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Preparing the greenhouse for planting in the spring. How to properly prepare the soil in a greenhouse Preparing a greenhouse in the fall for spring

It’s joyful and pleasant to get a harvest of cucumbers, tomatoes, and anything else as soon as possible! But for this to happen, you need to make a lot of effort. Greenhouses, which have become extremely popular in recent years, require special care, since during the gardening season they create specific conditions that are favorable for all kinds of pests and plant diseases, but unfavorable for the desired harvest. Experienced farmers know very well that preparing a greenhouse for planting in the spring begins... in the fall.

At the end of the gardening season, thrifty owners must disinfect their greenhouse, remove all waste and any unnecessary strings, twines, supports for tying up plants, support the roof of the greenhouse (in case of heavy snowfalls), securely close all doors and windows so that the wind does not break anything . If all this is done in the fall, preparing the greenhouse in the spring will be much easier, for example, you will not have to remove garbage from it, treat it against pests and plant diseases, and spend less on repairs. But sometimes circumstances develop in such a way that in the fall nothing can be done in the greenhouse, and in winter the weather is so inclement that not only glass or film greenhouses are damaged, but also good-quality polycarbonate greenhouses. What to do in such cases? How to prepare a greenhouse for planting in the spring?

Repair

You should always start by carefully inspecting your greenhouse. Structures with a film coating survive the winter the worst. Winter winds and hurricanes do not spare even the most durable film. Precipitation, sun, and temperature changes are no less harmful to such fragile material. When preparing a greenhouse for planting in the spring, the first step will be to seal all breaks in the plastic film with tape, and if there are too many of them, completely replace the covering. This is more expensive, but in this case you won’t have to disinfect the film, and the tape won’t be much use.

Glass greenhouses are, without a doubt, stronger than film greenhouses, but glass can also crack or break over the winter. In such cases, they need to be replaced to ensure safety for yourself and comfort for the plants.

Polycarbonate greenhouses are the most expensive, but also the most reliable. All that can happen to them during the winter is the frame bending under the weight of snow. By the way, the frame can be damaged in a greenhouse with any coating. If such a nuisance occurs, there is no need to panic. And in this case, in the spring you can properly prepare the greenhouse for planting. First you need to restore the frame. To do this, clear the greenhouse of snow (if there is any left), dismantle the polycarbonate sheets or remove other types of covering material, raise the frame (you can use a jack), install supports under it, and secure the frame well. Metal strips with a width of 40 mm and a thickness of 5 mm with holes drilled in them are ideal for this, but here each master can choose his own option. After making sure that the frame is strong, the covering material is mounted on it again.

Cleaning

Preparing a greenhouse in the spring necessarily includes a complete and thorough cleaning. If the greenhouse was not put in order in the fall, then in the spring, after the completion of repair work, they begin to remove everything unnecessary from it, for example, old hoses, materials that are not yet needed for tying up future plants, and any debris. You can’t leave the tops of last year’s crops in the hope that they will turn into humus. In a greenhouse, it plays only one role - a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria, fungal spores and other infections. Tops that have lain in a greenhouse all winter are not suitable for compost production even on open ground. Therefore, all last year’s plant residues must be taken out and burned. Preparing the greenhouse for planting in the spring also involves mechanical removal of mosses and lichens (if any have suddenly grown), because pests have probably settled in them and are waiting for future residents of the greenhouse. It is advisable to treat areas cleared of moss with copper sulfate.

The final stage of cleaning is washing the greenhouse. It is produced both externally and internally. Important - polycarbonate sheets can only be washed with soft brushes and sponges, and detergents should not contain abrasives, since the surface of this covering material is very easily damaged. Experienced gardeners advise adding a little potassium permanganate to the washing solution. The film, as well as glass, can be washed with the most common soap solution. Metal and plastic frame parts are washed with vinegar. At the end of the water procedures, the greenhouse must be ventilated and thoroughly dried.

Disinfection

The most important point in preparing a greenhouse in the spring for planting is the destruction of the maximum number of all pests that have settled in it and the accumulated pathogens, bacteria, fungi, and mold. They do this in two ways, not exclusive, but complementary. The first is poisoning with chemicals. The second is replacing the top layer of greenhouse soil.

There are many means to persecute pests and destroy sources of diseases, each of which has an adverse effect not only on them, but also on seeds and seedlings. This is a compelling argument to start preparing the greenhouse for planting in the fall in the fall. Over the winter, all toxic chemical elements will have time to decompose into completely harmless ones, so they will not harm the newly planted plants. If disinfection was not carried out in the fall, this should be done in the spring at least 2-3 weeks before planting or even earlier, depending on the weather conditions of the region. The following baiting drugs can be used:
1. Chloride of lime. It is diluted with water (approximately 400 - 500 grams per bucket), left for a day and everything that is inside the greenhouse is sprayed - the walls, that is, covering material, frame, irrigation system, remaining ropes, soil, and all the cracks are filled. Experienced gardeners advise spraying the liquid solution with a spray bottle, and coating the solid structures of the greenhouse with the remaining sediment using a brush.
2. Sulfur bomb. Preparing a greenhouse in the spring with bleach is labor-intensive and not as effective, since it is almost impossible to notice and treat all the cracks. The sulfur checker does not have such disadvantages. It is incredibly simple to use - you just need to light the wick in it. The smoke released by the saber can penetrate into any cracks, even those that are not visible to the naked eye. It is very useful to leave all gardening tools in the greenhouse during such treatment in order to disinfect them for prevention. The disadvantage of the method is that the sulfur dioxide released during the smoldering of the bombs corrodes the metal parts of the greenhouse, so they are lubricated with grease before treatment.
3. Sulfur and kerosene. This is an analogue of a sulfur bomb. The ingredients of the hellish potion are mixed and set on fire.
4.Biological products. Manufacturers claim that they are capable of not only destroying the infection, but also increasing the yield. Many gardeners doubt the ecological purity of such a crop, but biological products still have a clear advantage - after using them, you do not need to wait a month before planting. The waiting period must be indicated on the packaging; usually it does not exceed several days.
In order for such preparation of the greenhouse for planting in the spring to yield results, before processing it is necessary to carefully caulk all the cracks and close all the holes in the greenhouse, after baiting, close it for several days, and then ventilate well.

On video: How to disinfect soil in a greenhouse using Fitosporin

Soil preparation

When thinking about how to prepare a greenhouse for planting in the spring, working with the soil cannot be ruled out. This is the most labor-intensive part of the process and the most important, because the condition of the soil in which the planted plants will grow determines 90% of the size and quality of the harvest. In the special microclimate of greenhouses, the activity of pests is always more active than in the open air. As a rule, they occupy the upper layers of the soil. Therefore, experienced gardeners advise that in the spring the top layer of greenhouse soil must be changed, even after treating it with chemicals. The removed soil can not be thrown away, but used in open flower beds or beds. Remove it to a depth of about 7 cm. Instead, it is advisable to place humus and sprinkle mineral fertilizers on top.

In the spring, preparing a greenhouse for planting is most labor-intensive if there is a need to completely replace the soil in it. A new one must not only be brought from another place, but filled with organic products (manure, humus, peat). This will extend the life of the soil and make it more fertile. Each farmer has his own recipes for improving soil quality. Among them are the following:
1.Mix loamy soil, manure (humus) and peat in a ratio of 4:3:3.
2.Mix loamy soil with humus in a ratio of 6:4.
3. Lay out a layer of straw, rotted sawdust, hay, and sprinkle soil and peat on top.
Proper preparation of the greenhouse in the spring, in particular the soil, should include checking it pH , which should correspond to the preferences of the crops that will grow in the greenhouse.
After replacing the soil, it is advisable to add fertilizers recommended for the plants that you plan to grow. Peat is considered a universal fertilizer if it has been properly prepared in advance, that is, laid in layers for winter storage, alternating with manure and lime. Such peat is added at the rate of 15-20 kg per square meter.
The most popular method of fertilizing the soil both in the greenhouse and in the open ground is sowing green manure (peas, mustard, grains). They produce abundant green mass, which is dug up, and after a few days the necessary plants are planted in the soil prepared in this way.

How to prepare a greenhouse for planting in spring without replacing the soil

Although the soil renewal procedure is considered very desirable, sometimes it is not possible to carry it out. In such cases, one of the following methods can be recommended:
- water the soil generously with ice-cold melt water;
- also pour boiling water over the soil in the greenhouse (you can use a car steam generator);
- thoroughly spray the soil with copper sulfate (1 matchbox per bucket of water);
- treat the soil with Fitosporin-M and similar preparations.
Any of the above methods is less effective than replacing the soil, but it’s better to do little than nothing.

On video: preparing a polycarbonate greenhouse for planting in the spring

Warming up the soil

When answering the question of how to prepare a greenhouse for planting in the spring, it cannot be said that warming the soil is a mandatory procedure. But it speeds up the planting time, because for seed germination and seedling root comfort, the soil must have a temperature of at least +10 degrees.
You can warm up the soil in the following ways:
- the simplest, but not the fastest, is to cover the soil with black film;
- pour boiling water (it is advisable to perform this procedure twice);
- turn on the heating in a heated greenhouse (the most expensive method);
- add Baikal fertilizer to the soil (warming occurs due to the activation of microorganisms that make up the fertilizer).

In addition to warming up, preparing the greenhouse for planting in the spring necessarily includes enriching the soil with oxygen. If the greenhouse soil has not been changed, it is carefully dug up and so-called fluff agents are added. Their role may include chopped straw, rotted sawdust, compost , leaf soil (after disinfection), crushed bark. The fluffer content in greenhouse soil should be about 30%. There are some nuances here. So, when adding straw, you must simultaneously add urea, which promotes its decomposition. And when using fresh sawdust (that has not had time to rot) they must be poured with boiling water, left for a day, then mixed with mullein solution and only then added to the soil.

Warm beds

The final chord in the answer to the question of how to prepare a greenhouse for planting in the spring will be the installation of beds with natural heating. This little trick will help you plant seedlings in the greenhouse as early as March. They make heated beds like this:
1.Dig trenches about 50 cm deep in the greenhouse.
2. Place fresh manure or old manure in them, which has previously been watered with hot water.
3.Tamp it all down a little.
4.Cover with film.
5.Wait 4 days (during this time the height of the manure layer should become approximately 40 cm).
6.Sprinkle the manure with lime.
7.Wait a few more days for the temperature in this natural fuel to reach +30 degrees.

The preparation of the greenhouse is now complete. You can start planting cucumbers and tomatoes.

All preparatory operations of the greenhouse and greenhouse for the new planting season should begin after harvesting, in the fall. However, intensive preparation begins in early spring, in March or April, depending on the region. The main spring stages include cleaning the greenhouse and preparing the soil for planting vegetables or ornamental plants. Soil preparation is the most important point, since not only a successful harvest, but also the composition of the grown fruits depends on its composition. The ideal soil composition is selected by trial and error and requires more than one season of experimentation. The optimal solution is the golden mean, since an excess of various fertilizers can cause intoxication, and as a result, the death of the plant, or the accumulation of negative substances. After sowing the seedlings, care and due attention should also be given.

After the snow has melted and freed the greenhouse, it is necessary to completely or partially dismantle the greenhouse. Namely, check the structure for defects, connecting parts, frame and covering material. After winter, if there is a lot of snow, even the most reliable greenhouse structure can become deformed.

If the greenhouse has a wooden frame, then it is necessary to check for loose elements, guides and beams.

All loose wooden guides and supports must be securely secured with nails and bolted joints. If the paint on the wooden frame is cracked or worn off, then it needs to be covered with a new paint and varnish material. If the greenhouse has a metal frame, then you need to check for the strength of the connecting elements - whether there are any breaks in the welding, whether the bolts are tightly tightened. In places where corrosion appears, treat with paint and varnish material.

The main thing in these actions is the safety of being in the greenhouse, as well as ensuring safety for the crop. Plants need to be grown safely.

Preparing the greenhouse for spring

After checking the structural strength of the greenhouse, the next step is to remove all plant debris and dry leaves from the soil. The remains of last year's plants may contain larvae and pests that will awaken under favorable conditions. They can also contain pathogens of many diseases for seedlings.

Using a rake, it is necessary to remove all remnants of last year's withered leaves, branches and dry plants.

If plant roots remain in the soil, then they need to be pulled out, dug up, that is, completely removed without any residue. Next, you need to dig up the soil and leave it to dry. The next step is to treat the walls and ceiling of the greenhouse.

To do this, you first need to wash the walls and ceiling of the greenhouse from dirt and dust, then you need to treat and disinfect it from pests. Disinfection is carried out with a soap solution; for this, take a piece of laundry soap and grate it in a ratio of 100 grams per bucket of hot water.

The prepared solution is foamed and wiped with a rag inside and outside the greenhouse. The solution should be applied with a generously dampened rag to the walls and ceiling of the greenhouse, then wiped dry with a clean, dry cloth. Pests do not like alkaline solutions and begin to run out of the cracks, and their larvae die. You should not resort to glass cleaners and various chemicals, as this can have a detrimental effect on the seedlings, and therefore on human health.

Greens in the greenhouse in spring: sowing

As soon as the climate in the greenhouse has returned to normal, which means above-zero temperatures day and night, you need to prepare the soil for seedlings. Preparing the soil for sowing begins with the formation of beds and loosening the soil, removing plant debris, roots and stones. Before planting seedlings, you need to determine the acidity of the soil, which is determined by several methods, including both free and the purchase of a special device.

Methods:

Put a little earth on a spoon and pour vinegar over it; if the reaction is similar to quenching soda in vinegar (boils), then the acidity is normal. If nothing happens to the soil, then the soil is acidic.
Three leaves of black currant are placed in a glass and poured with boiling water, filtered and a spoonful of soil is placed in the solution, if the solution turns red, then the soil is very acidic, if it turns pink, it is of medium acidity, turns green, then it is neutral, and if it is blue, then it is alkaline.
A special device is an acid meter. In stores, both conventional acid meters and those with a combination of various functions are available (measurement of soil acidity + measurement of soil moisture + measurement of light level).

Depending on the type of plants being planted, soil preparation is carried out. For tomato seedlings, dig up the soil, sprinkle with sawdust, and cover with lime and manure. Next, fill the resulting “sandwich” with a fresh layer of soil and sprinkle it over the area. The ash fraction corresponds to flour, boil water at a temperature of 60 o C, water the soil and cover with film, after two weeks you can plant tomato seedlings.

A month before planting cucumbers, the soil is dug up and beds are formed with a height of 30 cm to 50 cm and a width of 80 cm to 100 cm. The formed beds are fertilized with a solution of potassium sulfate, tree resin and urea. After this, the beds are dug up and watered with a solution of bird droppings and covered with film. After a week you can sow cucumbers.

Work in the greenhouse in spring: installation and processing

After removing the remains of last year's plants and cleaning the walls and ceiling of the greenhouse from dirt, you should begin processing the upper layers of the soil. One method is to use sulfur balls to prevent fungal infections. Sulfur balls should be in proportions of 1m 3 per 50 grams of sulfur.

A metal bucket is placed in the middle of the greenhouse, into which a sulfur ball is placed with a couple of sheets of newspaper or paper and set on fire, and fumigation is carried out in a tightly closed greenhouse.

At this moment, being inside the greenhouse is prohibited, as this can cause poisoning and dizziness. You can open the greenhouse after it has been closed for about a day. To increase soil fertility, you can replace the top layer of soil by removing from 10 cm to 25 cm. Next, add purchased soil or prepare the soil mixture yourself.

To independently prepare the soil mixture, mix turf soil with river sand (fine fraction without stones), humus and peat in a ratio of 1:1:3:5. Also, to normalize the acidity of the resulting soil, add lime per 1 m 3 per 3 kg.

Hanging beds for seedlings also need to be prepared and then installed. All last year's soil is replaced with new one. The boxes are checked for rot and deformation and replaced or repaired. Before sowing the main plants, you can plant cold-resistant seeds of mustard, radish, lettuce and onions.

Ordinary preparation of a polycarbonate greenhouse for spring

After wintering, polycarbonate covering material may develop sagging, deformed and cracked channels, and darkened areas that need to be replaced. The main element in a polycarbonate greenhouse is the transparency of the roof. If darkened areas are found in places, this indicates damage to the air channels in the polycarbonate; in this place, it may burst over time.

If no deformations are detected or have been eliminated, the next step is disinfection of the entire structure.

To disinfect and wash polycarbonate, you need to prepare a soap or vinegar solution. In order to make a vinegar solution, you will need clean warm water and vinegar in the ratio of a bucket of water per 100 grams of vinegar. Next, apply the solution to the walls and ceiling of the greenhouse using a generously moistened rag. This work should be done with rubber gloves to avoid skin burns from the vinegar solution.

Preparing the greenhouse for spring (video)

To plant and grow healthy and tasty vegetables, you need to start preparing the greenhouse for the new season in the fall and plan all operations step by step until spring. This includes proper storage of covering material, its dismantling, and repair of the greenhouse.

It is necessary to prepare the greenhouse for winter before the onset of cold weather. The work is significant, since the service life of the structure, as well as the volume of the future harvest, depends on it. Preparation requires an integrated approach and you should not ignore any of the required work. But in the spring, both the building and the greenhouse soil will be ready for planting vegetable seedlings.

Why prepare for winter

Greenhouses are used to protect vegetable and ornamental plants from the cold. The design and materials from which greenhouses are made allow maintaining the technological temperature, optimal humidity, and protect plants from cold winds and frosts. These conditions are suitable for growing most vegetables and other crops.

Thus, preparatory work in the greenhouse on the eve of cold weather has the goal of removing all plant fragments and carrying out a disinfection procedure. Autumn greenhouse activities have three main goals:

normalization of greenhouse soil;
disinfection of the frame and covering material;
preventive work to prevent the destruction of the greenhouse from snow in winter.

General cleaning after growing tomatoes

After the last harvest has been harvested, we must begin cleaning the greenhouse area. Having chosen a fine day, go to the greenhouse and remove all plant fragments of weeds and tomatoes from it. It is advisable to remove with roots. Therefore, tomato bushes are first dug up with a shovel, and then cut off from a horizontal trellis with a sharp knife. The fallen lashes, along with the rope with which they were tied to the trellis, are carefully placed in large polypropylene bags.

Then, a rake is used to collect fallen leaves from the soil surface, individual rotten tomato fruits, weeds, and this whole mass is also packed into bags.

Attention!

Even if during the growing season of tomatoes you do not notice symptoms indicating damage by diseases or pests, do not take the tops to the compost pit or leave them in the greenhouse.

Removal of tops

Tomato tops packed in bags, along with weedy perennial and annual plants, are taken out of the greenhouse, or even better beyond the boundaries of the site and set on fire there. It is also possible to bury these plant debris in the ground beyond the boundary of the site or send them to the tank of a garbage truck, which will take the load to a landfill.

Soil removal

When the greenhouse is free of plants, you need to proceed to the second stage - removing the soil layer. A 15 cm thick layer of soil must be removed and removed from the greenhouse. This work will require significant physical effort and some time. But they do it for the following reasons:

it is in the upper layer that all harmful insects, their larvae, as well as harmful bacteria and fungi live;
tomatoes, the plant residues of which you removed from the greenhouse, consumed certain nutrients from the soil for their growth, development and yield formation, significantly depleting the soil;
During the growth process, tomatoes, like other plants, release their metabolic products into the soil through their roots, which are harmful for replanting the same crop.

The removed soil can also be taken outside the site and filled into ravines. And if it can be disinfected, then it can be used in the garden or garden.

How to treat a greenhouse frame

Disinfection of such a structure is carried out using various methods. The use of one method or another depends on the type of material from which the greenhouse is built. In all options, in addition to treating with sulfur, it is necessary to additionally disinfect the frame and covering of the greenhouse. Any covering, whether stationary or removable, must be disinfected.

Greenhouse frames are usually made in 3 options:

wooden;
metal;
polyvinyl chloride.

Each type of frame is disinfected differently. Metal frames are washed with boiling water to which vinegar has been added. To achieve the desired effect, add 50 ml of concentrated vinegar to 1 liter of boiling water.

The polyvinyl chloride frame is also washed with an acetic solution of the same concentration. Only the temperature of the solution should not exceed 60 degrees.

It is best to treat wooden structures with a 10 percent solution of copper sulfate. The copper contained in the preparation has a detrimental effect on fungal organisms.

How to treat film, polycarbonate, glass

When disinfecting the roof of a greenhouse structure, the choice of preparation and treatment method also depends on the coating material.

Glass or film

If the roof of the greenhouse is glass or film, then the treatment is carried out with a hot solution of laundry soap. The temperature of the solution should not drop to more than 40 degrees.

How to prepare the solution:

cut a piece of laundry soap, weighing 100 g, on a coarse grater;
Place soap particles in boiling water;
stir the composition until the soap is completely dissolved;
Cool the solution to the desired temperature.

Use the prepared solution to treat glass and film coatings. You need to work with a brush, treating first the inner side, and then the outer surface.

Plycarbonate coating

It is not recommended to treat a greenhouse with such a roof with active alkali, as in the previous case. For this, a solution of potassium permanganate is used. He must be cool and hot too. Disinfection is carried out; it is not enough to simply spray the coating.

It must be washed with this solution, first the inside, and then the outer surface. When processing inside the greenhouse, all corners must be carefully processed. Pathogens and wasp nests can persist there.

After treatment, you should open all windows and doors, create a draft and dry the greenhouse in a short time.

Removable film covering

If the film is removed from the greenhouse roof for the winter, this does not mean that it does not require disinfection. It is also treated with potassium permanganate, then dried, folded, packed in a synthetic bag and sent for storage until spring.

Greenhouse coverings are cleaned on both sides. The glass roof is washed with soapy water and then rinsed with clean water.

Disinfection methods

There are many tools available to carry out this operation. But most often, greenhouse owners turn to urea treatment. The internal volume of the greenhouse is fumigated with sulfur. The second method is highly effective, since it disinfects both the soil layer and all internal structures.

Fumigation with sulfur

To do this, at a temperature of +10 to +15°C, in the greenhouse, along the path, place baking sheets or pallets with sulfur at the rate of 50 g per square meter. The sulfur is then set on fire. When burned, the substance releases sulfuric anhydride, a gas that kills all living organisms. Work should be carried out wearing gas masks or gas respirators.

The ignition starts from the pile furthest from the entrance and moves towards the door. After the last pan of sulfur lights up, the doors are closed tightly and the exposure is maintained for 2 days. Then, opening all the doors and windows, the greenhouse is well ventilated.

Use of urea

By dissolving 50 g of urea in a bucket of cold water, a working solution is obtained for disinfecting the greenhouse. This solution is thoroughly watered over the entire area of the greenhouse, without missing paths or row spacing.

Bleaching powder

Disinfect the soil in the greenhouse with bleach. To do this, after harvesting plant fragments, lime is sprinkled on the soil at the rate of 100 g per m2, and then the substance is raked to a depth of 3 cm.

Sulfur checkers

Stores sell smoke bombs for fumigating greenhouses. Their efficiency compared to burning sulfur is much higher. In order for all unwanted living organisms to die, a 6-hour exposure is sufficient. The work must also be carried out wearing a gas mask, gloves and goggles.

Formalin solution

Greenhouse soil can be disinfected with a 2.5% aqueous solution of formaldehyde. When processing, use 1 liter of working solution per m2. The work is carried out in protective equipment, since formaldehyde fumes are very dangerous to health.

Copper sulfate

For treatment, prepare a 0.75% aqueous solution of copper sulfate. Using a spraying device, the drug is distributed over the soil surface. For every square meter, use 1 liter of solution.

Use of biological products

In terms of efficiency, they are slightly inferior to chemical disinfectants, but their advantages are associated with a beneficial effect on greenhouse soil:

they bind heavy metals;
fix nitrogen;
promote the breakdown of pesticide residues in the soil;
synthesize natural growth hormones;
enhance the effect of purchased drugs.

After disinfection with biological products, after 2 days, the greenhouse soil is treated with Bordeaux mixture.

Laying new soil

This operation completes this list of preparatory work after the next harvest. The prepared soil, which is characterized by high fertility, is brought inside and evenly sprinkled in small piles throughout its entire territory. Then this soil composition should be leveled with a rake. The soil is lightly compacted to eliminate all voids.

In winter, as snow falls, move it to the greenhouse area. The thicker the snow cover, the less the soil will freeze. Covered with snow and straw, beneficial soil microorganisms will work all winter and ultimately increase fertility even more.

And in the spring, when the snow melts, the soil will be saturated with melt water and acquire optimal humidity for tomatoes.

Attention!

New soil for the greenhouse can be purchased from the seller or prepared from various components yourself.

What should be the soil for tomatoes in a greenhouse?

The following requirements apply to greenhouse soil:

Structure. It should be such that there is no need to loosen after the next watering. Soil particles should not be dusty and not excessively large, easily allowing water to pass through. It is better if the soil is structural and consists of lumps 2-3 mm in size.
Fertility. The soil must contain all the nutrients necessary for the normal development of tomatoes. The humus content in it should be at a high level.
Lack of mineral salts. Brought or self-made soil should not be filled with mineral fertilizers. They will be needed only next spring, after the seedlings are placed in a permanent place.
Moisture capacity. The soil must have the ability to absorb a certain amount of water and retain it. This property is of increased importance for heated greenhouses.
Neutral acidity. The reaction of the soil solution should tend to zero. A slightly acidic or slightly alkaline reaction of the soil solution is also allowed.
Disinfection. The soil must be disinfected and free of pathogens that can destroy young seedlings.

When preparing soil for a greenhouse yourself, you need to know what it should consist of. The classic soil composition is as follows:

high peat;
river sand;
humus or compost.

Attention!

Whatever crops you cultivate in the greenhouse, every 5 years the soil in it must be completely changed to a depth of 35 cm. You can also dismantle the greenhouse after 5 years of operation and move it to another location.

Strengthening the frame

If you are engaged in greenhouse vegetable growing in a region where there are snowy winters, then after disinfection you need to strengthen the frame of the greenhouse.

To perform this work, supports and arcs are used, which are placed inside the greenhouse. They are prepared independently or purchased from trade organizations.

The ridge of the structure is supported from the inside. To prevent a six-meter greenhouse from collapsing under the weight of snow in winter, it is enough to use 4 T-shaped supports.

The supports are placed on a solid base so that they are not pressed into the ground under the weight of snow. As a base, you can use scraps of boards, plywood, or sheet metal.

Attention!

If the area where the greenhouse is located is blown by the wind, and the height of the snow cover reaches critical values, then it would be reasonable to double the number of supports.

In winter, it is necessary to promptly push snow masses off the roof, since any covering material is designed for a certain snow load, if exceeded, the greenhouse may collapse. Here are the loads that are permissible for different coatings:

polycarbonate coating - 70 cm of dry or 30 cm of wet snow;
glass roof - 35 cm of dry and 15 cm of wet snow;
dense film covering - 20 cm of dry snow.

It is not necessary to strengthen the frame for the winter in greenhouses where the roof is removed in late autumn. On such roofs, snow will not linger and the frame will not experience increased load.

By spending a total of several days preparing the greenhouse, you will free up precious spring time. With the onset of favorable weather, you can immediately move on to planting vegetables. In addition, these autumn activities will protect the greenhouse structure from collapse and damage. Thanks to this, the greenhouse will last a long time and will delight the owners with abundant harvests.

The summer season begins, and experienced gardeners first begin to prepare greenhouses.

They will protect plants from spring frosts and will later bring an earlier and more abundant harvest of heat-loving crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, etc.

What needs to be done to prepare greenhouses for the season?

Disinfect the frames with copper sulfate.

Clear the soil of last year's plant residues.

Remove old soil. The soil in the greenhouse should be changed every 3-4 years so that diseases and pests do not accumulate and so that crop yields do not decrease.

Fill the greenhouses with new, nutritious, light soil. Its temperature should be at a depth of 10 cm not lower than +10 C. You can first lay manure (about 20 cm), carefully adjusting it along the edges and corners so that there are no voids, sprinkle fluff lime on top (0.5 kg per 1 sq. m), then lay a layer of peat or sawdust to absorb excretions (ammonia) and, finally, pour a soil mixture (20 cm).

Spill the soil with hot water and cover with film. The greenhouse itself can also be covered with old blankets. This way the soil will warm up faster.

For planting, use a flat surface or ridges, usually 1 meter wide. In ridges, the soil warms up better and is easier to loosen and water. Ridges are often used, which are smaller in size than a ridge and are designed for one row of plants.

When and how to plant

The guideline for planting is the soil temperature at a depth of 10 cm at 8 am.

For tomato it should be at least 12 C, for cucumber, pepper and eggplant at least 14-15 C. The day before planting, the seedlings are well watered. It should also be planted in moist, abundantly spilled soil, compacting the soil at the root.

It is better to plant plants on a cloudy day so that they take root better and do not get burned.

Greenhouses and greenhouses are usually small, but you want to grow as many vegetables as possible in them. Therefore, it is important to place the plants correctly in height so that they do not shade each other, taking into account the increased demands of some crops on light and air humidity. And since cucumbers do not tolerate drafts, they should grow away from windows and doors.

How to feed

Plants in a greenhouse grow and develop quickly, and accordingly, the consumption of nutrients from the soil increases, so it is recommended to fertilize every 10-14 days. Cucumbers are more common, other crops are less common.

Fertilizing is usually combined with watering. During the initial period of plant growth, nitrogen fertilizers are used; during flowering, fruit formation and fruiting, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used.

What do they like?

In order for plants to successfully develop in greenhouses and greenhouses, it is necessary to constantly monitor the temperature of the air and soil and ventilate them in a timely manner. Remember, greenhouse plants like the greenhouse to be warm, light and damp.

The optimal temperature in the greenhouse during the day should be 16-25 degrees, at night 4-8 degrees less. High temperatures at night and on cloudy days provoke too rapid growth of the green mass of plants, and this leads to the fact that few fruits will set and they will be small.

In addition to light, vegetable crops require fresh air for normal growth and development.

In unventilated greenhouses and greenhouses, there is a high probability of the spread of pests and pathogens that can destroy young plants. Fresh air periodically introduced into the greenhouse also helps to harden the vegetables - after transplanting them to an open garden bed, they quickly adapt to new conditions. Therefore, when constructing greenhouses and greenhouses, it is necessary to provide for the presence of vents.

By the way

Evening watering (after sunset) will protect the plants from short-term frost. To protect the plantings, you can simply place containers (basins or buckets) with water in the greenhouse. The fact is that during the phase transition of water into ice, heat is released. Sometimes it is quite enough to prevent the greenhouse from freezing.

five tips from experienced

Before sowing carrots, apply humus or other organic fertilizers. You need to add a little humus, otherwise the carrots will be bitter.
Dig the soil thoroughly. By the way, if your carrots are not growing well and there are growths on them, then three days before planting you should water the garden bed with salt water.
After the formation of the first true leaf of tomato seedlings, every seven days, spray it with skim milk (dilute half a glass of milk in a liter of water) or whey. This also prevents viral infection.
Two weeks before planting, onion sets are heated at a temperature of 40 C for 8 hours to destroy the pathogen of downy mildew, prevent bolting and allow faster growth. To speed up the germination of onion sets, it is also recommended to cut off the upper part of the neck the day before planting and soak for 20 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. After soaking, the onions are washed and soaked in clean water for 1 day.
If young trees have bent over the winter, they need to be leveled. Drive a strong stake on the side opposite to the slope and use technical tape to tighten the barrel, securing it with a figure eight.

Having harvested the harvest, it is too early for greenhouse owners to think about rest; a lot of important things await them. In order to be able to plant seedlings in a healthy, clean “home” next year, before the onset of cold weather, you need to clean, fertilize and disinfect the soil, repair the frame and wash the transparent coating from dirt. None of the events can be missed. Not only the safety of the structure, but also the yield depends on how thoroughly the greenhouse was prepared for winter.

Why clean the greenhouse in the fall?

Some vegetable growers consider comprehensive pre-winter preparation of the greenhouse impractical. They motivate their opinion by the fact that since in the spring it will still be necessary to prepare the structure for planting vegetables, then there is no point in doing the same work twice. Therefore, in the fall it is quite enough to pull out and take away the plant remains and close the doors of the structure more tightly.

Greenhouse in winter

The need for regular cleaning

However, such a theory is fundamentally wrong. Cultivating vegetables in a greenhouse, like the moon, has its light and dark sides. The white – positive component of this method is that the plants, being in especially comfortable greenhouse conditions, protected from bad weather and feathered pests, develop well, spores and bear fruit abundantly.

At the same time, such isolation of the greenhouse space from the unfavorable external environment, coupled with the high humidity and temperature reigning inside, contributes to the proliferation of phytopathogenic microflora. The spread of virulent bacteria and mold fungi is aggravated by the thick planting of vegetables characteristic of greenhouses.

Due to the above circumstances, by the end of the season a fair amount of pathogenic microorganisms accumulate in the greenhouse soil. If you leave things to chance and do not take any measures to destroy them in the fall, then by spring they will multiply to such an extent that standard pre-planting disinfection of ridges with potassium permanganate will no longer be able to correct the situation, and all hopes for a rich harvest will be buried.

Perfect cleanliness in autumn is the key to harvest

The importance of soil preparation

The next argument for pre-winter preparation of the greenhouse is the urgent need to improve the qualitative composition of the soil contained in it. Due to very intensive exploitation throughout the summer, the greenhouse soil is significantly depleted and loses fertility by autumn. To ensure that the depleted soil has time to fully recover before planting the seedlings, it is better to begin its reclamation activities immediately after harvesting.

The last, rather weighty argument in favor of pre-winter cleaning of the greenhouse is the time factor. In the spring, every gardener has a lot of work to do - planting seeds and growing seedlings is an endless hassle. Knowing how to prepare a greenhouse in the fall, but not doing it at the right time due to laziness, and then spending precious April days on disinfection and garbage collection is extremely unwise.

The beds need to be prepared in the fall

A set of measures to prepare a greenhouse for winter

Many inexperienced summer residents believe that the essence of preparing a greenhouse structure for winter is to remove the withered tops outside the structure. On various gardening forums people often ask how to properly clean up after tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers. However, if you approach the matter from such a position, nothing worthwhile will come of it in the end. Autumn cleaning of a greenhouse is a complex undertaking. You need to think about how to prepare the greenhouse for winter, how to treat and disinfect the soil and the structure itself.

General cleaning inside and outside

Preparing a greenhouse for winter in the fall really starts with a lot of cleaning:

On a fine, windless day, all doors and windows are opened.
While the greenhouse is being ventilated, the first thing to do is remove watering cans, pruning shears, hoes, pitchforks, shovels, sprayers and other garden tools.
Having cleared the room of small gardening equipment, they begin to remove large-sized equipment - wind up the irrigation hoses, dismantle trellises and supports, remove non-woven agricultural fabrics and temporary electrical wiring.
In an empty greenhouse, weeds and outdated tops are pulled out of the ground by the roots, pegs are pulled out of the soil, and at the same time, fruits and garter twines that were accidentally lying on them are picked up from the beds.
Next, thin stems and withered leaves are raked from the rows and passages between them with a wire rake. All this garbage is first collected in small piles, then transferred to bulky plastic bags and taken outside the garden and burned there along with the contents.

Cleaning polycarbonate

Often, recommendations on how to prepare a greenhouse for winter include advice to store organic waste in compost pits. This can only be done if you are one hundred percent sure that all the plants that became its basis were absolutely healthy.

Since it is impossible to guarantee that not a single greenhouse bush has been affected by late blight or bacteriosis (the pathogens of which successfully overwinter in rotting compost), it is better not to tempt fate, but to immediately destroy all the collected plant material.

In the case when a greenhouse is used for growing perennial crops, for example, garden strawberries, the berry bushes growing in it are not uprooted, but only those that are clearly diseased or severely damaged by insects are removed. On all other rosettes, only cut off the old leaves.

At the end of the harvesting, the ridges are dug deeply, large lumps of earth are broken up with a rake and the roots remaining in it are removed from the soil.

Autumn digging

Methods for soil disinfection

Preparing a greenhouse for the winter is not limited to just removing garbage and unnecessary garden tools. It is necessary to clean the building, as it is the key to health, but the soil plays a decisive role in the success of greenhouse vegetable growing. The quality and quantity of grown products primarily depends on the condition of the soil. Therefore, preparing a greenhouse for winter mainly consists of reclamation or disinfection of the soil contained in it.

According to science, the top thirty-centimeter layer of greenhouse soil should be removed annually, and a specially prepared sterile substrate should be laid in its place. But, since this process is very labor-intensive and costly, it is almost impossible to produce it every season in a home structure.

Boiling water for soil disinfection

To minimize costs, the soil in private greenhouses is usually changed every 2-3 years, and even then not completely, but only to a depth of 10-15 cm. The main preparation of the soil in a greenhouse for winter comes down to sterilizing it using any of the following methods:

Thermal disinfection. The greenhouse beds are poured with boiling water and immediately covered with a thick black film, the edges of which are pressed to the ground with pebbles along the entire perimeter. After a day, the covering is removed, the soil is dug up again and harrowed with a rake. This process is repeated twice more, with intervals of three days between scaldings.
Disinfection with copper-containing preparations. If outbreaks of late blight, peronosporosis or bacteriosis have been observed in the greenhouse, the soil (no more than once every five years) is treated with a 0.1% solution of copper sulfate, pouring 8-10 liters of this product per square meter of bed. Instead of vitriol, Bordeaux mixture, which has a similar effect, is sometimes used.
Disinfection with bleach. Treatment with bleach is effective against almost all types of phytopathogenic organisms. Dry lime is scattered on the ground at the rate of one glass per square meter. meter of soil and cover it with a rake.
Disinfection with potassium permanganate. For the purpose of general disinfection, the greenhouse soil is spilled once, without skimping, with a bright purple permanganate solution.

Disinfection with bleach

Total disinfection

Spilling boiling water or potassium permanganate into beds in a large greenhouse is not an easy task, so in large structures they usually carry out general gas disinfection with sulfur-based fungicides.

Such preparations, produced in the form of smoke bombs (“Climate”, “FAS”, “Peshka”), during the smoldering process emit toxic sulfuric anhydride, which fills the entire room, seeps into the most secluded crevices, where many pests and pathogens usually accumulate, and destroys them all indiscriminately.

The gas emitted by checkers is so toxic that it kills not only pathogenic fungi and bacteria, but also the harmful spider mite, against which all other pesticides are ineffective.

Sulfur checker

Combining with drops of moisture present on the surface of the soil and polycarbonate, toxic smoke forms unstable sulfurous acid, which additionally disinfects not only the soil, but also all parts of the structure.

Fumigation with sulfur: procedure:

Sulfur disinfection is carried out only after general cleaning, but no later than mid-October, before the temperature in the greenhouse drops below +10 degrees.
Before “smoking” the saber, the room is sealed - holes are sealed and cracks in the joints of polycarbonate, film or glass are sealed, rubber seals on doors and windows are renewed.
Unpainted metal parts of the frame are coated with grease, and scratches and chips of enamel on painted parts are painted over.
Based on the cubic capacity of the greenhouse being treated, the dosage of the drug is calculated according to the instructions.
Before disinfection, put on protective clothing, a hat, a carbon respirator, plastic goggles and long rubberized gloves.
To activate the formation of sulfurous acid, immediately before fumigation, the greenhouse cover and soil are sprayed with a pneumatic spray gun.
The checker is placed vertically on a heat-resistant base, its wick is set on fire, making sure that it has begun to smolder, they quickly leave the structure and tightly close the doors behind them.
After 72 hours, the greenhouse is “unsealed” and ventilated until the characteristic “hellish” smell completely disappears.

Cleaning the greenhouse cover

Unfortunately, pathogenic microflora nest not only in the soil - pathogenic bacteria, fungal spores and pest eggs are also present on the internal surfaces of the greenhouse pavilion.

Therefore, the walls and frame of the structure must be thoroughly washed and disinfected, and this must be done before replacing or disinfecting the soil. Otherwise, dirty water flowing from the greenhouse panels will contaminate the sterilized soil, and it will have to be re-treated with antiseptics.

Important rules:

Painted metal frames are washed with water and baking soda and treated with Bordeaux mixture. Unpainted or galvanized parts of the frame are washed with very hot water and wiped with a sponge soaked in 9% table vinegar.
Greenhouse frames made of PVC pipes are washed with warm water with the addition of “Whiteness”.
Wooden posts and crossbars are washed with bleach, after drying they are impregnated with a 7.5% solution of copper sulfate and, if desired, additionally whitened with a thick suspension of freshly slaked lime.
Film coverings are removed in the fall, washed with a hot concentrated solution of gray laundry soap, rinsed, wiped with a sponge soaked in a 5% solution of vitriol, dried, rolled up, packaged in sealed bags and stored in a garden house for the winter.
Non-removable glass structures are washed from the outside and inside with a special window mop and a large foam sponge; stubborn dirt is scrubbed off with a nylon brush or a hard sponge. The joints and gaps between the glass and the frame are cleaned with a wooden wedge wrapped in a piece of cotton rag. For work, use a solution of the same laundry soap or degreaser for cleaning dishes. After washing, the glass is rinsed and disinfected with a 4% bleach solution.
It is undesirable to treat polycarbonate panels with chlorine-containing and alkaline agents, so they are cleaned with a powerful stream of water and disinfected with a bright purple solution of potassium permanganate.

How to prepare a polycarbonate greenhouse for winter

Strengthening the building frame

Due to the fact that plastic panels are relatively light in weight, manufacturers of polycarbonate greenhouses do not bother making particularly strong frames and often directly in the instructions for their kits recommend installing additional supports in them in the fall.

The use of such a preventive safety measure is justified even in regions with little snowy winters, since most greenhouses can withstand a pressure of 300, maximum 400 g/m2. If the specified load is exceeded, the frame bends and the building collapses. Therefore, preparing polycarbonate greenhouses for winter necessarily includes strengthening the frame.

Greenhouse collapsed from snow

To prevent the pavilion from collapsing under the weight of snow attacking it, tubular struts or T-shaped wooden posts are installed in it, which take on part of the weight and prevent the frame from breaking from excessive pressure.

Strengthening the frame of a polycarbonate greenhouse with posts and spacers

The supports are placed at intervals of 1.2-1.6 m. To prevent the lower ends of the posts from sinking into the ground, they are installed on small metal plates or short sections of thick and wide boards. The upper crossbars of the supports are placed under the longitudinal greenhouse beam and secured to it with steel clamps.

Attaching the support crossbar to the beam

Having completed the work with the supports, they remove the doors and vents from their hinges and bring them into the barn. If these parts are not removable, then they are thrown wide open and very firmly fixed in this position (so as not to be broken by the wind).

Features of preparing a polycarbonate greenhouse

It is equally important to clean and disinfect polycarbonate greenhouses. Recommendations on this topic are very contradictory. To avoid inadvertently damaging the structure, before processing it makes sense to watch a video with advice from summer residents, which clearly explains how to properly prepare a polycarbonate greenhouse for winter.

Video: Tips from an experienced gardener

How to prepare a polycarbonate greenhouse for winter

Preparing a polycarbonate greenhouse for winter is carried out in the same order as the autumn treatment of a glass greenhouse. The only difference in technology is the method of washing and disinfecting transparent elements.

Cellular polycarbonate is a very durable polymer that can withstand impacts that would shatter tempered glass. But compared to the latter, it has significantly lower hardness and resistance to aggressive chemicals.

Polycarbonate greenhouse in winter

The polycarbonate coating is easily scratched and becomes cloudy from contact with alkalis. It should not be washed with wire wool, a piece of burlap, a stiff brush, washing powder, abrasive cleaners, or dishwashing or glass washing liquids.

Polycarbonate sheets are cleaned with a stream of clean water supplied from a mini-high-pressure washer, and stubborn stains are wiped off with a flannel rag or a soft sponge soaked in thick soap suds. Such elements are disinfected with a rich pink solution of potassium permanganate.

Polycarbonate greenhouse repair

Video: preparing greenhouses for winter

Cultivating vegetable crops indoors significantly shortens the harvest time, and in the northern regions it is the only way to grow most types of garden products. In order for the money spent on the construction of a greenhouse to be justified, it must function properly for many years.

Ensuring the integrity and “operability” of the greenhouse is possible only through careful and constant care. Annual pre-winter treatment of the greenhouse structure guarantees its long-term safety and successful operation in the next season.

Video: what to do with a greenhouse for the winter