Growing Hydroponic Tomatoes
We all know how valuable tomatoes are in our regular recipes. Dating back to the Inca civilization, tomatoes were treated with great importance. This is why it is considered as one of the most authentic aboriginal crops in America. The University of Arizona's research and development program on hydroponic tomatoes started during 1960s. In this article, we will shed light on the fundamentals of growing hydroponic tomatoes as adopted from University of Arizona reports.
Environmental Control System
Photosynthesis is the leading factor of optimum growth and high level of production. It is so vital to the overall production, that only one percent of decline in the light can lead to one percent decline in the production. If the degree of photosynthesis is declined as a result of cloudy weather, it may result in pale tomato leaves low in sugary content. However, when a hydroponic growing system is used in the greenhouse environment, an additional source of artificial light is supplemented to complement the requirement of light used in the photosynthesis process.
Temperatures
The lights available both day and night influence the plant vitality, size of the leaf, expansion rate of the leaf, as well as fruit development time. When the plant is subject to low temperatures at night, the growth rate of the plant is declined along with a reduced leaf size. Hence, the temperature needs to be closely monitored and maintained at an optimum level, which is virtually impossible in traditional setups. However, for the production of hydroponic tomatoes it can be set 70° to 79°F for the day time and 61° to 65° for night time throughout the year.
Seeding
A wide variety of tomatoes are developed for the purpose of hydroponic production. All of these hydroponic tomatoes have indefinite morphology, which means the vegetative growth rate of these tomato plants is not limited to its flowering. Apollo, Dombito, Belmondo, Trend, Caruso, Perfecto, Trust and Lama are few varieties of hydroponic tomatoes. The seeds of hydroponic tomatoes are quite costly. This influences some newcomers to consider developing seeds from the adult plants; however, those successive plants may not necessarily inherit these qualities.
Propagation Media
The propagation media needs to be carefully infused before sowing of the seeds in order to ensure consistent and homogeneous sharing of moisturizer. Tomato seeds are to be sown by keeping a gap of ¼ to 3/8 inches. Seeding can be done in an inert medium like rockwool blocks, which are available in a wide variety of sizes. Overhead watering is the fundamental requirement for germination of seeds. Under any circumstances, the temperature during irrigation should be set at 64°F and the span of available light per day should be around 14 hours to 18 hours.
We all know how valuable tomatoes are in our regular recipes. Dating back to the Inca civilization, tomatoes were treated with great importance. This is why it is considered as one of the most authentic aboriginal crops in America. The University of Arizona's research and development program on hydroponic tomatoes started during 1960s. In this article, we will shed light on the fundamentals of growing hydroponic tomatoes as adopted from University of Arizona reports.
Environmental Control System
Photosynthesis is the leading factor of optimum growth and high level of production. It is so vital to the overall production, that only one percent of decline in the light can lead to one percent decline in the production. If the degree of photosynthesis is declined as a result of cloudy weather, it may result in pale tomato leaves low in sugary content. However, when a hydroponic growing system is used in the greenhouse environment, an additional source of artificial light is supplemented to complement the requirement of light used in the photosynthesis process.
Temperatures
The lights available both day and night influence the plant vitality, size of the leaf, expansion rate of the leaf, as well as fruit development time. When the plant is subject to low temperatures at night, the growth rate of the plant is declined along with a reduced leaf size. Hence, the temperature needs to be closely monitored and maintained at an optimum level, which is virtually impossible in traditional setups. However, for the production of hydroponic tomatoes it can be set 70° to 79°F for the day time and 61° to 65° for night time throughout the year.
Seeding
A wide variety of tomatoes are developed for the purpose of hydroponic production. All of these hydroponic tomatoes have indefinite morphology, which means the vegetative growth rate of these tomato plants is not limited to its flowering. Apollo, Dombito, Belmondo, Trend, Caruso, Perfecto, Trust and Lama are few varieties of hydroponic tomatoes. The seeds of hydroponic tomatoes are quite costly. This influences some newcomers to consider developing seeds from the adult plants; however, those successive plants may not necessarily inherit these qualities.
Propagation Media
The propagation media needs to be carefully infused before sowing of the seeds in order to ensure consistent and homogeneous sharing of moisturizer. Tomato seeds are to be sown by keeping a gap of ¼ to 3/8 inches. Seeding can be done in an inert medium like rockwool blocks, which are available in a wide variety of sizes. Overhead watering is the fundamental requirement for germination of seeds. Under any circumstances, the temperature during irrigation should be set at 64°F and the span of available light per day should be around 14 hours to 18 hours.
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