How to build a tomato greenhouse yourself

Tomatoes are a healthy vegetable loved by both adults and children. They can be grown outdoors, and by building a greenhouse yourself, you can significantly increase your tomato yield. Considering the challenging weather conditions in various regions of our country, this will protect your seedlings from frost and temperature fluctuations.

Making your own shelter will significantly reduce your household budget, as factory-made options are quite expensive. Only by building a greenhouse yourself can you create a structure of the required dimensions and take into account all the nuances and challenges inherent to your specific plot. Tomatoes thrive in warmth, so the yield of indoor tomatoes grown under shelter will be significantly higher than in the open ground.

The main advantages of the design

A tomato greenhouse is an extremely simple to build, small structure that protects future crops from the negative effects of the environment.

Its main advantage is that, despite its relatively small size (a 150 cm tall structure is sufficient for tomatoes), it provides natural heating for seedlings or mature tomato plants temporarily placed in a greenhouse in early spring, using only the energy of sunlight and the heat generated by the oxidation of fertilizers. Greenhouses, which frequently use heating, require additional heating costs. A tomato greenhouse, however, eliminates these drawbacks.

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Many gardeners believe that a homemade tomato greenhouse is more efficient than a homemade hotbed. This is difficult to agree with, as the main advantages of the latter are its compact size, energy independence, ease of construction, and relatively low cost. Greenhouses are significantly taller and larger. Furthermore, they require ongoing maintenance.

Necessary materials

Before building a tomato greenhouse yourself, it's worth familiarizing yourself with the list of necessary building materials used in its construction.

The main criteria for choosing them are their affordability and ease of use, so it's advisable to use readily available tools. The difference between reliable homemade designs and so-called home-made ones lies in both the quality of the workmanship and the materials used.

Wooden planks or beams, as well as various types of pipes (plastic, metal, and composite) can be used to construct the frame. Various types of rebar, including metal and fiberglass, are also suitable. Experienced gardeners even manage to repurpose old window frames.

Various materials can also be used as a roof covering for a greenhouse: film (both polyethylene and reinforced), polycarbonate (it is not cheap, but in terms of its characteristics and thermal conductivity, it is one of the best options), any non-woven material, and glass.

Choice of form

Before building a tomato greenhouse yourself, you should decide on the shape of the structure. It can take a wide variety of forms, as a tomato shelter is essentially a miniature house, and the roof can be simple, gable, hipped, or hipped, semicircular, or arched.

Rectangular and combination tomato greenhouses are available. Simple gable and semicircular designs are most commonly used due to their ease of installation.

The process of making a greenhouse from window frames

Let's look at several different shelter construction options. Let's start with a greenhouse made from old window frames. This design is fairly simple to build and works well.

Before you begin, you'll need to gather some old window frames with no broken glass, planks, and sturdy wooden beams at least 1 m high. You'll need screws or nails for the materials.

The size of the tomato greenhouse will largely depend on the size of the window frames used in its construction. It's a good idea to obtain several identical windows. You'll also need a couple of smaller ones or one larger one.

You should start by constructing the frame. The wooden planks should be painted or treated with special wood preservatives beforehand.

Boards should be secured to the beams. They should be the same length as the old window frames. Fasten them with screws or nails.

Once the frame is ready, it needs to be buried in the ground to a depth of at least 15 cm. Window frames are attached to the top with hinges. The sides of the greenhouse are also made from smaller window frames and wooden beams. The tomato greenhouse made from old window frames is ready.

Glass transmits sunlight well, much better than regular polyethylene. Therefore, this greenhouse will be more efficient than one with a film covering.

Arched structure

Now let's look at how to make a shelter for tomatoes, using a semicircular or arched structure as an example. According to gardeners and summer residents, this type of greenhouse is the most affordable option and requires no special skills.

Plastic rebar is used for its construction. Bent pipe will also work. The ends of the arcs are anchored into the ground approximately half a meter apart. The height is 80-160 cm.

The frame thus constructed is covered with polyethylene film. Either regular or reinforced plastic can be used. The edges of the film are secured to the ground. Various improvised materials, such as bricks, can be used. This homemade tomato structure will last for one gardening season. For longer-lasting use, it's best to choose a more durable structure.

In the form of a gable roof

A more reliable and durable greenhouse is one with a gable roof. It resembles a small house.

You won't need professional help to build such a structure. The key is to know how to use basic tools like a hammer or a saw.

Materials needed: a wooden beam 1 to 1.5 m high for the stand and several wooden planks.

All wooden parts of the greenhouse, as in the case of a structure made from old window frames, must be painted or treated with special wood preservatives in advance.

The process of constructing a tomato shelter begins with driving a beam into the ground. Two boards are attached to the top of the beam at an angle. One edge of the boards rests on the ground so that the cross-section forms an isosceles triangle. Several such structures are constructed, spaced approximately 1 meter apart.

The top of the greenhouse is covered with plastic film. Its edges are secured to the ground, as in the previous version, using improvised means. Bricks or old dumbbell weights are suitable for this purpose. The greenhouse is ready for use.

Building a greenhouse yourself using household items and minimal material costs is a completely doable task, within the reach of any gardener, even those with no construction experience. The key is desire and persistence.