How To Improve The Productivity Of Greenhouses And Greenhouses

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

"Intensive" greenhouse

Most ordinary gardeners have very limited green spaces. Most often, these are 1-2 greenhouses and a couple of greenhouses, or even less. At the same time, the climate in a significant part of the Russian territory does not differ in mildness.

And therefore, special hopes are pinned on hotbeds and greenhouses in Central Russia and, especially, in the northern regions, for example, in the Urals. And at the same time, many gardeners limit themselves to growing in indoor facilities only traditional heat-loving crops - tomatoes and cucumbers, the planting of which is sometimes supplemented with pepper and eggplant.

But you can make greenhouses and greenhouses work much more actively and significantly increase the return on a rather expensive (here it's not only the price of the greenhouses themselves, but also the laboriousness of their construction) closed ground. How? We will talk about this, but first we will dwell on the general principles of such intensive agricultural technology.

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Pros and cons of intensifying the use of greenhouses and greenhouses

I will not argue that the introduction of intensive agricultural technology in greenhouses is easy and simple. Alas, not at all, and therefore this option is not suitable for every gardener. In fact, it all depends on personal preference, multiplied by experience and hard work. Someone will enthusiastically respond to the opportunity from the same area for the season to receive, in addition to tomatoes and cucumbers, seedlings, as well as a lot of greenery. Others, especially those who are indifferent to greenery, will decide that it is not worth bothering with continuous sowing, planting and replanting.

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However, more to the point. Taking an intensive approach to the operation of greenhouses, you can provide a family with a wide variety of greens (onion and garlic feathers, radishes, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, spinach, turnips, etc.).

Importantly, there will be plenty of greens in the spring and early summer, when it is quite expensive on the market. This is important, since the body yearned for green products during the winter, and in the open field at this time, apart from sorrel, wild garlic and perennial onions, there is nothing to profit from. In addition, these crops in April-May give a normal harvest in our conditions only if they were covered in early spring with a double layer of covering material. Greenhouses and hotbeds will also provide high-quality seedlings of cold-resistant crops, which will eliminate the need to buy cabbage seedlings (which many gardeners resort to).

In addition, there are options for using greenhouses and greenhouses to grow seedlings of thermophilic crops (cucumbers, pumpkins and zucchini), which can speed up their harvest. It should also be noted the possibility of unloading home seedling areas, because part of the crops (many annual flowers, vegetable physalis, etc.) at a very young age can be planted indoors, and, therefore, they will no longer take away valuable areas on the windowsills, which in this period is essential for tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.

In addition, it is worth mentioning the possibility of expanding the range of traditional greenhouse crops by planting other thermophilic plants, which simply cannot be grown in regions with a harsh climate in the open field. It all depends on personal wishes. For example, you can plant curly beans (the vegetable is tasty and very healthy, but takes up little space), corn (you can't plant much, but even a few plants will add a twist to your homemade preparations), watermelons or melons (they will delight young gardeners).

And now about the cons. Unfortunately, organizing all of the above is not easy. Firstly, one cannot do without creating warm soil and the active use of various insulation options - internal mini-greenhouses, films on the soil, etc. Secondly, you will have to accept the fact that at the same moment there will a wide variety of plants with different watering requirements. For example, some can be watered from a watering can, others - only under the stem. And all of them will need to provide a sufficient level of illumination.

In addition, at certain times, you will have to act very quickly in order to have time to transplant some crops from closed ground to open in time, and very quickly distribute the seedlings of tomatoes and other nightshade crops brought from home to their destination. And this is often even when many green and cold-resistant crops are in the greenhouse and cannot be planted for some reason.

One cannot but mention certain difficulties in planting the main crops - tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers - in their rightful place. Indeed, by the time the seedlings are planted, almost the entire greenhouse is filled with various kinds of greenery and seedlings of cold-resistant crops and flowers. Therefore, before planting legitimate applicants for greenhouse beds, small fragments of them, where it is supposed to plant tomatoes or sow (or plant) cucumbers, are exempted from green products.

All other plants are not touched yet. They are then used in salads as needed. All these cultures will develop perfectly comfortably together. True, after planting heat-loving crops, you will have to be careful when watering. It must be remembered that when watering cucumbers and tomatoes, you cannot get water on the plants. Naturally, in the future, one should carefully monitor the level of illumination of heat-loving crops and immediately remove any greens shading them.

All this, of course, is quite difficult and time-consuming, but the return from greenhouses increases significantly. I confirm this with my many years of experience: it is according to this scheme that I have been growing plants for about 15-17 years, and nothing is alive. True, my family sometimes criticizes me for being too busy in the greenhouse, but at the same time they gladly lay on all the grown greens - everyone loves it very much.

They often share extra cabbage seedlings with their neighbors, noting with surprise that for some reason the seedlings did not grow again. They are also treated to early cucumbers and tomatoes, wondering why these crops grow poorly in those with a completely free greenhouse, but in our greenhouses overflowing with plants, they feel great.

Launching the early spring green conveyor

A greenhouse properly prepared for spring sowing (we are talking about a greenhouse filled with a variety of organic matter in the fall, which was supplemented in spring with fresh manure necessary for heating, and a layer of highly fertile soil) is a real testing ground for growing early spring green products and some early vegetables. Since the sown area is still completely free, and there is a certain period of time before planting the seedlings of heat-loving crops, it is simply a sin not to use it. True, you should adhere to two important rules.

Firstly, you need to clearly imagine in the beds those areas on which the seedlings of cucumbers and tomatoes will then be planted. These fragments of the ridges will have to be left free from crops or taken over by the earliest crops, for example, leafy turnip or leafy mustard. Both plants are so early maturing that their seeds do not even need to be soaked before sowing. You can plant Chinese cabbage seedlings there if you use it for greens.

Secondly, when sowing green crops, you will have to use all possible techniques to accelerate the growth of greenery. As a result, you will have time to remove these crops before heat-loving plants begin to actively grow.

Dill, radish and garden cress

Around mid-April (for radishes and watercress, three days before the expected sowing, for dill, seven days), ordinary sawdust is soaked and laid out in a thin layer (about 0.5 cm) in low containers. Then dill seeds are laid out on a layer of sawdust (according to some sources, dill is considered a bad neighbor for tomatoes, but my many years of experience show that this statement is groundless) or garden cress (three seeds can be thick enough) and cover them with a layer of sawdust about half a centimeter thick. Radish seeds are not laid out very thickly and are not covered with sawdust.

Place containers in half-open plastic bags. After the time indicated above, the seeds begin to hatch, and white roots will appear. After that, they immediately start sowing. The hatched radish seeds are sown along the inner edge of the greenhouse in one row at a distance of about 8 cm from each other. Seeds of dill or garden cress are evenly scattered along with sawdust in the area allotted for them. Then sprinkle all crops with a thin layer of soil.

Spinach, lettuce, Swiss chard, borago, Chinese cabbage and Chinese cabbage on greens

In mid-March (even earlier in early spring), the seeds of these crops are sown in tall containers (about 7 cm high) filled up to half the height with wetted sawdust. They are sown sparsely, given that the plants will have to develop in this container for about a month. The containers are placed in ajar plastic bags and after intensive pecking of the seeds, they are sprinkled with fertile soil with a layer of 1 cm. Then the bowls are again sent to the slightly opened plastic bags. After the emergence of shoots, the packages are removed and the bowls are placed on the window.

At the first opportunity, the resulting seedlings are carefully planted in the greenhouse. This should be done after very intensive watering, which will allow you to painlessly divide the plants. If the seeds were not sown on sawdust, then it would be impossible to divide the seedlings later without disturbing its root system. You should not hesitate with planting, as plants growing on sawdust will begin to experience a lack of nitrogen.

Onions and garlic on greens

Two to three days before planting in the ground, the bulbs (pick or multi-family) and medium-sized heads of garlic are soaked in a large flat container. They are planted in a greenhouse close to each other in a small limited area, half pressing the bulbs into the ground.

We grow cabbage and beet seedlings

As you know, cabbage (cauliflower, white cabbage, and others) is grown through seedlings, which many gardeners prefer to buy. This is understandable, since it is extremely difficult to get high-quality seedlings of this culture at home due to too dry air, poor lighting and high temperatures.

Under such conditions, the seedlings are stretched, which further leads to the formation of small undeveloped heads or heads of cabbage. However, it is more profitable (not only in material terms, but also for further obtaining a really high and high-quality yield, which is much more important) to grow seedlings on your own. This can only be done in biofuel-heated greenhouses or hotbeds.

As for beets, most of its gardeners prefer to sow with seeds directly into open ground. With a large number of seeds and a fairly favorable climate, this is the most reasonable decision. But seeds are expensive these days, and not everyone is lucky with a warm climate. For example, we have a lot of problems with beets in the Urals, and many gardeners do not grow them at all. The fact is that beets cannot be planted in cold soil, moreover, this culture, when it gets under frost, turns into color.

At the same time, the soil in our conditions thaws and warms up for a long time, and frosts can last until mid-June (sometimes longer). It turns out that it is impossible to sow beets early. Therefore, it is often sown in the second half of May, and during this period strong winds prevail, blowing out moisture already in the morning - as a result, beet seedlings on the ridges can often be counted on one hand.

Then the crops begin to thin out (usually this happens already in rather hot weather), and the plucked out plants try to plant them again to fill the voids in the ridges. Naturally, after such an execution, few of them take root, and those that take root, alas, do not want to grow. Obviously, it is no longer necessary to count on a normal harvest. At the same time, when sowing beets for seedlings in a greenhouse on a warm soil, everything turns out to be different - you can sow much earlier (it is warmer there and frosts are not terrible), watering on time is not difficult (the irrigation area is small). When transplanting, the seedlings are carefully dug out, and not pulled out, which means that the acclimatization process is quite painless.

Therefore, it is more profitable to grow seedlings of these two crops in your own greenhouse. And do not be afraid that such a neighborhood will somehow harm the main crops - tomatoes and cucumbers. Of course, subject to the requirements of agricultural technology. The main thing is neat watering at the root, and not over the leaves: tomatoes and cucumbers do not like this. And all plants will develop harmoniously together until a certain stage. True, the planting of beets and cabbage will need to be handled until the moment when they begin to interfere with the normal growth of the main crops.

The technology of sowing cabbage and beet seeds for seedlings in a greenhouse can be different. It all depends on the characteristics of the climate. In our conditions, in the Middle Urals, all sowing or planting in greenhouses on biofuel is possible from about mid-April. Therefore, it is wiser to sprout cabbage at home (to ensure a short run in time), and only soak the beets at home.

Read the next part. Growing seedlings of vegetables in greenhouses and hotbeds →

Svetlana Shlyakhtina, Yekaterinburg

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