Hydroponic Tomatoes

[Jonathan_E]

All,

What do you think of the flavor of hydroponically grown tomatoes? An increasing number of commercial tomatoes are grown this way, including the majority of those grown in Canada. I ask this in part because a month or so ago I bought a bunch of high-priced tomatoes at my local Whole Foods store that were labeled as heirlooms and indeed probably were. One looked much like a Cherokee Purple. There was also a large pink and a couple of red beefsteaks (unfortunately they were not labeled by variety).

I was getting quite excited about having finally found decent tomatoes for sale in a supermarket, until I got them home and tasted them. They were all tasteless. The label on each one said that it was grown in Canada. This means that they were probably grown hydroponically, I suspect. I also suspect that because it was too early for any field-grown tomatoes to be coming from Canada.

So is it just impossible to grow tomatoes with good flavor hydroponically? Or was something else wrong?

There is a tomato produced in Israel hydroponically called Desert Sweet that apparently is quite successfully sold in Europe. Has anyone here tried it?

Also, if you grow in potting medium (non-soil) in an earthbox, as many of us do (including me), is that a hydroponic tomato? All hydroponic growers use some variety of growing medium, not just water, for the roots.

Thoughts welcome.

Best regards,

Jonathan

[Rena]

Tony in Orlando grows hydro as he has such soil problems. Having said that I would say that some lack of flavor comes from not having the right amount of light/heat. There is also another forum member here who hydros in a greenhouse with fish water as her medium. It was a very cool setup. I will look and see if I can find a link. Good to see you posting.http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ish+greenhouse
Edited to add link

[bcday]

I don't grow hydro, but I suspect that the problem with flavorless supermarket heirlooms is the same as with flavorless supermarket hybrids regardless of whether they came from the field or a greenhouse. If they were shipped long distances, they were probably picked green in order to survive shipping, and the flavor never had a chance to develop.

I have tried the Desert Sweet tomatoes from the supermarket here and they were very good.

[keithaxis]

exactly. they still have to pick them way before they are ripe so they look ok when they finally make it to their destination...Those same tomatoes would probably be excellent tasting no matter how they were grown if they allowed to ripen and then tasted within a couple days..but no way can retail do that...

[feldon30]

I also gut suckered into this at Whole Foods. I think the label was "Sunset" on the ones I got. They were from Canada.

Just weeks earlier, I had gotten fantastic (equal to what I've grown) heirlooms at Whole Foods which were grown in California. It's amazing how something can look the same. I think soil DOES matter and sunlight DOES matter, both of which are lacking in Canadian greenhouses.

[carolyn137]

There is a tomato produced in Israel hydroponically called Desert Sweet that apparently is quite successfully sold in Europe. Has anyone here tried it?

*****

Last I knew they weren't grown hydroponically.

Seeds are germinated with sweet ( normal) water and the seedlings then switched to being watered with the brackish water that underlies many parts of Israel. But as I said, last I knew this wasn't done hydroponically, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

And it's the brackish water that allows for the increase in sugar that is a trdemark of those tomatoes.

Desert Sweet is a trade name and the various ones can be cherries or cluster tomatoes or larger. They have to have a certain Brix value before being exported and the rest are sold within Israel.

And yes, I was gifted by a large box of the cherry Desert Sweets by someone who monetarily had supported the initial effort to develop plants that could grow and thrive on the brankish ( higher salt) waters that are so available.

[amideutch]

Jonathan, flavorful tomatoes can be grown hydroponically. But most hydro tomatoes that are grown commercially are hybrids developed for the following reasons.
Here is what hydro consultant had to say.
"Too frequently the grower is thinking about a tomato that he enjoys eating, but it is not necessarily a tomato that he can market. His tasty tomato generally has poor storage properties, is easily damaged during transportation, and has poor shelf life". So what does a tomato taste like that has long shelf life, does not get damaged in transit and great storage properties? Look no futher than the nearest supermarket.
All hydroponic growers use some variety of growing medium, not just water, for the roots. Not true. The majority of hydroponic tomatoes grown are done so by a technique called NFT (Nutrient Flow Technique) developed by Dr. Cooper in England. No aggregate needed, the plants are grown in channels or PVC pipes with holes for the plants and the nutient solution is pumped down the channels where the root mat grows.
If you want to learn more get a copy of the book "Hydroponic Tomatoes for the home gardener" by Howard M. Resh. It explains all the different type of sytems available to grow tomatoes hydroponically and how to do it. Ami

[Jonathan_E]

There are some guys in Maine profiled in the latest issue of The Tomato Magazine who have a greenhouse operation called Backyard Beauties. they have 25 acres of greenhouses and apparently are trying to sell locally (within New England) so that they can ripen on the vine. All the growing is hydroponic.

It seems odd that I haven't seen their tomatoes for sale in the Boston area, since that has to be their largest potential market. Has anyone tried them? They are labele "Backyard Beauties".

jonathan

[Jonathan_E]

Ami,

Well, shut my mouth regarding the growing medium. I was misled by a book I'm reading that probably is out of date.

So is growing in an earthbox hydroponic growing? What hydroponic tomatoes have you encountered that are good?

Best,

Jonathan

[feldon30]

Earthbox is filled with a variation of potting mix. Pelletized fertilizer is used.

[Jonathan_E]

Feldon,

Yes, I'm using four earthboxes this year myself. But is potting mix the equivalent of the various rooting media that hydroponic growers at least sometimes use, such as rockwool, vermiculite, perlite, pea gravel, sand, expended clay, pumice and even polyurethane slabs? And is the wicking of the fertilizer down from the surface of the potting mix, which the water accomplishes, the equivalent of using a hydroponic nutrient solution?

Best,

Jonathan

[Jonathan_E]

Ami,

Just for fun, I've been looking at another book, Tomato Plant Culture, by J. Benton Jones (2d ed. 2007). I'm not sure how reliable he is, since makes a number of mistakes in the early portions of the book, but his description of the NFT system says that "a rockwool cube in which a young tomato plant has germinated is set in a sloping channel of flowing nutrient solution." This is the substrate for the roots; they then are allowed to grow out into the water channel as well.

For what it's worth, Jones also says that the NFT system is no longer used much because of the tendency of the roots to clog the water channel and because it is inefficient in its use of water and nutrients. Drip irrigation and a fertilizer injection system, with the plant rooted in a substrate of rockwool slabs or perlite-containing bags or buckets are, he says, now the primary hydroponic growing systems for the production of greenhouse tomatoes.

Best,

Jonathan

[MsCowpea]

Campari's are a greenhouse tomato that taste very very good. Available at Costco. I believe they are grown in both Canada and New Mexico.

I did buy some at the regular grocery store that weren't as good so I am presuming they had been refrigerated which according to the Florida Tomato Commission is a common grocery-store mistake therefore a big no-no. (As a matter of fact they lay the blame for lousey tasting winter- tomatoes not on the fact that they have been picked green but that they have been refrigerated.)

Is earthbox hydroponics? Umm, I am not sure. Hydroponics uses a soilless mix (or even no medium at all) and a water-based nutrient system. EB does use a soilless mix but it uses a granulated fertilizer so perhaps that is not considered hydroponics.

[Jonathan_E]

Ms,

As has been pointed out here innumerable times, taste preferences in tomatoes are very much individual. For me, the Campari's, at least the ones at my local Costco, are better than most other supermarket tomatoes, but not
'very very good'. All the Campari's I've seen at Costco here in Boston are from Canada.

Costco also sells a plum tomato that again is better than other supermarket tomatoes, although not great, at least in my opinion. Since it is from Canada, I suspect that it also is hydroponically grown.

The other supermarket tomato that is good is tje Ugly Ripe. I just compared one to my homegrowns, and it stood up pretty well, although it wasn't the best. (Carolyn, I know you'll forgive me for buying one, since it was for "research purposes" only). Does anyone know whether it is hydroponically grown?

What about you home hydroponic gardeners? How do your toms compare to similar ones grown in the ground? Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks,

Jonathan

[amideutch]

Jonathan_E, glad to see you reading up on hydroponics. As far as NFT not being the system of choice anymore could very well be as some of my references are outdated. As far as roots clogging the root channels is normally from the channels not being large enough and as the nutient solution is recycled and topped off because of plant use and evaporation and changed normally every 2 weeks to a month doesn't seem inefficient to me. Here are a few pictures for our viewers so they know what we are talking about.
1. Rockwool slab and different size grow blocks and a starting plug.
2. The single plug which the seed is germinated in and either put into the NFT grow channel or put into the larger grow blocks and then attached to the slab.
3. Size comparison.
4. Top view, note hole in starting plug.
5. Drip emitters, spike emitter holder and goof plugs.
6. Instruments for measuring ph and EC of the nutrient solution.