Autumn preparation of the greenhouse for the next season

Recommendation points

• Cleaning inside the greenhouse
• Greenhouse disinfection
• Wet processing
• Dry processing
• Maintenance of the outside and frame of the greenhouse
• Soil cultivation in a polycarbonate or glass greenhouse
• Tillage in a greenhouse opened for the winter

If the greenhouse pleased with the harvest all summer, then in the fall, before the winter planting, it needs to “rest” and get the necessary mineral and organic fertilizers. Let’s talk today about when and how to prepare the greenhouse for winter: cleaning and disinfection in the room, fertilizing the soil, strengthening and caring for the frame.

Preparing your greenhouse for winter should be given as much attention as growing vegetables. Even if this year’s harvest has surpassed all expectations, improperly prepared, it can be disappointing in the next season. Therefore, before the first snow covers the ground, we begin to prepare the greenhouse for spring. And if your plans include getting the first harvest for the New Year holidays, then you should not wait for the cold weather: September is the best time for general cleaning in the greenhouse.

Cleaning inside the greenhouse

The first step is to remove any remaining vegetation. Do not hope that it rotted over the winter will be an excellent fertilizer. It is in it that pathogens of all kinds of diseases, especially dangerous for young seedlings, remain to winter. They should also not be thrown into the compost pit. Only burn! The same goes for the twine that held the plants and shelves. Empty barrels of water, irrigation hoses, wash and dry.

Wash greenhouse walls, shelves, racks and partitions between the beds. Wooden ones need to be dried in the autumn sun. When disinfecting the room, garden tools and all auxiliary parts of the structure must be inside.

Moss and lichens can “hide” in a timber frame. After washing, they must be treated with copper sulfate. After drying, the room is disinfected..

Greenhouse disinfection

There are two ways to disinfect a room..

Wet processing

First, we process all the washed parts of the structure with a solution of bleach. Then we spray the walls and soil with this solution. The proportion of bleach and water: 400 g per 10 liters, leave for 3 hours. Also, processing can be done with freshly slaked lime, 40% formalin or Vitavax preparation, while observing safety measures. The drug is toxic!

Dry processing

Fumigation of premises with sulfur dioxide.

Checkers must be laid out on iron “trays” or stones along the entire length of the room, set on fire and close the greenhouse for 5-7 days. The recommended proportion is 50 g of sulfur per 1 sq. m.But if a spider mite was noticed during cleaning, the dose of sulfur should be increased.

You can use ready-made checkers “Green Belt”, “Fas” or “Climate”. During the time the greenhouse is gassed and sealed, ticks, fungi and other pathogens of infections and diseases will die.

Attention! If the greenhouse frame is made of unpainted metal, such processing is not recommended..

After a week, the room should be ventilated and the entire structure should be washed again with detergents. After that, you can start preparing the soil for the next season..

If the greenhouse cover is film and it is planned to grow vegetables in winter, the film should be removed after fumigation with sulfur, washed, dried, treated with copper sulfate and restored.

Maintenance of the outside and frame of the greenhouse

In addition to cleaning the area around the greenhouse, it should be washed outside with the same detergents. The dust that has collected over the summer will make it difficult to access light in winter, which is important for growing vegetables in the winter, despite the indoor lighting.

A large accumulation of snow can deform the structure, therefore it is necessary to put reliable supports (wooden blocks) from inside the greenhouse.

If there is a bear or moles in the garden, the greenhouse should be protected from their penetration. To do this, you need to dig in pieces of slate, stones or unnecessary plywood around the greenhouse per meter. As a rule, pests stumble upon an obstacle underground and bypass it.

Soil cultivation in a polycarbonate or glass greenhouse

Regardless of whether diseases and their pathogens are found in the soil, the top layer (5 cm) must be removed and removed from the greenhouse. It can be sent to a compost pit and used in a year as an excellent fertilizer.

Gardeners who grow vegetables in a greenhouse all year round need to have their own compost pit, but we’ll talk about this in the next article..

If the soil is contaminated, it should be spread over the winter with a thin layer for frostbite. All infectious agents will die and subsequently it can be used in the garden.

This year, the removed layer must be replaced with fresh soil, generously enriched with rotted compost, and the beds in the greenhouse must be dug up. After that, the loosened soil should be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or Bordeaux liquid. This serves to protect the soil against subsequent infection of plants with scab, gray rot, rust and other diseases..

In a month you can start using the greenhouse.

It is recommended to change the soil in the greenhouse once every 5 years. But winter use includes heating. And in a warm, humid climate, pathogens begin to actively develop, penetrating deeper than 5 cm of the surface layer (which is removed from the greenhouse in autumn). Therefore, it is advisable to renew the soil more often. If the greenhouse is empty in winter, the autumn digging of the lower layer is sufficient. Harmful microorganisms freeze out.

Tillage in a greenhouse opened for the winter

Many summer residents clean the greenhouse for the winter and install it in the spring. The film is processed and stored in a dry room, but the soil needs proper care.

It is processed in the same way as in a closed greenhouse, with the exception of some details. The loosened and fertilized soil should be covered with a layer of manure, and straw or hay from the grass cut in autumn should be laid on top of it. The straw must be pressed with a small layer of earth so that it does not scatter from the wind. Subsequently, it will be covered with snow, and the soil will be warm until spring.

Only through careful autumn processing of the greenhouse can you get a harvest in the cold season, while maintaining a healthy soil condition.