. They are all good for the greenhouse.

To get a good harvest, you need to use tomatoes intended for growing indoors, self-pollinating. It’s just that in polycarbonate greenhouses there is insufficient air circulation, flowers often do not pollinate, empty flowers form. This negatively affects the formation of the crop.

For a greenhouse made of cellular polycarbonate, you can use:

1. Determinate types of tomatoes. The height of the bushes is 70-150 cm. When 6 to 8 ovaries are formed, the plant stops growing and gives all its strength to the formation and ripening of fruits.
2. indeterminate species. This is the best option for greenhouses, including greenhouses made of cellular polycarbonate. They grow and bloom during the entire vegetative period, there are no restrictions on these parameters. On the bushes at the same time all summer there are flowers, ovaries, formed and reddening greenhouse tomatoes.

You can learn about the features of each type from the picture below.

Naturally, the formation of bushes will have its differences. When seeds are planted for seedlings, experienced gardeners select varieties with different ripening periods in order to receive finished products from June to the first frost.

So, the seedlings are ready, what to do next?

Greenhouse preparation

A greenhouse made of cellular polycarbonate has a number of advantages:

1. It is much more profitable than structures covered with a film: the service life of the structure is quite long. After all, the material is durable, able to withstand large snow caps and strong winds, frosts.
2. The design reliably retains heat by installing heating, you can deal with tomatoes even in winter.

The question of when to plant tomatoes in a polycarbonate greenhouse is its preparation for planting. As a rule, work should begin about 15 days before planting seedlings. What will need to be done?

If you install a greenhouse before planting tomatoes, then you need to take care of its equipment:

1. First, choose a good location. A properly placed structure should be well lit from all sides so that the plants do not stretch. With a lack of light, yield losses are significant. If there is no place without a shadow on the site, then the plants in the greenhouse will have to be highlighted. For these purposes, artificial lighting lamps are suitable.
2. Secondly, decide how the plants will be watered. Indeed, by planting tomatoes in a polycarbonate greenhouse on time, you can not pick up the fruits due to incorrect watering. Experienced vegetable growers recommend installing drip irrigation systems. Tomatoes should be watered with warm water. It is advisable to find a place in the greenhouse for a large tank. In it, the water settles and heats up.
3. Thirdly, solve the issue of ventilation. Although the greenhouse has doors and vents, it is not always possible to open them in time. Especially if you live in a city apartment, and you don’t get out to the country every day. In this case, before planting the plants, it is desirable to equip an automatic ventilation system.
4. When tomatoes are planted in a greenhouse, there is a risk of frost returning. Although cellular polycarbonate retains heat well, the temperature still drops, the soil cools down. This negatively affects the development of plants. You can warm the soil under the planted seedlings with the help of hay, straw.

Surface treatment

Regardless of whether the greenhouse is new or you have already used it, the entire surface must be treated with disinfectants. The choice of funds is quite large. Most often, copper sulfate is bred or Bordeaux liquid is prepared. Gardeners with extensive experience in growing vegetables in greenhouses recommend using a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate to treat greenhouse surfaces. It is sprayed with sprayers, wetting all areas.

soil

Little Secrets

Before planting seedlings, you need to prepare the soil. If you have a greenhouse on the foundation, of course, you can’t choose a new place for it. Since growing tomatoes in one place leads to contamination of the soil with spores of pathogenic fungi and harmful insects, you will have to remove the soil by ten centimeters, treat with vitriol. Sprinkle fresh ingredients on top. You can take land from under potatoes, legumes, phacelia, cucumbers, mustard.

Why else do you need to know when to plant tomatoes in a polycarbonate greenhouse? Many gardeners three weeks before planting seedlings scatter green manure seeds over the entire surface, and then dig up the soil, enriching it with green mass.

Improving fertility

Even those vegetable growers who have been growing tomatoes for more than one year do not know the exact start date of work: climatic indicators never repeat.

When should you start preparing the soil in a polycarbonate greenhouse? After you have decided on the timing of planting seedlings, you should dig up the soil. This should be done in 10-15 days, so that the earth has time to “ripen”.

Tomatoes grow well in fertile, neutral soil. Before digging, compost, humus, wood ash are added. Mineral fertilizers can be used to enrich the soil.

They dig up the ground to the depth of a spade bayonet, although the tomatoes themselves are not planted deeper than 10 cm when planted. The fact is that the roots of the plant grow deeper and wider, and in loose soil the development of the root system is more successful.

Soil treatment

The soil in the heifer is well shed with a solution of copper sulfate: for 10 liters of water, one tablespoon of blue crystals. After processing, the greenhouse is ventilated. Copper sulfate disinfects the soil, destroys spores of many fungal diseases.

Until the moment the tomatoes are planted, the earth will rest and warm up. The air and soil temperature in the greenhouse should be at least +13 degrees. Here is another answer to the question of when to plant tomato seedlings in a polycarbonate greenhouse.

When we plant tomatoes

Knowing exactly when to plant tomatoes in a polycarbonate greenhouse is necessary in order to prepare beds and seedlings. By this time, the plants should have a height of at least 25-35 cm.

Cooking ridges

The beds are being prepared in 10 days. We place them along the long walls. If the width of the greenhouse is large, you can make one bed in the middle and along the wall without an entrance door. The distance between the beds should be from 60 to 70 cm, width from 60 to 90.

The root system of tomatoes does not tolerate cold well, so they are broken up on a hill: a height of 35 to 40 cm. This will depend on the amount of harvested land. In any case, the soil level in the bed should be above the level of the passages.

After that, the wells are prepared. The distance between them will depend on the varieties of tomatoes you choose. Each well and the surface around it is shed with a hot pink solution of potassium permanganate. Watering is carried out 2 days before planting tomato seedlings in the greenhouse, so that at the right time the earth is moist and loose. Trellis are also being prepared for tying seedlings.

Planting seedlings

To start preparing seedlings for transplanting to a permanent place in a polycarbonate greenhouse, you need to know exactly when you start work. After all, tomatoes need proper preparation.

1. 5 days before planting, tomato seedlings are sprayed with a solution of boric acid (10 liters of water + 1 gram of the substance). Work is carried out before sunrise, so that the water droplets have time to dry. Otherwise, burns may occur. Processing is especially important if flowers have already bloomed on the tomatoes. A simple technique will not allow the buds to crumble, which means that the crop will not suffer.
2. 2 days before the chosen planting date, 2-3 leaves are removed from the bottom of the tomatoes so that they do not come into contact with the ground. This technique is necessary for air circulation between plants and the successful formation of flower brushes. It is impossible to break off the leaves on tomato seedlings so as not to infect the plant. The work is carried out with a treated knife or scissors. The work is carried out on a sunny day so that the wounds heal well. Leaves on tomato seedlings are not cut at the base of the stem, leaving a stump up to two centimeters.
3. On the day when the planting of tomatoes is scheduled, the seedlings are well watered. The earth in the garden is slightly moistened. It is better to transplant in the evening, when there is no heat.

After planting in the greenhouse, the seedlings are well shed. The next watering is in about five days.

Approximate time for planting tomatoes in the greenhouse

Let’s summarize to clarify when approximately the planting of a tomato in a polycarbonate greenhouse is carried out:

1. If the greenhouse is with autonomous heating, then work begins on April 29.
2. For an ordinary polycarbonate greenhouse – from May 20.

Of course, our readers understand that such terms are approximate. It all depends on the climatic features of the region.

To summarize

As you already understood, choosing the right time for planting tomatoes in a polycarbonate greenhouse is not only important, but also diverse. Here, climate features, agrotechnical standards, and the choice of tomato varieties are linked together. By the way, many experienced gardeners advise growing plants with the letter F1 – these are hybrids. They meet all the norms of tomatoes for greenhouses.

To choose the date for planting tomatoes, you need to arm yourself with a piece of paper, make the necessary calculations using our material. We wish you a successful harvest of tomatoes grown in polycarbonate greenhouses.