Greenhouse Soil

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

A number of features of growing plants in a greenhouse have their own requirements for the soil. Vegetables, herbs, flowers grow more intensively in the greenhouse, therefore, they consume soil reserves faster, depleting the nutrient value of the soil. More frequent watering than for open field plants causes soil compaction and waterlogging. How to choose the right soil in order to avoid problems when growing crops in greenhouses as much as possible?

Greenhouse soil composition

The composition of the greenhouse soil depends on the nutrient requirements of a particular vegetable crop. The soil can be: field, turf or leaf land; peat or peat compost; humus; sawdust or bark; sand, or a mixture of several of the listed components.

For example, for cucumbers, 60 percent of the soil should consist of humus, low-lying peat, sod or field land, sawdust.

For a tomato, 60 to 90 percent of the soil is field land. Humus is sufficient for no more than 30 percent and 10 percent is sand.

Cooking turf land

To prepare the sod land on your own, they remove a 10-centimeter layer of sod in unclaimed areas, or in an open field, and arrange a puff pile in the likeness of pastry cakes, only more impressive in size. To do this, a 2 cm layer of manure is added between two layers of turf. The turf can be replaced with soil on which beans, beans or peas were grown, enriching the soil with nitrogen with their roots. In order for the sod to decompose as quickly as possible, the puff pile should be periodically watered with water or slurry and shoveled.

Cooking leafy ground

It is prepared similarly to sod land, only instead of turf, they take the leaves of ornamental or fruit shrubs and trees and layer them with manure. The land is ready for use in 1-2 years.

Humus

Natural organic decomposition product of manure is the most nutritious component of soil mixtures. You can buy ready-made humus, prepare it yourself, or use the decomposed manure, which was used to heat the greenhouse last year.

Sawdust

Adding sawdust helps keep the soil loose after watering. In addition, coniferous sawdust, due to its phytoncidal abilities, disarms pathogens that provoke root decay. We just need to remember to increase the doses of nitrogen fertilizers when feeding plants.

Sand

Mixing with humus and peat, sand makes the soil more permeable and loose, does not allow the creation of stagnant water, harmful to the roots.

Peat

Using only one peat in a greenhouse is undesirable. In the closed conditions of the greenhouse, the peat soil within 2-3 years, due to the introduction of mineral fertilizers, turns into mineralized peat, which, when waterlogged, prevents the flow of oxygen to the roots, disrupting the nutrition process. Overdried peat is very difficult to moisten.

Drainage cushion device

Waterlogging is a dangerous enemy of most plants. To avoid waterlogging of the soil in the greenhouse, drainage cushions from dry branches, gravel, crushed stone, and coarse sand must be arranged.

The service life of the soil in the greenhouse

If biofuel is not used in the greenhouse, then the greenhouse soil can serve in good faith for 3-4 years without replacement. To increase its nutritional reserves, it is only necessary to add a 6-8 cm layer of humus, sawdust and peat annually.

If bio-heating is used in the greenhouse, then the soil is changed annually. Plants of open ground will be grateful to such soil with burnt out biofuel.