Tomato is in the food basket of most people and the high demand for it has made farmers grow it in greenhouses. Get to know the cost of building a tomato greenhouse.

Tomato, which is sometimes called Roman eggplant, is a product of the eggplant category, which is actually native to Central America and South America. The colonization of these regions by Spain and the introduction of tomatoes to Europe and then the whole world was the beginning of the epidemic and the high use of this product.

Today, tomato is in the food basket of most people in the world. Its various applications and high demand for it have caused farmers to grow this product in the greenhouse and in all seasons of the year.

In this article, we intend to provide you with information about the cost of building a tomato 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 tomatoes

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

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

After growing enough, the tomato plant bears fruit in the form of a cluster, which is the same in all its different seeds. Different tomato seeds are usually known among farmers based on the name of the company that produces them, which differ from each other in the period of fruiting.

If the farmers grow any of these samples under the right conditions, the final product has high quality, good taste, beautiful color and pleasant smell. Therefore, choosing among different seeds does not make much difference in the process (agriculture consists of three stages of planting, growing and harvesting).

The only point that they should pay attention to is the cultivation of early seeds, which increase the yield of the greenhouse in a certain period of time.

Note that the tomato bush needs pollination in order to be fruitful, which is done by wind blowing and insects sitting on the bush. But to help pollination in the greenhouse, farmers usually create slight vibrations manually or with the help of special devices in the plants.

Some farmers also prefer to do this in a more natural way with the help of pollinating bees. These bees, which only live for one season, reduce the cost of hiring workers or purchasing a vibrating device by transferring pollen.

Cultivation type

Tomatoes are grown in the greenhouse in two direct and indirect ways, usually the second method is more efficient and popular:

In the direct method, tomato seeds are planted in a suitable pit and they 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 tomato greenhouse.

suitable soil

The thing that farmers should pay attention to before starting seed cultivation or tomato planting is to prepare the desired land. Tomatoes grow better in light soil with animal manure, proper drainage and sand without lime.

It is also better to dig a hole 60 to 80 cm deep in the indirect cultivation method to transfer the seedlings so that the roots of the plant have enough space. But in the direct method of planting tomato seeds, digging 20-30 cm holes is enough.

The soil for growing tomatoes 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

Tomato plants need a daily temperature of 21 to 27 degrees Celsius and a night temperature of 16 to 18 degrees Celsius to bear fruit. Farmers can always keep the greenhouse conditions between these two points by installing temperature control sensors.

humidity

Tomato 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 60 and 80 percent with the help of control sensors.

final word

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