Tomatoes like a sunny and rather cool location. Cucumbers prefer a tropical, humid and warm climate. The question arises whether both types of vegetables harmonize with each other in the same greenhouse? We explain how the gardening feat succeeds.
Minimum requirements for the suitable greenhouse
In order for the cultivation of tomatoes and cucumbers under one roof to have any chance of success, the greenhouse should be designed like this:
- Floor area from 8 to 12 square meters
- Standing wall higher than 1.50 meters
- Width greater than 1.90 meters
- Roof covering made of hollow chamber panels
- at least two ventilation windows in the roof
- a door at least 80 cm wide to fit a wheelbarrow
The windows should make up 10 percent or more of the total roof and wall area. Otherwise, under the sun's rays, the summer temperature will rise to 50 degrees Celsius and higher, which means the end at least for your tomato cultivation.
Division into two climate zones
Lay out the bed for the tomato plants on the sunny side of the greenhouse. To ensure that the deep-rooted plants thrive, loosen the soil two spades deep. Flushing the soil with horsetail broth prevents fungal infections. This is followed by a generous portion of compost and horn shavings (€32.93) so that the heavy eaters find enough food. If the pH is below 6, lime is also used.
On the side facing away from the sun, create a manure heater in the ground for the cucumbers. The bed is dug two spade lengths deep. The pit is filled with a mixture of compost, manure and straw. Plan on 5 to 8 kilos per plant. Garden soil is spread over it. As the straw rots, the heat required for successful cucumber cultivation develops.
In order to effectively separate the two climate zones from each other, the craftsman in the gardener is a bit challenged. With the help of roof battens, greenhouse film (€15.90) and a stapler, construct a partition wall that is hung on the struts of the greenhouse.
tips and tricks
The constant opening and closing of the ventilation windows saves automatic window openers. These little miracles of technology work entirely without electricity. You set the desired opening and closing times, and the window opener takes care of everything else completely independently. The mechanism can also be retrofitted.