This document provides information on potential crops suitable for protected cultivation or greenhouse production in Himachal Pradesh, India. It discusses crops like tomato, cucumber, capsicum, and recommends varieties for each. It covers aspects of greenhouse structure, growing media, seedling production, transplanting, training, fertigation, integrated pest management and harvesting procedures to optimize yield for each crop under protected conditions. The key crops highlighted are tomato, cucumber and capsicum with focus on varieties, spacing, pruning, training, fertility and pest management.

1. Dr. Parveen Sharma
Associate Professor (Vegetable Science)
Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur
ops suitable for protected cultivation according
rea, climate and maintenance of climate factors

2. POTENTIAL CROPS FOR PROTECTED
CULTIVATION
Capsicum
Tomato
Cucumber
Lettuce/ French beans/ Peas (Filler crops)
Vegetable nursery
Flower crops
Ornamental plants

3. Private Seed Companies

4. Advantages of Hybrids

5. Plastic low tunnel for nursery production

6. Hardening of seedlings

7. Removable Structures

8. Preparation of Sand, Soil and FYM mixture

9. Filled polybags
Seedling emergence

10. Coco peat
•Coco peat also known as coir pith, coir fibre pith, coir dust, or
simply coir, is made from coconut husks, which are byproducts
of other industries that use coconuts.
• Raw coconuts are washed, heat-treated, screened and graded
before being processed into coco peat products of various
granularity and denseness, which are then used for horticultural
and agricultural applications and as industrial absorbent.

11. Coco-Peat

12. Vermiculite
• Vermiculite is a micacious mineral produced by
heating to approximately 745oC.
– Helps hold moisture.
– Has neutral pH.

13. Vermiculite

14. Perlite

15. Perlite

16. Growing media and plug tray

17. Mixing of growing media

18. Sowing of seeds in plug-trays

19. Healthy nursery of potential crops for protected cultivation
cucumber Tomato
capsicum
Fibrous root growth

20. TOMATO NURSERY IN SOILLESS MEDIA

21. Healthy cucumber Seedling
Close view of root development in plug-trays

22. A View of Hi-Tech nursery at Namdhari Seeds

23. Potential Hybrids o Tomato For Greenhouse
Cultivation
• 1. Avtar (7711)
• 2. Rakshita
• 3. Naveen 2000+
• 4. BWT-3
• 5. Surya

24. Hybrids from Private Sector for protected cultivation

25. Promising Bacterial Wilt Resistant F1 Combinations

26. Cherry tomatoesCherry tomatoes
 In this category fruits are very small in size and the
average fruit weight is 15-20g depending upon the
variety.
 The cherry tomatoes have high TSS (6.5 to 7.5%).
 Among the cherry tomatoes, BR-124 and H A-118
varieties from Israel are most popular.

27. Vine of cherry tomato

28. Factors affecting greenhouse
tomato production
1. Temperature and humidity control
Night temperature should not be allowed to drop below 15 0
C.
2. Carbon-dioxide level in the green house
350 ppm to 1000 ppm
 3. Light Reducing light levels from 10,000 to 2,500 lux
(approximately 100 to 25 W/m2
) has been shown to delay flower
initiation
4. Air movement
5. Disease and insect control
6. Nutritional management

29. Planting Time
 In north Indian, the tomato crop is planted from first
August to second week of September under
polyhouse conditions.
 This crop is continued up to June or July under
climate controlled greenhouse.
 If the greenhouse is naturally ventilated then the
crop can be grown up to April or May months.
 In H P we take two crops from naturally ventilated
polyhouse.

30. BED PREPARATION IN TOMATO
Spacing = 70x30cm
Path=60cm
Bed width= 90cm

31. Planting of tomato in the soil on raised beds (70x30)

32. Fertigation
Basal doze of 50 kg NPK per hectare with straight
fertilizers and fertigation at 150 kg NPK per ha with water soluble
fertilizer (Polyfeed/Haileaf 19:19:19).
Fertilizer application with irrigation in liquid form is called
fertigation and it is done once or twice a week depending upon
soil fertility, variety, and stage of crop growth.
Generally drip system of irrigation is followed for green house
tomato so as to maintain constant growth.
Irrigation should be given at weekly or bi-weekly interval
depending upon the season and location
N : P : K solution in ratio of 19:19:19 is prepared and applied
through drip starting from 3rd
Week after transplanting or
initiation of fruit set and terminating 15 days prior to harvest.

33. Training
Single or two stems .
In early stage the shoots should remove by
snapping them off.
 Plants are supported by plastic twine, loosely
anchored on the base of plants .
The twine is not wrapped around the growing
tip otherwise the tip may break.
The plants must be pruned regular basis for
10-11 months life cycle of the tomato crop.
This will provide air circulation, which helps to
reduce the incidence of the diseases .

34. Staking of tomatoes

35. Training method of tomato plants
Plastic support clip being placed around a tomato stem.

36. PRUNNING
These tomatoes require pruning of all lateral branches.
 Pruning must be done on a frequent schedule (every 3
to 4 days) .
Prunning is done early in the day when plants are turgid
but dry.
Care should be taken to remove only suckers and not
the main terminal bud.
 The pruning time should be used to inspect plants for
obvious problems such as disease, nutritional
deficiencies, insects etc.
All pruned plant material should be placed in a
container and removed from the greenhouse.

37. Flowering
Flowering is a prerequisite to fruit development and delays
in flowering generally result in delayed fruit
production.
The environment of the polyhouse can have a significant
effect on the number of flowers that are initiated on
an inflorescence .

38. Tomato flower with a bruise on the anther cone indicating
that the flower has been visited by a bumble bee.

39. PLANT PROTECTION
• Prefer biological control (yellow sticky traps,
pheromone/light traps, predators/parasitoids
• Grow resistant varieties only
• Use safe insecticides
• Keep strict and constant vigil against pest and
diseases
• Follow timely plant protection measures
• Prefer biological control (yellow sticky traps,
pheromone/light traps, predators/parasitoids
• Grow resistant varieties only
• Use safe insecticides
• Keep strict and constant vigil against pest and
diseases
• Follow timely plant protection measures

40. Ooze test

41. Powdery mildew

42. Attack of white fly

43. Yellow sticky trap

44. Cucumber Production Under Hi- Tech Polyhouse

45. Type of Cucumber Varieties
On the bases of flowering habit:
1.Gynoecious:- Which produces only female flowers.
2.Pre-dominantly gynoecious :-Also bears some male
flowers.
3.Monoecious:- Which produces both male and
female flowers.
The first two types produce fruits parthenocarpically ,whereas, monoecious types require
pollination

46. Monoecious varieties
Monoecious varieties can be grown inside the greenhouses,
but pollination is required for fruit setting which are:
1)Japnese Long Green
2)Pusa Sanyog
3)Priya
4)Poinsett
5)Malini Hybrid

47. Separate male and female flowers
• Separate male and female flowers
• Require bee pollination

48. Cucumber-greenhouse pollinations

49. Pollination and fruit setting in monoecious
cucumbers under polyhouse conditions

51. Parthenocarpic cucumber
The parthenocarpic cucumber is a type of cucumber vine that
produces only female flowers and produces cucumbers without
the need of pollination.
The seed for parthenocarpic cucumbers costs more than
ordinary cucumber seed but the germination or sprouting
rate is higher and the chance for disease or pest problems
is greatly less.
 If pollination does occur, the fruit will form seeds, the
shape ofthe fruit will be distorted and a bitter tasting fruit will
develop. It is therefore essential to prevent bees and
other pollinators from entering the greenhouse and carrying
pollen from outdoor gardens

52. Parthenocarpic Varieties
The important parthenocarpic varieties available in
India are:
i. Satis
ii.HILLTON
iii.Nun-9729
iv.Clodia
v.Kian
vi.Mansour
A few important parthenocarpic varieties of cucumber from
Europe and Israel are:
Hasan and Sarig (for summer crop),
Muhasan and Dinar (for winter season),
 Mustang and Bronco (for spring crop),

53. Parthenocarpic Cucumber

54. Plant geometry
•The cucumber seedlings are planted on the raised beds with two
rows in a bed with row to row spacing of 70 cm and plant to plant
spacing of 30 cm.
•In single stem training , female flowers should be removed or
pinched up to 5th
node to ensure sufficient vegetative growth of
the plants to sustain the fruit load.

55. BED PREPARATION IN CUCUMBER
Spacing = 70x30cm
Path=60cm
Bed width= 90cm

57. Staking of parthenocarpic cucumber on single stem at 70x30cm spacing

58. Fertigation
Basal doze of 50 kg NPK per hectare with straight
fertilizers and fertigation at 450 kg NPK per ha with water
soluble fertilizer (Polyfeed/Haileaf 19:19:19).
Fertigation should be done once or twice a week depending
upon soil fertility, variety, and stage of crop growth.
Cucumber is heavy feeder crop.
Irrigation should be given at weekly or bi-weekly interval
depending upon the season and location
N : P : K solution in ratio of 19:19:19 is prepared and applied
through drip starting from 3rd
Week after transplanting or
initiation of fruit set and terminating 15 days prior to
harvest.

59. Training of Cucumber
• REMOVE FEMALE FLOWERS UPTO 5TH
NODE
• ONE OR TWO VINES
• RETAIN ONE FRUIT PER NODE
• DE-SHOOTING

60. Fig 1 (a) Fig 1 (b) Fig 1 (c)
Training systems in cucumber

61. DIFFERENT GROWTH STAGES OF CUCUMBER

62. To harvest cucumbers, cut (don't pull) them from the vine.
Pulling or yanking can damage the brittle vines.

63. Day neutral
More sensitive to changing environment than
tomato.
Optimum temperature for germination: 20-25 0
C.
Optimum temperature for quality fruit production:
18-21 0
C( 20-21 C).
Less than 18 0
C: adverse effect on growth and yield.
Low night temperature: parthenocarpic fruits.
Climatic Requirements

64. • Four lobed preferred for metropolitan cities and
other high markets.
• Others for local market
• Red, yellow, orange and purple varieties
Varieties

65. Red Yellow Green
Nun-3019
Bombay
Indira
Heera
Bharat
Mahabharat
Mekong
Tanvi Plus
Orobelle
Tanvi
Nun-3020
Angel
US-26
Golden Summer
Sawarna
European & Israeli
varieties, American
varieties
California
Wonder(OP)
Indra
Bharat
Mekong
Potential varieties for green house cultivation

66. Red and Yellow capsicums in polyhouse

67. BED PREPARATION IN CAPSICUM
Spacing = 45x30cm
Path=60cm
Bed width= 60cm

68. Training and Pruning
• FOUR/TWO STEMS
• PLASTIC CORD
• PINCHING/DISBUDDING
• RETAIN ONE FLOWER AND TWO LEAVES

69. Two branch training system in bell pepper

70. Diff. Between Four & Two Leaders

71. Crop Support in Capsicum

72. Staking in Polyhouses

73. Fertigation
Basal doze of 50 kg NPK per hectare with straight
fertilizers and fertigation at 150 kg NPK per ha with water soluble
fertilizer (Polyfeed/Haileaf 19:19:19).
Fertilizer application with irrigation in liquid form is called
fertigation and it is done once or twice a week depending upon
soil fertility, variety, and stage of crop growth.
Capsicum is heavy feeder of macro and micro-nutrients
Generally drip system of irrigation is followed for green house
bell pepper so as to maintain constant growth.
Irrigation should be given at weekly or bi-weekly interval
depending upon the season and location
N : P : K solution in ratio of 19:19:19 is prepared and applied
through drip starting from 3rd
Week after transplanting or
initiation of fruit set and terminating 15 days prior to harvest.

74. Yield
Coloured fruits 60-70 tonnes/ha
Green fruits 120 tonnes/ha
Although, yield directly depends upon the location,
variety, climatic conditions and crop management
practices(plant geometry, irrig and fertilizer mgmt).
Average weight of quality colored four lobbed fruit is 180
to 220g.

75. Greenhouse production problems in Capsicum
Bacterial wilt
Powdery mildew
Collar rot
Aphid
Mites?
Caterpillars ?

76. Eco friendly techniques for control of greenhouse insect
pests

77. THANKS