We build a greenhouse for tomatoes

Home-made structures on the land will provide protection from the wind or rain to bushes of tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage and other crops that grow better under shelter. Do-it-yourself frames save time on maintenance and money for buying ready-made systems. The greenhouse for tomatoes is used during the cultivation of seedlings and bushes of different varieties.

We build a greenhouse for tomatoes

Characteristics of the greenhouse

Help shelter from p temperature changes – especially in regions where the land freezes during the warmer months at night.

If a purchased version of such a system is expensive, then a home-made design is an advantageous solution for large and small land plots.

The greenhouse for tomatoes can be built in a form convenient for the gardener: you will not have to install unnecessary structures or pick up systems for the size of the land.

The design of the greenhouse for tomatoes is built taking into account certain characteristics:

• temperature regime – the greenhouse is a protected and warm shelter in which the temperature is constant;
• soil, which located in the greenhouse, it must have time to warm up;
• reliable structures are used that will not suffer from strong winds, rain or a lot of snow;
• for cold regions, additional lighting and heating are installed in the greenhouse.

In most cases, the greenhouse is a box with -term metal frame. The box with the harness is made of brick or wood, if possible, the frame is made of reinforced concrete parts. The optimal height of the greenhouse is 1 m (you can make the greenhouse higher, but in this case you need additional heating).

For additional heating of a home-made structure, biofuel is needed. For better stability and heat preservation, the bottom of the structure is made of concrete (the main foundation). Under the foundation, a brick or other durable building material is selected. There are no doors in the greenhouse, only removable blocks or walls (so as not to release excess heat). Use a greenhouse for seedlings (closer to summer seedlings are planted on open ground) or for growing garden crops in winter.

Tatyana Orlova (Candidate of Agricultural Sciences):

There are 2 terms that describe the shelter of a protected ground: a greenhouse and a greenhouse. These are two different A greenhouse is a structure in which work is carried out from the outside, that is, it is impossible to enter the greenhouse. It is a box (buried or above ground), covered with a film or glass frame on top. For work in the greenhouse, the frame is removed or opened. The greenhouse is a different room in size from small 2 x 2 m, to industrial, with an area of ​​400 500 square meters.In the greenhouse, you can grow only seedlings and small crops tours: radish, salad, onion, etc.

What design to choose

Do-it-yourself greenhouse lasts several years – it maintains an optimal constant temperature. The greenhouse should be convenient for the gardener: if the greenhouse is too low or narrow, it will not be possible to fertilize the soil and remove damaged parts of the plant. Shelter is made of plastic film for tomatoes. This is a cheap material that lasts no more than 2-3 years. It is easy to buy and pull on the frame.

The second type of material for sheltering tomatoes is glass. Such material helps in creating the right microclimate inside the structure and it transmits natural light, which is useful for growing seedlings. Use polycarbonate for perennial shelters: reliable and strong polycarbonate is suitable for the construction of large multi-layer structures.

Tatyana Orlova (candidate of agricultural sciences):

Glass is more durable, but it almost does not pass ultraviolet, while polyvinyl chloride film allows up to 80% . Sugar, vitamins and aromatic substances in tomatoes are produced under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. Probably noticed that the southern fruits, where the sun is most sweet, fragrant and delicious? And remember the taste of tomato fruits, which are supplied from industrial glass greenhouses. They are such, not because the variety is greenhouse, but because they are grown under glass.

A kind of home-made construction

The basis of any greenhouse is the frame. The size of the frame determines the role of the greenhouse: if temporary shelter is needed, simple small structures are used that cover the tomato bush.

For long-term use, high systems are built in which a person can monitor the condition of the bushes. Popular models of home-made systems: houses, arcuate, triangular. There are several types of hotbeds depending on their service life — temporary or permanent systems.

Tatyana Orlova (Ph.D. S.-kh.Sciences):

It is correct to call such greenhouse options: single-pitched, gable, arched, block.

Complete set of a frame greenhouse for tomatoes

Greenhouses for tomatoes from frames – this is the best option. A reliable system allows you to plant seedlings in winter and germinate it before the heat arrives. The frame system is suitable for adult bushes that need extra heat.

Removable frames allow you to adjust the temperature inside

In operation, the frame system is simple – it is easy to clean and ventilate. If necessary, individual parts of the structure are replaced. Not only temperature is regulated inside the greenhouse, but also air humidity, which affects the growth rate of seedlings and the spread of fungal diseases dangerous for tomatoes.

What you need

To protect tomato bushes simple materials are used that are not expensive. Installation work takes no more than 1-2 days, which simplifies the process of sheltering seedlings or weakened bushes.

Materials for the greenhouse:

• boards (wooden beams);
• bricks (for the construction of the foundation);
• self-tapping screws;
• frames of the same size.

Before harvesting materials, you need to understand the dimensions of the greenhouse.Tomato bushes need free space, otherwise it will not work to harvest a good crop. Before installation, the main characteristics of the frame structure are taken into account: frames of the same length and width are selected to combine and correct the structure if there is not enough space for the bushes. You can’t make such a greenhouse too high (more than 2 m), otherwise it will be difficult to regulate the humidity and the amount of heat inside the shelter.

Installation work

After preparing the materials, the greenhouse is assembled . At the first stage of installation work, the dimensions of the boards and beams are adjusted to the dimensions of the future greenhouse. For added protection, wooden parts are coated with mastic. Then the foundation is lined – bricks are installed and fastened together. Bars are placed on top of the bricks. Using self-tapping screws, the bars and the base of the frames are connected. An important condition for proper installation work: there should be a small gap between the boards and the bars (smaller than the frame size) to make the structure more reliable.

Outside the structure, the vertical boards are attached to additional boards (the top of the horizontal board should coincide with butt ends). Further, the boards attached to the base are lined up in the form of a house. This form of the greenhouse will allow water (inside and outside the structure) to drain and not stagnate. The last stage of installation work is fixing the frames.In the whole system, there remains one frame that must open: it will provide ventilation of the greenhouse and access to the bushes.

Metal greenhouse

To make a reliable do-it-yourself greenhouse for seedlings and bushes Tomato come in handy metal parts. As a frame, a corner or metal rods soldered to each other is used. Steel pipes that remain after construction are useful – they also serve as a solid foundation. They make 2 types of metal greenhouses: collapsible and solid.

Polycarbonate or a thick film is used to cover a structure with a metal base. The choice of material depends on the ambient temperature. The robust construction allows you to protect crops from sudden changes in temperature, from bad weather and frequent rains, but it is expensive (replacing individual parts will cost a lot).

Wooden greenhouse

It’s not very difficult to make a greenhouse

Wooden lattices are used as a shelter for tomatoes . This is a removable and simple design, for the construction of which it will not take much time. A wooden greenhouse does not have a base – unlike frame systems, it does not have a foundation of bricks or metal inserts. To make a simple greenhouse with your own hands, a number of wooden lattices are used, fastened together.

This type of construction can be combined with other removable greenhouses. As the seedlings grow, a wooden grill protects it from low ambient temperatures. If the temperature drops sharply, this design is suitable for temporary shelter. The reliability of wooden greenhouses is inferior to frame systems.

Arc-shaped greenhouse

An arc-shaped system for seedlings is used if cold spring is issued. This is a low design, which consists of several parts – for convenience in caring for tomato bushes. Parts of the tomato protection system can be replaced during operation (as it deteriorates or breaks).

To make your own arc-shaped greenhouse you will need:

• arcs (long thin pipes);
• film (polyethylene or translucent tarpaulin).

This is a structure stretched for shelter material that protects healthy bushes. The first thing to do is pull the arcs (make a solid base), and install a film on top that fastens on the sides. You can fix polyethylene from all sides using ordinary bricks. Using this design, it is possible to monitor the state of seedlings or adult bushes.

An arc construction is used with a distance between the parts of at least 0.5 m in cases where you need to insulate weak seedlings. It provides the right microclimate under cover. For adult bushes, arcs are closer.To give the arcs the desired shape, slats are used. Using the supports you can adjust the height and width of the shelter.