Since cucumber cultivation is not possible in all seasons of the year and this fruit is in high demand by consumers, we will introduce you to the cost of building a cucumber greenhouse.

For many years, the cucumber of this product from the gourd family has entered the food basket of most people in the world, and the high demand for its purchase is not specific to a particular season. Since the growing conditions of this product are not possible in all seasons of the year and in any region, experts in the field of industrial agriculture have replaced the traditional models with the cucumber greenhouse cultivation method to meet the needs of the people.

In this article, we intend to provide you with information about the cost of building a cucumber greenhouse and other details. So stay with us until the end.

 

What is a greenhouse?

Greenhouses, which are also sometimes called green houses or greenhouses, are spaces under the ship that have transparent walls and a roof that are heat and cold insulated and retain the sun's energy. The purpose of creating such structures for agriculture is to provide suitable conditions for the growth of each plant with strict control over factors such as humidity, temperature, soil, etc.

The length and width of the greenhouse depends on various conditions such as the weather of the region, the type of soil and the size of the land, but its height is directly related to the length of the bush or tree being cultivated. The transparent or semi-transparent wall and roof of the greenhouse are usually made of plastic derivatives with different percentages, whose thickness and type are also affected by the climatic conditions of the region and the desired product.

What are the advantages of greenhouse cultivation?

It is obvious that the cost of building a greenhouse and providing suitable conditions for each plant is much more expensive than farming in the open space and in the traditional way. But the many advantages of this type of cultivation have caused many farmers to apply for the construction of a greenhouse.

The strengths of this type of agriculture are:

1. Removing the time limit

In normal and traditional cultivation, farmers have to wait for the right season to grow any crop. Because each plant needs a certain temperature and weather conditions to grow, which may prevail only in a few months of the year.

But the construction of the greenhouse and its temperature adjustment based on the suitable conditions for the growth of the desired plant have made it possible for farmers to grow summer crops regardless of time constraints and even in the winter season.

2. Removing the climatic restriction

Another benefit of building a greenhouse and growing crops in it is removing climatic restrictions and simulating the conditions of the region suitable for growing each crop.

With proper monitoring and control, farmers can keep the soil composition, temperature, humidity inside the greenhouse and the amount of carbon dioxide within the limits of the natural growth area of that plant. Having said that, it is even possible to plant tropical plants in the western foothills of the country.

3. Saving water consumption

It is interesting to know that almost 80% of the water consumed in our country is dedicated to the agricultural sector, especially traditional methods. With the construction of the greenhouse, a certain amount of moisture is always maintained in the air and soil needed by the plant, which, along with the use of suitable sensors to control the humidity, significantly save water consumption.

4. Stay safe from natural disasters

Natural disasters such as floods, storms, heat and cold waves, hail, etc. always cause a lot of damage to the agricultural sector and sometimes even cause the destruction of the entire crop. Creating metal or wooden structures and covering them with talc or compressed plastics reduces the risk of products being damaged by these things.

5. Pest control

Attacks of pests, including tiny organisms such as mites or insects such as grasshoppers, threaten a large part of agriculture in the open space every year. But by growing the product in a covered environment and with continuous monitoring, this risk is minimized.

6. Greater efficiency

The more suitable a product is in terms of climatic conditions, the higher its efficiency. For this reason, greenhouse trees and shrubs usually produce many times more fruit every year than their similar specimens in the open space.

The cost of building a greenhouse

In addition to high yield, greenhouse cultivation also involves more costs compared to traditional agriculture, some of which are as follows:

  • Rent or buy land
  • Installation of greenhouse structures
  • Installation of plastic protective cover on the frame of the greenhouse
  • Humidity control sensor
  • Temperature control sensor
  • Installation of ventilation
  • Installation of irrigation system
  • Installation of heating and cooling system
  • Creating artificial light for the night and in the second half of the year
  • Installing movable awnings in areas with a strong angle of radiation
  • Installation of pest control and disposal system
  • Industrial fumigation system or creating fog

The items we mentioned in the list above are among the initial costs of setting up a greenhouse, which farmers pay to provide the conditions for one or even several years of planting and harvesting. But besides these things, there are the current costs of greenhouse agriculture as follows:

  • Providing soil conditions such as buying fertilizers and organic materials
  • Buy the right seed
  • Paying employees
  • Buy poison
  • Irrigation cost
  • The cost of maintaining the greenhouse, including the payment of electricity and gas bills

It is obvious that these costs will be different based on different conditions such as the type and brand of equipment or the remuneration of employees in different regions.

The right time to grow cucumbers

In the construction of a cucumber greenhouse, choosing the planting time is very important and it also affects other details such as choosing the right seeds. In general, the time to grow cucumber seeds in the greenhouse includes the following two things:

Spring planting, which contrary to its name, starts planting seeds in late autumn or early winter so that the cucumber plants bear fruit in spring.
Autumn cultivation is when the seed cultivation process starts in the spring and the cucumbers are harvested in the fall.

Choosing the right seed

Greenhouse cucumber seeds and their way of fruiting are completely different. For this reason, one of the mistakes that farmers sometimes make is choosing ordinary seeds for cultivation in the greenhouse environment.

In normal conditions, cucumber flowers have two sexes, male and female, which are fertile in the pollination process. In these cases, the male flowers bloom earlier than the females, and the harvest is not uniform. But the parthenocarpic seeds that are suitable for growing in the greenhouse, the bushes do not have male flowers.

In this type of seed, the female flowers bear fruit without the need for pollination, and if sometimes the entry of insects is the reason for fertilizing the female flower, the fruit will be smaller than normal.

Also, farmers should pay attention to the climate and planting time when choosing seeds, so it is better to use single flower seeds for autumn or spring planting. But in the conditions where it is possible to plant again in the year, they can plant the seeds of several flowers.

The reason for this is the higher resistance of single flower seeds in a long period of time, which is not present in multiple flowers. Therefore, farmers who always replace single flowers with multiple flowers regardless of the time and climate, will face problems such as small fruits in most cases.

Also, they should not use the same type of seed twice in the fields that can be replanted in a year. In other words, single flower seeds are suitable for cold weather resistance, but multiple flowers are less resistant to cold.

Cultivation type

Cucumbers are grown in the greenhouse in two direct and indirect ways:

In the direct method, cucumber seeds are planted in a suitable pit and wait for it to sprout and then grow.
In the indirect method, seed cultivation is carried out in another area or greenhouse, then the seedling ready for further growth is transferred to the cucumber cultivation greenhouse.

suitable soil

The thing that farmers should pay attention to before starting to grow seeds or transplanting cucumbers is to prepare the desired land. Cucumber grows better in light soils that have been fed with animal manure. Therefore, in the first stage of work, after plowing the land, one and a half tons of chicken manure and 5 tons of animal manure should be added to it for every 1000 meters of land.

Adding 40 to 50 kilos of triple super phosphate fertilizer or granulated potassium sulfate per 1000 meters of land increases its productivity for cucumber cultivation. Also, if the desired soil is heavy, they can lighten its texture with some sand without lime and plaster with compost.

Cucumber cultivation soil should contain the following chemically. As a result, after testing it, in the absence of any of these materials, farmers must apply them in the appropriate amount in the form of permitted fertilizers to the plant:

  • phosphorus
  • of you
  • potassium
  • Calcium
  • magnesium
  • iron
  • Roy
  • Manganese
  • copper

proper temperature

Cucumber is actually a native product of Central Asia, which is cultivated in most parts of the world today. The best temperature for the growth and fruiting of this plant is 25°C during the day and 19-20°C at night.

For this reason, farmers should use the temperature control sensor in the greenhouse to ensure that the temperature does not go below 18 degrees Celsius at night and does not exceed 32 degrees Celsius during the day.

humidity

Cucumber is a moist and juicy fruit, so it needs almost high humidity during cultivation. In the best conditions, farmers should always keep the humidity between 50 and 70% with the help of control sensors.

final word

The cost of building a cucumber greenhouse includes the amount that farmers spend to prepare the land and set up the greenhouse equipment. In this article, we discussed its details as well as the suitable conditions for the growth of cucumber plants.