What's wrong in my greenhouse?

[Sean]

Hi, I'd like to add one thing for tomatoes and that is rotation. I didn't rotate one year and the following year was a bummer and not due to lack of fertilizer. It was nematodes, at least that's what the nursery told me. Here's a quote from an ag school.
"Tomatoes, okra, potatoes, and carrots are very susceptible to injury by the root knot nematode and favor buildup of this nematode in the soil."

and here's the link if anyone wants to read more. http://lubbock.tamu.edu/horticulture/docs/vegrote.html

Cheers,

Sean

[MarkP]

It is't necessary to plant in pots if you have a greehouse and it isn't necessary to have a greenhouse if you plant in pots, but they do seem to go together. If you do plant in pots, can you or is it standard practice to "rotate" your soil? You could have a big pile of soil out back that is not activey being cultivated. In a sense it would be fallow. You could do thiings to it like covering it in black plastic to solarize it or if you had enough compostables, mix it into a giant compost heap to cook. Next year use it to plant in. The year off would probably go a long way towards interrupting the life cycle of pests. A greenhouse is warm. Perhaps a year out in the cold would knock back those warmth loving pests, or a year burried in a pile several feet deep for those that need air. The theme here is change made possible by having an extra change of soil.

[gtill]

Nematodes are best controlled with organic compost. Plus Jays terra pietra would help. For lime use dolomite, as it includes magnesium all soils here need mag!
Greenhouses need plenty ventilation, but with a multi inch downpour they're a necessity.