Hydroponic Tomatoes

by

Ryan Johnson

picture of hydroponic greenhouse

Tomatoes are a very valuable vegetable of worldwide importance. Tomatoes are a healthy and delicious vegetable that is used in many of our favorite dishes. Anything Italian seems to have a tomato base and who eats french fries without ketchup? Desirable tomatoes are red, plump, vine ripened, and without blemishes. There is an interesting, unconventional way to produce tomatoes with these qualities, hydroponics.

Hydroponics is a very effective, efficient way to grow many fruits and vegetables. It consists of growing them in a nutrient solution, which is water with essential plant nutrients dissolved in it. This can be done with artificial medium or without it. These mediums can include sand, gravel, rockwool, peat, sawdust, and vermiculite. Hydroponic systems consist of greenhouses that are enclosed, temperature controlled, and reduce infestations by pests.

Advantages of growing tomatoes hydroponically include efficient use of nutrients and water uptake, very high yields, no seasonality, and pest elimination. Not growing them in soil eliminates variables that can inhibit growth, such as pH, salinity, diseases, or poor drainage. The grower is able to control all environmental aspects and ensure the tomatoes are in the most condusive environment for them to be grown. Also, these tomatoes can be grown year-round to provide fresh, vine ripened tomatoes anytime.

There are some disadvantages to growing tomatoes hydroponically. There are very high energy and capital inputs. Also, to be successful, a person must posess above average management skills. These disadvantages are the reason hydroponics are delegated to high, value crops like tomatoes.

There are many external factors that need to be controlled to grow hydroponic tomatoes successfully. These include light, temperature, humididty, and air circulation. Other factors are fertility, solution pH and pruning. These are all integral in the sucess of the plants and take precise, careful management to make it all work out.

Hydroponics has blossomed as a new way to grow tomatoes. It provides perfect conditions for growth, maximum yields, and eliminates seasonality availability of fresh tomatoes in temperate climates. Hydroponics is growing in the future of the tomato industry and will be a great way to provide great tasting tomatoes for years to come.

 

References:

University of Arizona- Growing Hydroponic Tomatoes