Tropical plants need special conditions such as high temperature, sufficient humidity and lots of light to grow and bear fruit. By building a tropical greenhouse, you can grow tropical plants.

For several years, the showcase of fruit shops has become more diverse, and in many of these shops we see tropical products next to native fruits of Iran.
The high desire of people to buy these fruits has caused some creative and interested people to cultivate these products inside the country in addition to importing examples such as pineapple, banana, mango, passion fruit, etc.

But under what conditions and in what areas is it possible to grow these products and what are their advantages? So, stay with us until the end of this article to learn about the principles of tropical greenhouse construction and the conditions for growing these fruits.

What is a tropical greenhouse?

Tropical plants need special conditions for growth and fruiting, which prevail only in the tropical part of the globe. High temperature, sufficient humidity and high light are the factors required for the cultivation of these plants.
Due to the shortness of the summer season in our country and the low air humidity, it is not possible to grow fruits such as bananas, coconuts, pineapples, etc., except in the few southern regions.

On the other hand, the import of these fruits has increased their prices in the market with the exchange rate. But despite their high price, due to their different taste, medicinal properties and many benefits, their demand is increasing.
Those interested can grow many tropical fruits in Iran by building a tropical greenhouse that can control the amount of heat, humidity and soil type, and in this way achieve high profitability.

Advantages and disadvantages of setting up a tropical greenhouse

It may seem like a simple task to build a tropical greenhouse like other greenhouses, but growing tropical plants has advantages, disadvantages and challenges as follows:

The main advantage of this work is the high price of the fruits and the significant profit that is ultimately earned by the grower.
Another strength of the construction of tropical greenhouses is the low maintenance after creating the initial conditions.
High efficiency and productivity are also considered as other advantages of setting up a tropical greenhouse.
Among the disadvantages of this work, we can mention the high density of products and the possibility of growing fewer branches in a small space.
The cost of preparing this type of greenhouse in cold and dry areas is high.
One of the most important challenges in growing tropical crops is the irradiation of at least 6 hours of direct light to the growing plants.
Growing conditions of tropical fruits

The people of our country first recognized tropical products with bananas, coconuts, and pineapples, but these days, the market demand for more diverse fruits such as jackfruit, mango, passion fruit, papaya, avocado, etc. has flourished.

The construction of a tropical greenhouse does not necessarily require a very large area of ​​land, and people can prepare the environment for growing tropical fruits according to the amount of budget, available land, manpower and the amount of demand.
But some of these fruits need a large enough space to grow; Therefore, building a home and small greenhouse is not cost effective for them.

The greenhouse cultivation conditions of some of these products are as follows:

Pineapple

Pineapple is a popular tropical fruit that has many medicinal properties, that's why its demand market is always hot.
The time for the initial seed of this plant to bear fruit is a little long and needs at least 18 months, but after the first harvest, the fruiting intervals will also be shorter.

The general conditions of growing pineapple in the greenhouse are:

Drained soil
Acidic and sandy soil with sufficient organic matter
The temperature is 25 to 27 degrees Celsius
Too much light

Note that during the flowering time of the pineapple plant, the need for light will be much higher. So, if the canopy of the greenhouse prevents the required light from reaching, they should provide suitable conditions by removing the canopy to prevent the pineapple from leaking.

the banana

Unlike pineapple, which is a bush fruit, banana fruit grows on tall trees. Therefore, the height of the roof of the greenhouse is at least 6 meters, one of the basic conditions for growing this fruit.
The banana tree grows at a temperature above 22°C, but bears fruit at a temperature of 28-32°C.

Banana is one of those plants that likes moisture a lot, so the humidity level in the greenhouse for its cultivation should not be less than 60%. Also, having organic soil with proper drainage is one of the other conditions required for banana growth.

papaya

Papaya is another fruit that needs a tropical greenhouse to grow in Iran. Growing this plant is easier than bananas and a little more difficult than pineapples, and like both of them, it has a sensitive root that water accumulation around it will cause it to rot.
For this reason, proper drainage of light soil, which is rich in organic and mineral substances, is one of the main conditions for the cultivation of this fruit.

Papaya grows at an average temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, and the amount of moisture it needs is different in different periods of its growth. In other words, during the growth of the plant, the frequency and amount of watering should be high, but papaya needs dry soil with very low humidity during the fruiting season.

mango

Among other very popular tropical fruits among Iranian people, we can mention mango, which is normally a very tall tree. The height of the mango tree in normal tropical conditions sometimes reaches 40 meters, which makes it almost impossible to build a greenhouse with a suitable height for its growth.
For this reason, for the greenhouse cultivation of mango, they use its bush type, which sometimes reaches 3 meters in height.

The conditions for growing mango in the greenhouse include the following:

Soil with proper drainage
Too much light
Organic soil with 5.5 to 7% acidity
Temperature above 25 degrees

cactus

In general, cactus is the name of a plant species that has different types. Some examples of cactus are fruitful and give fruit if the conditions are available.
For example, dragon fruit and prickly pear are a kind of fruiting cactus. The growing conditions of all cacti in the greenhouse are almost similar to each other, which you can see in the list below:

Their roots are shallow, so they need a support or a scaffold.
Light and sandy soil with proper drainage and moderate organic matter is one of the conditions required for their bed.
The suitable temperature for their growth is 25-35 degrees Celsius, but they show little sensitivity to its decrease or increase.
They need almost high irrigation.
Long-term and high light is one of the other basic needs of this type of fruit.
Some examples of cactus, such as dragon fruit, need pollination by bees to bear fruit.