Growing Tomatoes In The Greenhouse And Polytunnel
Tomatoes are real sun children. They are best grown on a sunny house wall, in a tomato house or greenhouse. Find out more here.
Tomatoes love the warmth and therefore protected locations such as warm house walls or places under protruding roofs are very suitable. If you have the luxury of still having a free spot for a greenhouse in the garden, you should seriously consider purchasing it. We explain the advantages of a greenhouse for tomatoes and what to look out for when growing them.
Advantages of growing tomatoes in the greenhouse
For example, tomatoes can be planted in the greenhouse as early as the end of April (about two weeks before the ice saints). The advantages are obvious: the plants not only grow faster but also longer and can produce more tasty tomatoes. The harvest time in the greenhouse does not end until the end of October. Another advantage is the protected environment.
Cold and strong winds cannot harm the tomatoes and even long periods of rain do not cause late blight or brown rot. However, there are a few things to consider for successful cultivation in the greenhouse as well. On the one hand, quality must be paid attention to when buying. This also includes height. Because the tomato house is too low, warm and humid air will collect above it. Thus, the brown rot on the upper tomato shoots has an easy time and as a result, spreads quickly to the part of the plant below.
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To avoid this, the greenhouse should not only have a sufficient height, but also some ventilation options. Tomatoes don’t like it too hot anyway. Plants tolerate temperatures above 35 ° C only poorly. In the best-case scenario, you ensure constant temperatures between 20 and 30 ° C, because that’s how the tomato likes it best. This includes ventilation during sunny days and closing the ventilation flaps during the night and on cooler rainy days.
Tying up tomatoes in a conventional greenhouse
Tomato varieties for the greenhouse
Not all tomatoes are suitable for greenhouse cultivation. On the one hand, some varieties do not tolerate the high temperatures well, which can sometimes lead to modest growth or bursting of the fruits. On the other hand, a problem with pollination can quickly arise in a sheltered greenhouse. Usually, the wind or insects cause the pollination of tomatoes in the field. If you buy seeds, you should always pay attention to whether the respective variety is suitable for cultivation in the greenhouse.
Not all tomato varieties tolerate the greenhouse climate well
In greenhouses, tomatoes are either tied on strings (a common method in commercial cultivation) or pulled up on long plant sticks (hazelnut or bamboo). It is important not to constrict the young shoots too much and thus damage them in the long term. Tomato plants in the greenhouse should be about 70cm apart, depending on the variety. The first harvest can be expected as early as June.
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Buying a greenhouse for tomatoes: what to look out for
When buying a greenhouse, you should focus on quality. If you don’t want to spend so much money on your hand, you can also make a construction with wood, foil, and Plexiglas. If you have some manual dexterity, the result is really more than impressive and is in direct competition with the professional tomato house.
