Guidelines for soil preparation and improvement in greenhouse conditions

As a soil scientist, I always pay close attention to the condition of the soil wherever I am. And I can share with you my conclusions based on observations of various protected ground: practically no one pays due attention to their soil.

People are ready to fuss over minor things, but when it comes to the most important thing, for the majority "any soil will do, even just peat." Growing tomatoes like that on peat with additives of various minerals? Well, well... There are a number of gross mistakes in working with soil, and most gardeners commit almost all of them. What should one avoid when preparing for soil fertility and what is worth paying attention to?

But let’s start in order, from the very beginning.

During assembly, the soil around the greenhouse and inside it ended up being trampled. A careful grower, no doubt, laid down boards everywhere in advance and didn’t trample anything, but try making workers not step on the planting areas! In short, I will proceed from the fact: the soil everywhere has been trampled and now it needs to be thoroughly dug up and loosened. And for the effort to be more beneficial, decide immediately what fertilizer to apply during digging.

In principle, if you are already an expert in the art of soil fertility, you have everything fertilized in advance on your plot, and the soil in the greenhouse can be of the exact same quality in terms of soil fertility as in the open-field beds.

Soil Requirements

The soil must be deacidified (i.e., not acidic), highly nutritious down to the last micronutrient, and free from weeds with root secretions that suppress growth. And loose, well-structured, of course. For this, it may be sufficient to just dig in compost or manure humus in an amount of 1–2 buckets per square meter.

There is also one more requirement for soil fertility, so to speak, "by contradiction": the soil should not contain anything poisonous or harmful, otherwise this factor negates high doses of fertilizer, irrigation, and a favorable pH level. Their source is mineral fertilizers, household waste, and pesticides.

Attention. Many mineral fertilizers contain small amounts of harmful impurities that accumulate over the years and poison plants. Just one example is fluorine, which gets into the beds during the constant application of superphosphate and other fertilizers based on it.

In such a case, the owner will never find the true cause of their plants' weakness, which become susceptible to disease at the slightest violation of agricultural practices. I repeat, this is just one example; there are many such elements: copper, chlorine, cadmium...

A typical example is the entry of impurities from paint. At one time, it was common to build greenhouses from old window frames. As it flakes off, zinc white leads to an excessive concentration of zinc in the soil. Lead white or mercury cinnabar are even worse. Burning old painted furniture, doors, or baseboards is a risky business. In general, keep industrial household waste in the form of construction powders, solvents, oils, etc., to a minimum. All this must be strictly removed from the site.

Peculiarities of preparing nutritious soil in greenhouses

But generally, in a greenhouse, it is desirable to have more nutritious soil than in the vegetable garden. After all, under conditions of increased heat and irrigation, plants can create three times as much biomass and take in two to three times more nutrients from the soil per growing season.

Moreover, the concentration of nutrients needs to be increased mainly at the expense of organic matter and only slightly at the expense of ash and humates with a complete composition of micronutrients (I confirm that I do not consider micronutrient additives as "chemicals," as this is a truly minuscule additive compared to other fertilizers, a more reliable safeguard: after all, compost and ash are rich in those same micronutrients).

Rules for applying organic fertilizers

Compost or humus and even poultry manure, when mixed evenly with the soil, can be applied in large quantities and, if possible, in advance, in the autumn or early spring, so that the soil absorbs the fertilizer and it does not burn the roots. And do not fear, the fruits will not become nitrate-rich.