Greenhouse soil

[cockneycarrot]

I am having a job keeping up with everything on my 20 pole allotment, I change the soil in my greenhouse every year and it's real hard labour, can I use the same soil this year if I dig in some manure, or will I regret it? Would be pleased for your advice.

[oldherbaceous]

Good afternoon my old Cockneycarrot, as long as you haven't had any nasty diseases in the greenhouse i certainly wouldn't worry about changing the soil every year, especially since you have added manure.

This is always a busy time of the year, don't panic you will get there.

[Jenny Green]

I haven't changed my greenhouse soil in about 6 years and have no problems. I have grown salads, peppers, aubergines, tomatoes, melons etc. in there.

[Bal]

Like Jenny I planted the same crops and I have not changed my greenhouse soil for about 6 years.
You should not bother to do the extra hard work unless it becomes necessary
Bal

[vivie veg]

Hi,

I found these instructions several years ago and have been meaning to try the method (except for herbicide) but have never got around to it...has anybody else used a similar technic and would a green manure inside a greenhouse/polytunnel work and improve the soil? I think this was probably from an American website.


To grow tomatoes like never before, carefully follow these directions according to the given timetable:


September

The first step toward high tomato yields is taken in early September when you prepare permanent raised tomato beds. If you're trying this method for the first time, use an inoculum to establish the proper soil bacteria.
Seed the beds with hairy vetch, a winter-hardy legume that's becoming widely available. Do this about 2 months before winter freezeup. Seedlings will emerge within 1 week. By the time that frost arrives, plants will be 5 to 6 inches tall.
Above ground, these skinny little vines will form a mat. Underground, the root systems will all this time be growing into an extensive network. Foliage and root systems will be working together, above and below ground, to hold the soil firmly and stop erosion.
Below-freezing weather will cause the vetch vines to become dormant, but never fear—Spring reinvigorates growth.
Now that wasn't too tough. And the good news is, you won't have to do anything else until May.

May

By May, individual vines will be 4 or 5 feet long and form thick stands about 2 feet high. Now it's time to kill them.
Yes, I said kill them!
Determine your ideal tomato-planting time. The day before, go out and buy however many tomato seedlings you're prepared to cultivate.
Then mow the vetch (a high-speed flail mower is recommended) and leave the residue in place on the beds. For the next several months, the dead vines are going to form a nutritious organic blanket that will snuggle up to your tomato plants (keeping out weeds) and gradually break down into soil nutrients.
Tomorrow you'll transplant young tomato plants right through the mulch residue and into the underlying soil.
Moisture is vital, so you'll need to irrigate. Immediately after planting, install trickle irrigation lines on top of the vetch and 3 to 4 inches from the tomato row. Fix them in place with U-shaped wires.
Fertilizers? A good stand of vetch provides sufficient nitrogen to meet from half to all the nitrogen needed by tomatoes. As for phosphorus, potassium, and essential micronutrients, it's best to have your soil tested—and supplement according to the soil's specific needs.

June…and Beyond

During the first month after mowing, expect the vetch mulch to suppress weed emergence. After that, as the decomposition of the residue advances, weed seedlings are likely to emerge.
One herbicidal application of 0.5 pound active ingredient of metribuzin per acre should do the trick, applied 3 to 4 weeks after transplanting. (Your nursery professional can help compute the quantity needed for small applications.) This application will also kill any regrowth from the mowed vetch plants.
By summer's end, your tomato plants will bear an abundance of fruit, the organic mulch will decompose to a fare-thee-well, and the year will have come full circle.
Mow the old tomato plants and leave them in the field to decompose like the vetch mulch.

Now it's time to reseed with... hairy vetch!

[Johnboy]

Hi Viv,
With your method there are a number of points that I do not agree with and to be quite honest I have grown some super crops of Tomatoes without the fuss a palaver.
I don't quite see the Organicness(?) of it when you have sprayed the whole lot with Herbicide.
I am not organic but would never use a herbicide on a bed that is used for vegetable except when clearing the plot initially.
JB.

[Jenny Green]

This rings a bell - I'm sure I've read about growing tomatoes with vetch before and how it improved yields. I don't recall the bit about spraying with weedkiller though!
I may do some digging.

[vivie veg]

I totally agree JB about not using herbicides on the veg plot...I don't think the method claimed to be organic, just a way of getting cheap nitrogen and organic matter (I think????)

[cockneycarrot]

Thank you all for your advice about changing the soil in the greenhouse regularly, so I have not done it this year, but dug in plenty of manure. Am still trying to catch up with the allotment jobs but enjoy every hour I spend on it. My new 20 raised beds are a lot easier to manage, I am pleased I spent all winter making them.