Tomato plants are children of the sun that don't want to have anything to do with rain. If you protect the tropical plants from moisture from above, diseases have little chance. Here are practical tips for you that can be implemented immediately.
How do you protect tomato plants from rain?
Tomato plants should be protected from rain to avoid diseases such as late blight. This can be achieved by growing in a greenhouse, a tomato house outdoors or under special tomato canopies.
Ultimate rain protection: growing tomatoes in a greenhouse
Where space allows, growing tomatoes in a greenhouse offers ideal conditions. Even if the budget for the hobby garden is tight, the project can be put into practice. With a little craftsmanship you can easily build a greenhouse yourself. Specialist retailers offer ready-made greenhouses in numerous sizes and shapes.
Indispensable in the open field: the tomato house
In the bed, home-grown tomatoes are helpless against unfavorable weather conditions. Without rain protection, the devastating late blight in particular has an easy time of it. If you protect your plants from raindrops with a tomato canopy that you install yourself, your chances of a rich harvest will immediately improve. The tomato house should have these properties:
- Height 150 to 200 centimeters
- Depth at least 60 centimeters
- fabric-reinforced greenhouse film
- one side open in the main wind direction
- can be closed with a zipper when it rains
- an additional side window
The width depends on the desired number of plants. Ideally, the tomato house has a slightly sloping roof so that rainwater does not collect here.
Tomato hoods protect individual specimens
A greenhouse or a tomato roof doesn't always make sense. You can easily protect individual tomato plants from rain using a special tomato cover. The greenhouse climate is simulated under a perforated film. If you roll up the hood on sunny days, bumblebees and bees can easily reach the flowers for pollination.
Favor products with integrated spacer rings and protect the plants from rot at the same time. The foil does not reach the leaves and flowers, even when the wind is blowing.
Tips & Tricks
So that splashing rainwater doesn't get to the tomato plants, knowledgeable hobby gardeners spread a layer of mulch made of straw, grass clippings and exhausted side shoots. In addition, the lower leaves are removed up to a height of 40 centimeters. Also find out about brown rot on tomatoes.
