MEET DEMAND WITH BETTER TOMATOES

There are three common greenhouse structures: glasshouses, poly houses, and net houses. All three are suitable for producing tomatoes.

The questions you should ask are: 

• What are the local environmental conditions? 
• How much do I want to/can I invest? 

Glasshouse structures are suitable for commercial production of tomatoes in mild to cold climates (heavy snow load) and require high investment. Poly houses are suitable for diverse climatic conditions, and net houses will be more suitable for dry or hotter climate conditions (non-rainy climates).

• Net houses: 10 to 15 kg/m² (short cycle crop).
• Low-tech / simple poly houses: 25 to 30 kg/m² per year (1 long cycle of 10-11 months, or two short cycles of five months each).
• High-tech greenhouses with climate control system: 40 to 70 kg/m² (1 long cycle of 10 months).

• Short cycle: 140 to 150 days from planting to harvest.
• Long cycle: 10 to 11 growing months, including nine months of harvesting.

Ensuring the right EC, pH, and nutrient levels in the root zone is critical for fast-growing and high-yielding crops. This is especially true when growing in soilless media, since the growing medium has low buffer capabilities and demands a fast and precise reaction. You need a system that can react quickly to any change, be it crop stage or climate. This can be the difference between winning and losing. Precision drip systems are based on non-drainage drippers, designed for pulse irrigation and special dosing systems that allow you to keep all parameters exactly where you need them, and react to changes on demand. 

Irrigation of soilless media is characterised by short irrigation pulses (minutes). With CNL drippers, you increase Nutrugation™ uniformity by eliminating the refilling time of the system and preventing system drainage. This means that all the drippers start and stop at exactly the same time every irrigation cycle, guaranteeing equal quantities of water and fertiliser to all plants.