What temperature should be in a greenhouse for cucumbers and tomatoes?
Many people like to eat vegetables in winter, and experienced gardeners, in order not to go to the grocery store for shopping, prefer to grow vegetables on their own in winter greenhouses. One of the most popular products is cucumbers, which, thanks to the development of gardening technologies, can be grown even in harsh and cold winters. To do this, you need to properly equip the greenhouse, equip it with all the necessary materials at hand, carefully monitor the growth process of cucumbers and give them proper care.
General rules
Many vegetables, especially cucumbers, are heat-loving plants that, moreover, love abundant moisture. That is why you need to carefully prepare the winter greenhouse before planting this crop. The slightest change in temperature towards lower rates will inevitably affect the volume of the crop and its quality.
A greenhouse that involves the winter cultivation of vegetables must be heated in a certain way, for this it is necessary to insulate it and equip it with a heat supply system.
Better yields can only be achieved if certain requirements are met.
- Proper design of the greenhouse.Experienced gardeners advise not to use film when building a winter greenhouse, since it is not strong enough: during snowfalls, snow will accumulate on it, which, with its weight, can not only tear the film in a separate place, but also destroy the structure. For construction, it is better to use materials such as glass or polycarbonate.
- Adjustable humidity.
- High level of insolation and artificial lighting.
- Loose, slightly loose soil.
- The presence in the greenhouse of an integrated heating system for both soil and air.
The optimum temperature is at least 18 degrees, but it should not exceed 40, otherwise a drought will form in the room, which will harm the fruits.
The correct temperature
Vegetables such as cucumbers and tomatoes are quite finicky and require special cultivation conditions. That is why perfect conditions must be created in the greenhouse for cucumbers and tomatoes: not too dry air, a special temperature regime. It is better not to resort to the use of convectors, metal heaters and stoves, as well as oil heaters.
The best option would be to use a water heating system. It involves heating the soil through pipes laid in the ground and beds. This system will also heat the air with the help of special radiators, which must be placed around the entire perimeter of the winter greenhouse.
Next, we will tell you what temperature is optimal for tomatoes and cucumbers at different stages of their cultivation. We also note that these vegetables can be planted together, in the same greenhouse, since their cultivation methods are quite similar.
Landing
Before planting crops in a polycarbonate greenhouse, you need to prepare several beds in advance and build a supply and exhaust ventilation system. This is important because excessive heat and dry air will not promote seedling growth. Therefore, it is better to stick to an average temperature of 18-21 degrees. However, during the cultivation of tomatoes, it is necessary to ventilate the room often, since this crop prefers fresh air and a ventilated room.
Based on this, beds with tomatoes are best located near doors and windows.
It is impossible to observe the temperature regime if there is no thermometer in the greenhouse. If monitoring and controlling the temperature in the greenhouse is difficult, it is necessary to install special transoms on automatic control. As the room temperature rises, the ventilation windows will open wider and wider to help ventilate the greenhouse.
During the flowering period
Crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers, although they have a similar cultivation method, are still excellent in care. For example, during the growing period, tomatoes prefer a temperature regime ranging from 21 to 26 degrees. Since polycarbonate greenhouses heat up very quickly, the temperature in them rises just as rapidly, so you need to carefully monitor the thermometer bar.
If you allow the temperature to rise to 30 degrees and above, then this will negatively affect the health of the fruit.
Regarding cucumbers, we note that they grow and bloom best in temperatures above 25 degrees. However, it should be said that it is impossible to produce a sharp increase in temperature, since this can be just as detrimental to plants as cold.For this reason, many experienced farmers gradually raise the degree of heating in the greenhouse. They do this in 3-4 steps to allow the plants to get used to the new temperature conditions.
If there is a question about growing cucumbers and tomatoes in the same greenhouse, then you need to choose the temperature that will be optimal for both types of crops. In particular, experts advise keeping the thermometer at around 25. The best night temperature is 19-20 degrees. It is at such temperature characteristics that the optimal humidity will be set - about 68-72%.
Despite the fact that cucumbers feel comfortable in high humidity, it should not be brought to extremely high levels, since this situation threatens the appearance of a greenhouse effect, which will cause many diseases in the fruits of this crop. For example, the fruits can rot, growth slows down significantly, the ovaries become brittle, fragile and disintegrate, and the fruits themselves turn out to be unpleasant in taste.
In order to reduce the amount of water used during irrigation, experienced summer residents advise mulching the soil with straw or peat, sometimes rotten sawdust is also suitable for this role.
During fruiting
The temperature conditions for caring for crops during their fruiting do not change significantly - they are also 25-26 degrees. At this stage, it is important to remember that the soil for cucumbers must be sufficiently moist - for this, professional farmers use a drip irrigation system. It allows you to water vegetables with settled warm water, which moistens the soil by about ten centimeters.
After the crop begins to appear, it is necessary to produce a constant collection of fruits.
It is best to harvest tomatoes and cucumbers every day, since an unharvested crop can adversely affect the formation of a new one. For example, a cucumber left in the garden significantly slows down the formation of a new cucumber and the setting of the next fruit.
Usually harvesting is carried out in the morning or in the evening, it is best to do this process after watering the vegetables. At the same time, it is necessary to control the temperature: make sure that there are no sudden changes in the heating mode of the greenhouse, and also, in case of weather changes, regulate the temperature to the correct level.
If you follow these simple recommendations, you can enjoy the harvest of cucumbers and tomatoes all year round, which will always appeal to lovers of salads and homemade preparations. In order to increase the period of active fruiting, it is recommended to plant cucumbers and tomatoes "in batches", in several stages - this will allow you to renew plantings and get a crop all year round, even in the cold winter months.
However, it is important to control the temperature conditions in the greenhouse in order to ensure good growth of the grown crops. As we noted above, each stage has its own temperature limits.
When do plants freeze?
Critically low readings on the thermometer are very dangerous for the growth and vital activity of heat-loving plants: they simply cannot withstand the cold.
The minimum allowable soil temperature during planting should not fall below 5-7 degrees, otherwise the crop dies. Culture growth stops at 10 degrees, it is almost impossible to restore it. Ovaries cannot form at 17-20 degrees, as well as above 33-35, so not only low temperatures are dangerous, but also high ones.However, frozen plants in cold climates are a much more common problem for gardeners in our latitudes.
In order to avoid it, it is necessary to carefully equip the greenhouse and carefully monitor the weather changes, creating the most favorable conditions for the plants to grow and develop.
See below for tips on the right temperature in a greenhouse.