Paramount Seeds Inc.
BOX 1866, Palm City, Florida 34991. Tel 772-221-0653, fax 772-221-0102
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Greenhouse Tomato Production. Also, use our Useful links page to find out more specific information. There are various systems available including sand, rock-wool slabs, troughs, pvc pipes, NFT (nutrient film technique) as well as growing in the soil and other aggregates. Greenhouse tomatoes require well drained growing medium that allows good root development but also a good water holding capacity. Seeds should be kept at around 24oC to 27oC for optimum germination and emergence should occur within 7-10 days and seedlings for transplanting will be available around 3 - 4 weeks after sowing. Seed spacing. Plant spacing and row spacing varies with the type of growing system being used but, a row spacing of 4 to 5 feet and a plant spacing of 18-24 inches is usual if using perlite is used as a growing medium. 1 tomato plant requires approximately 4 to 5 square feet or grow or around 10,000 plants per acre. Seed requirement. A typical 30 x 96 foot house will require around 720 plants. (Remember when buying seed, order around 15% extra to take into account germination and seedling losses) Tomato seed germination is typically 85% or higher and even with higher germination it makes sense to select the strongest seedlings for transplanting to ensure a healthy, vigorous plant. Example for a 36 x 96 foot house: (36' x 96') divided by 4 = 864 + 15% = approx 1000 seeds. A higher plant density ie more plants per acre, does not yield increases. More likely, the yield per plant will fall while the overall production per house will remain the same because of increased shading. Optimum temperatures for tomato production is 25oC to 30oC. In temperatures below 15oC plants grow slowly, fruit set is poor and fruit ripens slowly. Above 35oC plants wilt and growth rate is poor. Water requirement. Irrigation of the growing crop directly influences the crop, both in yield and quality. Timing and volume of water required depends on type of media, weather conditions and growth stage of the crop. We recommend you check university and research web sites for the most up to date information. Controlling temperature. As the greenhouse temperature increases, plants need to prevent themselves overheating. They do this by transpiring and loosing water to the atmosphere through the leaves. Provided the roots have a good supply of water this method works until the temperature rises too high. The rate of water uptake through the roots is then unable to keep up with the rate of water loss through the leaves when the leaves get a "scorched". Use Shade cloth, evaporative cooling pads or shade compounds in conjunction with exhaust fans will help keep temperatures down during the summer months.
Bear in mind also that the type of house you have will also influence the temperature. A high house will tend to be cooler in the summer months and than a lower house. Pruning the plant. In a season a greenhouse tomato plant can grow up to 10m (30 feet) long. Plants must be leaned and lowered as the season progresses and should be pruned throughout their growing cycle. Removing surplus leaves and shoots as well as fruit thinning is essential for plant vigor and yield. It also has an effect on disease levels, light penetration and ease of harvesting. Tomato plants are normally grown to a single stem and side shoots (suckers) are removed. If left to grow these suckers would bear fruit and although the total number of fruit would be greater, the quality and overall yield would be lower. The laterals should be pruned out every 7-10 days, depending on plant growth rate but leave one or two of the smallest suckers at the top of the plant. This is because if the main plant is damaged, one of these smaller suckers can be grown on to replace the main stem. At the same time as pruning, older leaves at the base of the stem can be removed to improve air circulation as well as reduce the risk of diseases such as Botrytis and Leaf mould. Removing leaves will improve the fruits color development and make picking easier but do not remove leaves near to fruit cluster as they supply a major part of the nutrients necessary for the fruit growth. Leaning and lowering. The plant training begins when the stem reaches 20 - 30cm (8 - 12inches). A system of support wires or strings is rigged above the rows of plants and clipped to the base of the plant. The plant should be clipped to or wrapped around the string as it is pruned. When the plant reaches the top of the string, around 7 feet (2.1m) above the ground, it is leaned and dropped. Leaning the plant prevents the stem from breaking but ensure all plants are leant in the same direction and to the same height so they don't shade each other. Other factors also to be considered: pollination, irrigation, fertilizer, pH, relative humidity, growing mediums, type of greenhouse. Information above provided by Dr Rick Snyder, Mississippi State University Extension Service. |
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