Care for zucchini in a greenhouse: how to grow with video

Greenhouses are widely used for early harvest of vegetables. Caring for zucchini in your own greenhouse is simple, and the result will please you not only with an abundance of harvest, but also with early ripening. Such fruits are distinguished by better taste than those grown in open ground.

Features

Zucchini is rarely grown in greenhouse conditions. They are perfectly adapted to temperature extremes and easily endure various natural disasters. But for a number of reasons, there is still a variant of cultivation of this plant in closed ground, namely:

the growing season is significantly reduced, the crop ripens several times faster;
significantly increased yields;
Zucchini grown indoors taste more tender;
early harvest is in high demand in the market;
under closed ground conditions, plants almost do not get sick, and the possibility of pest damage is minimized;
zucchini do not have special requirements for soil composition and temperature conditions, so their cultivation is inexpensive.

Squash varieties for greenhouses

For growing in a greenhouse, it is better to give preference to bush varieties of zucchini. You can plant ordinary ones, but they will take up more space. In addition, their yields are usually lower than bush ones.

Early ripening

When choosing a variety of zucchini for a greenhouse, gardeners try to plant plants with different ripening periods. The best early varieties are recognized:

Belukha;
Waterfall;
Zebra;
Moor;
Karam;
Aeronaut.

Each of them is endowed with its own advantages and disadvantages, as well as features. The choice should be made based on your own goals and capabilities.

Mid-ripening

Among the mid-season varieties of zucchini suitable for growing in a greenhouse, it is worth noting:

Quand;
Mini Zucchini;
Jade;
Gribovsky.

The latter is also widely used for outdoor cultivation. Each of these varieties of zucchini differs not only in appearance and taste, but also has certain growing characteristics.

Late-ripening

There are not so many late-ripening zucchini for the greenhouse. Basically, they will appeal to real gourmets and exotic lovers. The most common are:

Spaghetti Raviolo;
Nutty.

Self-pollinating varieties

Self-pollinated varieties of zucchini are of great value for greenhouse cultivation. Their advantage is that insect intervention is not required to obtain ovaries. The gardener does not have to invent tricks and devices in order to pollinate the flowers. Such varieties, as a rule, have the label F1, which indicates their belonging to hybrids. The most common are the following:

Kavili;
Iskander;
Parthenon;
Dry;
Sangroom;
Athena Polka;
Medusa;
Zucchini tree.

In addition to the possibility of self-pollination, these varieties of zucchini show increased resistance to the most common diseases.

Growing zucchini in a greenhouse

Growing zucchini in a greenhouse is easy and profitable. But for this, it is not enough to get acquainted with the characteristics of a particular variety, you also need to know what requirements are imposed on the structures themselves, the soil, and the features of caring for plants in greenhouse conditions.

What greenhouse do you need

Zucchini is an unpretentious plant that does not have to be cultivated in an expensive polycarbonate greenhouse.It can be made with your own hands from polyethylene and improvised materials for the frame. The height of the structure does not matter, but in order to make it convenient to take care of the plants and harvest, they make it in full human growth.

The passage between the rows of zucchini should be wide so as not to injure tender leaves when walking.

Greenhouse up to 50 square meters is enough to grow zucchini The crop harvested in this space is enough not only to satisfy personal needs, but also for sale. If you plan to grow zucchini in the winter, then a regular greenhouse will not be enough. You will have to build a good foundation, and make the coating from wooden glazed frames or polycarbonate. For good ventilation, vents must be provided.

Greenhouses for growing zucchini in winter are equipped with a heating system. For heating use:

electric boiler;
wood-fired oven;
household heater (only if the greenhouse is covered with plastic).

Expensive greenhouse options include an automatic drip irrigation system, as well as climate control.

Recently, greenhouses are increasingly using the so-called biofuel. As it is used any rotted manure, mixed in equal proportions with straw. For zucchini, this is especially useful, since it is not the ground part that warms up to a greater extent, but the roots of the plants.

Soil preparation

Zucchini love light and loose soil with a neutral level of acidity or low alkaline. To increase nutritional value and provide plants with all the necessary trace elements, wood ash or compost is added.

Organic fertilizers for zucchini are easily replaced with complex mineral fertilizers. The best option would be superphosphate. Do not use products that include chlorine, as it has a detrimental effect on zucchini.

How to prepare seedlings

For a greenhouse, zucchini is best grown in seedlings. So that the root system suffers as little as possible during picking, the seeds are sown in peat pots or tablets. Since the plants tolerate temperature changes well, sowing is carried out quite early, and if there is heating in the greenhouse, this can be done all year round. After the emergence of seedlings, watering is carried out as the top layer of soil dries. In pots, zucchini contain up to 25 days of age.

Planting seedlings

Zucchini seedlings are planted in unheated film greenhouses in late April - early May.If there is a desire to plant plants earlier and get an early harvest, then the soil must first be warmed up. Zucchini are seated at a distance of 70-80 cm from each other. The aisles are made wide, at least 1 meter.

Pollination

Pollination of zucchini is done both independently (self-pollinated varieties) and with the help of pollinating insects. In the latter case, it is necessary to ensure their access to the greenhouse, providing ventilation windows and using luring means.

Care

To maintain a normal level of soil moisture, it is recommended to mulch it. You can do this with hay or sawdust, or you can cover the ground with a special film in which holes are made in advance for squash bushes. Through them, in the future, zucchini will be watered.Shelter will also help provide the planted plants with the warmth they need to grow and develop.

Greenhouse needs regular ventilation. On warm spring and summer days, zucchini is left open as long as possible. Thanks to this, not only growth is accelerated, but also pollinating insects penetrate into the greenhouse. To entice them, zucchini is lightly sprinkled with sugar syrup.

To ensure good air circulation and light penetration, zucchini must be formed, i.e. remove bottom leaves. However, at the same time, at least 15 fully formed leaves should remain on each adult plant. It is especially necessary to do this procedure if the planting of zucchini is thickened.

Temperature conditions

Despite the resistance of plants to temperature changes, in order to obtain the best result, it is necessary to observe a certain temperature regime.The heat will not benefit the zucchini, because at night the most optimal temperature for them is +18 ° С, and during the day - +24 ° С. Humidity is maintained within 60-70%. With an increase in the recommended temperature, zucchini sheds the ovary, and with a decrease, they slow down in growth.

Irrigation

Watering zucchini in a greenhouse is enough to carry out once a week, but you should focus on drying the top layer of soil. It must not be allowed to crack. For irrigation, it is recommended to use soft, slightly warmed water to room temperature. Up to 1 bucket of water is consumed per bush.

Feeding

Feeding greenhouse zucchini is best done with organic fertilizers. Compost, humus, fermented grass, infusion of dioecious nettles are well suited. If there is no time and opportunity to prepare biofertilizers on your own, you can use the complex mineral purchased at a gardening store.You don’t need to get carried away with nitrogen supplements, because they lead to an excessive build-up of green mass and inhibit the formation of flowers and ovaries of zucchini.

Diseases and pests

The most dangerous diseases for zucchini are recognized:

powdery mildew;
root rot;
bacteriosis.

When bacteriosis, the embryos of zucchini stop developing, turn glassy and begin to rot. The causes of the disease are high humidity, violation of the rules of agricultural technology and irrigation with cold water.

With root rot, the roots of zucchini bushes turn yellow, cracks form on them, the stem collapses. Such a bush is doomed to death, there are very few chances to save it. Not only the roots rot, but also the root collar.The development of the disease is provoked by waterlogging of the soil and sharp fluctuations in temperature.

Of the pests of zucchini, most often they are affected by scoops and slugs. To combat them, both modern special-purpose drugs and folk remedies are used. It is recommended to sprinkle the soil around the bushes with wood ash, tooth powder or superphosphate. Some gardeners set up traps in the greenhouse.

Harvesting

Zucchini are harvested without waiting until they grow to large sizes. Fruits 20 cm long are considered ideal. They are delicate in taste, with a thin skin. A week before the expected collection of zucchini, they stop watering them. Thanks to this, their taste becomes not watery, but rich.

Fruit picking is carried out every other day, trying not to damage the bush. Otherwise, ovaries stop forming on it. They pick not only marketable squash, but also deformed ones.Overgrowths left on the bushes slow down the ripening of new fruits and reduce yields. The collection is carried out carefully, without damaging the skin. Otherwise, the shelf life is significantly reduced and the presentation of zucchini deteriorates.