Greenhouse Growing For Tomato Plants
There are a couple of ways for approaching tomato growing in a greenhouse, you can either dig and prepare the soil of the greenhouse ready to accept the tomato plants or you can grow the plants in a container such as a plant pot (12″ diameter) or grow bag.
Realistically most grow bags that are available, which can be 35 or 40 liters in size, are only enough to support two plants. There are ways in which you can push this out to 3 plants but for the cost of a grow bag its probably as well just to stick to 2 plants, particularly if you take good care of them and they produce lots of fruit.
If you go for pots then you should sterilize them before use, to do this you can use a dilute solution of a suitable disinfectant, something like Jeyes fluid is perfect for this task.
While we are on this subject, you really should wipe down the inside of your greenhouse with disinfectant as well to ensure any residual contaminants that could also cause disease are removed from the glass.
One of the reasons I am suggesting using large pots or grow bags for growing tomato plants is because the soil in the greenhouse is going to need to be dug out and replaced every 2 or 3 years to ensure that you get rid of any build up of disease and also because the soil will be pretty much spent in terms of nutrients. So using pots or grow bags gives you a less risky fresh start each year.
Space is limited in a greenhouse so the best option for plant varieties is to use the indeterminate variety of tomato plant i.e. a vine plant. You can prune the plant to the required size, leaving about 4 to 6 trusses on the main stem. This is about 6′ to 7′ in height, assuming your greenhouse is at least large enough to accommodate plants of that size. This will also give you lots of fruit over an extended period. You will have to pinch out the main stem when you have enough trusses to stop further growth.
You could use the bush variety but you will probably find this is less convenient for greenhouses because they, as the name suggests, form a determinant size of bush without pruning which typically is a little too large in diameter for the average greenhouse and wastes the vertical space. The fruit also has a tendency to all come at once.
Irrespective of the growing method you choose, you should start to feed the tomatoes at the first sign of fruit and for the duration of the growing period, twice a week should be sufficient. Also as you are in a greenhouse regular and consistent watering is very important and I recommend 2 to 3 times a day. Ideally with water that has been allowed to warm in the greenhouse.
As the end of the season nears a way of helping the last remaining fruit ripen is to hang a couple of bananas in the apex of the greenhouse. If that fails to ripen the last bit of fruit you can always use the green tomatoes for making a delicious chutney.
You will find all the information you need for producing perfect home grown tomatoes when you visit Good Tomato Growing. Includes plant selection, soil preparation and ongoing tomato care.
Visit Micro Irrigation Water Systems for an effective way to water your tomatoes.