Greenhouse beds: layout and arrangement of vertical beds

Recommendation points

• What materials and tools will be needed
• How to make a vertical bed
• Ground requirements
• We plant seedlings
• How to care for plants in vertical beds
• Watering in vertical beds

When you grow vegetables in a greenhouse, you value every inch of space. But with the help of vertical beds, you can optimize the arrangement of seedlings and grow in them, for example, thermophilic berries in the middle of winter. Consider the use of vertical beds using the example of strawberries and strawberries in PVC pipes.

Even when all the necessary vegetables have already been planted in the greenhouse, vertical beds can be built to grow sweet thermophilic berries (strawberries or strawberries). Such structures will not take up much space, and if everything is calculated correctly, then there will be no special difficulties in growing them..

Strawberries and strawberries are climbing plants. Their stems need freedom, and the fibrous root system does not require much space. The main requirement of these plants is fertilized soil, warmth and daylight, and all these requirements are met by the conditions in a winter greenhouse..

What materials and tools will be needed

Vertical beds can be made on the basis of PVC pipes, which must be placed next to the crossbars for other plants. The finished structure should be fixed securely. If there is no suitable support in the greenhouse, then you need to dig in metal pipes or concrete posts – we will attach the pipes to them..

So, we need:

• PVC pipe (Ø 150 mm);
• smaller tube for watering inside the tube;
• drill;
• saw.

How to make a vertical bed

When you decide on the place for the original beds and their height, you can start making and installing the beds.

We cut off the pipe-beds and pipes of a smaller diameter for irrigation according to the size. The latter will be located inside a large pipe, it will be necessary to connect a drip irrigation system to them, so they should be 10-15 cm longer than the main pipe. This depends on the location of the pipes, respectively, the height of the greenhouse.

We make holes in the pipe for plants. You can do them in a checkerboard pattern along the entire pipe at a distance of 20 cm from each other, with a diameter of about 5-8 cm.

Attention:when planning holes for seedlings, you should take into account the location of fluorescent lamps. When the flowering and fruiting period begins, the plants need light. If the lamps are located in the center of the greenhouse, then the plants should also be in the illuminated area..

Important: you should not make holes at a distance of 10-15 cm from the floor, so that the berries do not subsequently spread along the greenhouse aisle.

In the upper part of the irrigation pipe we make holes through which water will flow into the structure. Water will come out only from there and be evenly distributed throughout the pipe.

Question:why irrigation holes are made only in the upper part of the pipe?

Answer:if you make holes at the bottom, then only the lower part of the structure will be moistened under water pressure.

To prevent the soil in the garden from being destroyed during watering, wrap the tube with a coarse cloth that absorbs and passes moisture well (burlap, gauze, etc.) and fix it with a strong thread.

The lower part of both pipes should be soldered, but in the large one you need to make several small holes to drain the water. We firmly install ready-made structures (empty) and fix them.

At the very bottom of the future bed, we pour some pebbles or rubble for drainage. After that, you can fill the beds with pre-prepared, fertilized soil, connect the irrigation hose to the upper tube, and thoroughly moisten the soil. More about drip irrigation in the greenhouse is described in the previous article.

The installation is the same, only we will connect the irrigation hoses along the top of our bed pipes.

Ground requirements

The land for vertical beds can be taken from that part of the garden that has already rested from planting, for example, where the onion was planted. It was harvested before the rest of the vegetables and the site “steamed” for some time. Mix the soil with the compost: for 2 buckets of soil – 1 bucket of compost or rotted manure + potassium salt and urea (20 g), superphosphate (40 g).

Attention: fresh manure cannot be used!

After the first watering, the soil in the structure will settle down a little. We fill the pipes with the missing soil to the very top, after which you can start planting seedlings.

How to choose a suitable variety of strawberries (strawberries) and grow seedlings can be found in more detail in our article. You can take seedlings just from the beds if there are strawberry seedlings on the site.

We plant seedlings

Plant one plant in each hole. The root system must be dipped in clay slurry, this will allow the root system to quickly adapt to the new soil. Next, insert the seedlings into the hole in the pipe and press with an additional lump of earth.

Attention: since later we will not be able to cultivate the soil as in an open bed, we should limit ourselves to planting one plant in one hole.

How to care for plants in vertical beds

We have already provided all the nutrients necessary for plant growth, so chemical fertilizing will not be required for the first two years. The microbial environment develops well in closed soil. It will perfectly cope with pathogens, improve nutrition and air exchange in the soil.

Watering in vertical beds

You should know that strawberries and strawberries love moisture, and at the same time, they do not tolerate waterlogging. Therefore, it should be watered once every 2-3 days, depending on the drying time. The temperature of the irrigation water, as in any greenhouse, must correspond to the temperature of the soil. We described this in more detail in the article on winter growing vegetables in a greenhouse..

Vertical beds in your greenhouse will not only allow you to enjoy fresh berries in winter, but will also give an original look to the room..