Greenhouse for growing SEEDLINGS

Planting material, which includes seedlings of vegetables, greens, flowers, as well as seedlings of fruit plants, perennials, ornamental trees and shrubs, grapes and berry bushes, is an indispensable component for your garden and vegetable garden.

Growing planting material requires special conditions, and in order to obtain high-quality planting material, it is not enough to sow seeds or stick a cutting into the ground. It is necessary to create the most favorable conditions for these delicate plants.

In this article, we will try to deal with the most complex, but most effective technology - the technology of growing plants using the green cuttings method. This method is irreplaceable and in some cases the only possible for the cultivation of certain crops and, especially, for the rapid reproduction of rare, scarce, and especially valuable varieties.

Many plants can be propagated by green cuttings, these are roses, and chrysanthemums, and grapes, many fruit and berry crops, flowers for open field and potted plants, and even tomatoes! The requirements for this type of propagation of planting material are quite high. One of the main requirements for successful plant survival is air humidity close to 100%, since green cuttings with leaves do not have their own root system and moisture, and they can only get food through the leaves. As the root system develops, the air humidity can gradually decrease and by the time of transplanting into open ground, the air humidity should be close to the normal air humidity for your area.

It's almost impossible to grow seedlings from green cuttings just like that. Therefore, you will need the following equipment:

• A greenhouse or a small greenhouse specifically for this purpose ..
• Air humidity maintenance system (fogging unit).
• Shelves for placing plants.
• Plastic cassettes or cups.
• Neutral substrate
• Greenhouse shading system.
• Reliable water supply.
• Filters.
• Automation system.

Greenhouse

The planting density in such a greenhouse is very high. Therefore, even for large cuttings, for example, grapes, when planted in cassettes or pots, with a plant arrangement of 5 x 5 cm, up to 400 plants can be rooted per square meter, and with an arrangement of 7.5 x 7.5 cm - about 170 plants.

From this data, you can calculate the rooting performance of your installation.

Fog

This is a must-have for your production, and special attention should be paid to water sprayers. For these purposes, we recommend using the 4191 series mini atomizer. It is simple in design, reliable and gives excellent atomization of water with a droplet size of 50-100 microns. This is the best option for creating the desired level of air humidity in the greenhouse.

In the photo on the right, such a sprayer is shown disassembled and assembled.It consists of connectors, a tube 30, 60, or 100 centimeters long, with a thick-walled weight put on it, which does not allow the sprayers to swing during operation, a check valve that shuts off the water when pressure is released in the pipeline and, in fact, the sprayer itself.

It is believed that fogging sprays (foggers) should be placed at the top of the greenhouse, approximately 1.0 - 1.5 meters above the plants. In addition to creating high humidity, such sprays reduce the overall temperature in the greenhouse.

Sprayers are mounted (attached) to the water-distributing polyethylene pipe with a special fitting. Depending on the pipe wall thickness, it can be a plunger or a threaded connection. It is unacceptable to use metal pipes, as rust will do its job and your installation will not work. It is imperative to use a filter with a purity of 80 microns.

Water

For water supply to the system, it is desirable to have a separate small tank of 50-100 liters, preferably plastic. To fill it, you can use tap water or water from another source. In order to keep the water supply constant, use the "automatic" from the cistern.

At the bottom of this water tank, a pipeline must be connected to supply water to the pump. For your fogging system to work reliably, you need a small pump, but with sufficient water pressure.

Be sure to use water filters! Commercially available filters typically filter contaminants as small as 120 microns. For fogging installations, filters with a filtration rate of 80 microns should be used. Be sure to pay attention to this when buying or ordering equipment for your seedling greenhouse!

Mini nebulizers of the 4191 series are designed to operate from 2.5 to 4.0 atmospheres. The higher the pressure, the more "thin" fog we get. If you have an electrical problem, consider a backup or even a main pump that can run on battery power and when electricity is available from a rectifier. A few hours of water break can kill your plants!

Water consumption per sprayer is about 12 liters per hour. The layout of the sprinklers in the greenhouse is as follows:

The maximum distance from the greenhouse wall is 1.2 meters, the maximum distance between the sprinklers is 2.5 meters.

Based on this, the required number of sprayers for the greenhouse can be calculated.

For example, the dimensions of your greenhouse are as follows: width 3.5 meters, length 5 meters. We place the nozzles in 2 rows, with a distance between them 1 meter 80 cm. In a row, the distance between them is also 1 meter 80 cm. We get 6 nozzles for greenhouses.

Shelves, cassettes, substrate

With shelves and cassettes, I think everyone understands everything.

Don't forget about the substrate!

With green cuttings, you place the freshly cut plant in the substrate. A cut is an open, unprotected wound through which any infection can be introduced. Viral infections are especially dangerous. Therefore, use a sterile, decontaminated substrate. This is a guarantee that the seedlings will grow healthy!

What type of substrate you choose is up to you. The main thing is that it is sterile!

Shading

We have not yet touched on this aspect of creating the desired microclimate in the greenhouse. Shading is an essential component of equipping a greenhouse in general and is mandatory for greenhouses in which planting material is grown. While it is cold outside, the main task of the greenhouse is to keep it in a closed volume. Higher temperatures, but the closer the summer, the hotter it gets in the greenhouse, and we start looking for a way to reduce the temperature during the daytime and how to protect the plants from direct sunlight.
 

For this purpose, special nets have been developed. Many varieties of greenhouse nets are produced. There are grids that shade and diffuse light, there are grids that shade, diffuse and partially reflect light, and there are special energy-saving grids. In the photo above - the reflective and shading mesh Aluminet, then the shading mesh and on the right - the light and heat reflecting, shading energy-saving mesh. For each type of such mesh, there are several modifications, the parameters of which differ, for example, in the percentage of shading, heat preservation, etc. ...

Such a net can be used simply as a blanket on a small greenhouse, but it is better to place it inside and think about how, if necessary, stretch it over the plants or move it and open access to the sun's rays. In industrial greenhouses, special devices are used for this. They can be manually or electrically operated, as well as controlled by a single automatic system for maintaining the microclimate in the greenhouse. The design of such a device resembles a curtain in a movie theater. The only difference is that such a "curtain" is located at the top, horizontally. In some cases, double screens are used: in the daytime - shading, and at night - heat-protective and energy-saving. Energy-saving nets allow you to save up to 70% of the heat in the greenhouse, which is extremely important for regions with cold nights. The same heat-saving screens can be installed on the sidewalls of the greenhouse. The material used for all types of mesh (abbreviated as HDPE) is durable and strong. It has special additives that stabilize and protect it from destruction by ultraviolet rays.

Automation

If you want your greenhouse to really work effectively when growing planting material from green cuttings, you cannot do without an automation system. The basic idea of ​​green cuttings technology is not that the water sprayers are constantly running in the greenhouse and there is a constant "fog". This is a misunderstanding of technology. We just need to create conditions for the plants so that they have enough moisture for their life. Therefore, watering can be very simple and economical. For example, the water spray system works for 30 seconds, then a break for several minutes. System run times and watering breaks are determined empirically, taking into account the local conditions in your area.
The watering regime must also be adjusted for the time of day. In the morning and in the evening, when the temperature in the greenhouse is low, the breaks can be longer, and, for example, 3-4 waterings per night are enough at night.

How can you achieve this? Very simple - use for process automation, for example, the controllers of the GEWA-WINDOWS or GEVA-MULTIZONE series.
They allow you to set the watering modes and intervals between waterings by the hour, as well as different modes at different hours of the day.

Technological cycle

The technology for the production of planting material from green cuttings consists of two stages: ROOTING and FORCING. The first stage is described above. It is impractical to bring plants to full condition in such a greenhouse.
After your plants have developed a good root system, it is advisable to transplant your seedlings and give them a little more room for growth (forcing).
Forcing can be done in foil tunnels or outdoors with foil mulch and drip irrigation hoses underneath.

This technological scheme allows you to have a small greenhouse for rooting and use it many times per season. The rooting time for different plants can be from 2 to 5 weeks. Thus, during the summer season, you can grow several generations of plants. Your greenhouse will not be empty in autumn and winter. Various ornamental and floral plants can be grown at this time of the year. Naturally, for year-round operation, you will need to install a heating system in your greenhouse.

Greenhouse for the production of seedlings.