Detailed Guide to Greenhouse Cultivation Techniques for Cuihong Tomatoes

I. Sowing and Seedling Raising

1. Sowing time: For the winter-spring crop in Qujiang greenhouses, sowing from mid-September to early October is suitable; harvesting can begin in early February of the following year and ends in early June, with a harvest period of nearly 4 months.

2. Sowing: Before sowing tomatoes, the seeds must be disinfected to prevent seed-borne pathogens. Wrap the seeds in gauze and soak them in warm water at 55°C for 10 minutes, or soak them in a 10% trisodium phosphate solution for 20 minutes, then remove and rinse clean with water, then soak them in warm water at 30°C for 20 minutes, remove and air-dry. Use nutrient cups for seedling raising. Take 7 parts garden soil or pond mud dried in the sun, 2 parts decomposed barnyard manure, and 3 parts burnt soil, mix evenly, and add 0.1--0.2% phosphate fertilizer. Before sowing, first wet the nutrient soil, sow 1 seed per cup, cover thinly with soil after sowing, then cover with rice straw. Spray water daily to ensure the seeds have enough moisture to germinate. After emergence, remove the rice straw promptly to prevent leggy growth. When the germination rate reaches above 80%, use 10 grams of seed per mu.

3. Seedling stage management: During the seedling stage, temperatures are relatively high. When raising seedlings in the greenhouse, if daytime temperatures are high, open both ends of the greenhouse for ventilation or uncover the greenhouse film to ventilate and cool down. At night, seal it completely to ensure temperature. The seedbed should be sprayed with water once in the morning and once in the evening, but fertilizer and water should be properly controlled to avoid leggy growth of seedlings. If seedling growth is poor, apply 0.2% urea or other fertilizer once as a liquid feed. To prevent and control diseases and pests, during the seedling stage, spray with Score (difenoconazole) plus Actara (thiamethoxam) 2--3 times.

II. Land Preparation and Bed Formation

For growing tomatoes in greenhouses, the previous crop should not have been solanaceous crops, peanuts, or mulberry trees, to avoid continuous cropping. Twenty days before planting, deep plow and break up the soil, apply 50 kg of lime per mu to neutralize soil acidity and disinfect the soil; 10 days before transplanting, apply 3000--5000 kg of decomposed barnyard manure, 30 kg of superphosphate, and 50 kg of compound fertilizer per mu as base fertilizer. After raking level and mixing evenly, form beds with 1.7 m including the ditch.

III. Transplanting

The transplanting period is in late October, with a seedling age of about 40 days and a leaf age of 5--6 leaves. When transplanting, it is best to choose a sunny morning or evening, using double rows with a plant spacing of 25 cm, planting about 2500 plants per mu. When transplanting, move the seedlings in the cups with soil into the prepared holes, cover with soil up to where the small leaves emerge, and water thoroughly with settling water while transplanting. Before transplanting, spray the seedbed once with Ridomil (metalaxyl) plus Actara (thiamethoxam) to prevent seedlings from carrying diseases and aphids from spreading viruses.

IV. Field Management Inside the Greenhouse

1. Temperature and humidity management. After transplanting, early temperatures are relatively high and light is good, so proper ventilation should be provided during the day to cool down, and water should be applied 1--2 times appropriately to maintain moisture. In the later growth stage, watering should be controlled to lower humidity and maintain temperature. Cuihong is relatively cold-tolerant but not heat-tolerant. From transplanting until the first batch of fruits begins to swell, the focus of management is to raise the air temperature and soil temperature inside the greenhouse. Do not ventilate for 5 days after transplanting; maintain daytime temperatures around 25°C and nighttime temperatures around 10°C. After the seedlings have recovered and new leaves begin to grow, ventilate appropriately to lower the temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse, maintaining around 25°C during the day and around 15°C at night. In early flowering, keep daytime temperatures below 30°C and nighttime temperatures above 15°C, and control relative air humidity inside the greenhouse at around 65%. If outside temperatures rise, gradually increase ventilation. If temperatures are too low, add small arch tunnels inside the greenhouse and cover the beds with rice straw to raise the temperature. During the peak flowering and fruiting stage, maintain around 25°C during the day and around 15°C at night, and maintain 55% air humidity.

2. Vine training and pruning. Because Cuihong tomato stems and branches are relatively slender, vine training must be carried out when the plant grows to about 25 cm tall. Generally, the greenhouse frame is used, with plastic string hung from the frame to train the vines. Cuihong is a determinate growth type, pruned to two main stems, with all other side branches removed. Pruning should be done on sunny days when there is no dew. When side branches grow to 7 cm, cut them off about 2--3 cm from the main stem. In the middle and later stages, old leaves and diseased leaves at the base can be removed.

3. Fertilizer and water management. Five days after transplanting, apply 500 kg of manure water mixed evenly with 7.5 kg of fermented peanut bran per mu. In the early flowering and fruiting stage, apply 1000 kg of manure water plus 10 kg of fermented peanut bran plus 10 kg of potassium fertilizer mixed evenly per mu. During the peak flowering and fruiting stage, apply 1500 kg of manure water plus 20 kg of fermented peanut bran plus 15 kg of potassium fertilizer mixed evenly per mu. During the harvest period, apply additional fertilizer appropriately, adding fertilizer once after each harvest, mainly organic fertilizer or foliar fertilizer spray. Humidity inside the greenhouse is relatively high, so do not water unless dry; do not water on cloudy or rainy days. Water demand is not great in the early growth stage. During the fruiting stage, maintain about 80% relative soil moisture, and up to 90% during the full fruiting stage. Watering should be done in the morning, and ventilation should be strengthened after watering.

4. Hilling and weeding. Generally hill up 2--3 times, combined with weeding and fertilizing. Weeds can be pressed under the hilled soil to reduce disease transmission.

5. Flower and fruit preservation. During the flowering period, spray flowers with 2,4-D at a concentration of 15x10 (to the power of negative 6)--20x10 (to the power of negative 6).

6. Disease and pest control. For cutworms, use sugar-vinegar bait to kill them. For late blight and gray mold, pay attention to integrated control techniques, ensure ventilation to remove moisture, and when disease occurs, spray on sunny days with Ridomil (metalaxyl) or Gray Mold Speed-Cure (huimeisuk) at 600--800 times dilution.

V. Harvesting

For sale in the local market, harvest at the firm-ripe stage, when flavor is good and sweetness is high. If storing or transporting over long distances, harvest when the top of the fruit begins to turn slightly red (color-breaking stage).