oops same pic.

 

That is AWESOME.

I wanna learn more.

I do have one question.

What are the ropes for?

 

F150Europe,

Good pics, and interesting explanation. I think the word is "grafted" instead of "crafted" for the process of attaching plants to different rootstocks.
How many tomatoes did you plant? How much area do your greenhouses cover?
Finally, how many bumble bees do you need for pollination? Do you have to maintain a hive?

Thanks,
John

 

The ropes are attached to an iron wire +_ 6 feet high.
The tomatoeplant grows all the way to that height then it comes down again.

I do have to tell you, the way I am growing these tomatoes is old fashioned.
The high tech growers are starting in December untill November.
The stems are reaching a length of over 35 feet.
What they do is, each 2 weeks they lower the plants.
They have sufficient amount of rope on a hook to do that.
Hard to explain, I will take a pic for you at my neighbour.

Your plants are lying on the ground?

 

No, I have mine in cages. I need to get my pics up here to show ya.

Those are some really neat pics, and I cant imagine the stems reaching a length of over 35 feet.

WOW!


John had a few interesting questions as well.

 

Oh thanks, grafted, I was not sure. looked that up a couple of years ago. I thought craft had something to do with power, giving more growing strength. Anyway you did understand what I meant.

My business is not that big compared to others. Rather small compared to them. As I said, this is the old fashioned way of growing tomatoes. 99.9 % of all tomatoes grown here are not using real soil any more. Hell, they are not even planted on the ground anymore but at a height of approximately 3 feet.
Space enough greenhouses are +_ 15 feet high these days.

I have got 7000 square metres of greenhouses.
Sorry don't know how many feets/yards that are.

This unit/section showing the pics is 1815 m2.
2315 plants to be exact.

Unit 1 3090 m2 3600 plants
Unit 2 2025 m2 2400 plants
Unit 3 1815 m2 2315 plants

Total 7000 m2
Expected production 21 Kg/ m2
7000x21 Kg= 147.000 Kg (+- 323,400 Lbs) Hopefully.

About the bumble bees.
Everything is taken care for, they just bring 2 boxes tomorrow.
I really have nothing to do.
I am not sure but +_ 80 bumble bees in a box but you rarely see one in the greenhouse.
I am paying per month per square meter, peanuts compared to what labor costs here.
We used to take care of the pollination ourselves 3 times a week, took a lot of time.
And these bees will fly at the perfect moment when the pollen is right.You get good tomatoes and you hardly missing one.

Will take pics tomorrow.

 

Awesome !

I cant wait.

 

F150Europe,

That is some interesting information. I marvel at the thought of 35 ft. long tomato plants/vines. Most garden tomato plants here grow up to 6 feet for the tallest ones. People usually tie them to stakes to keep them upright.

7000 square meters (.7 hectares) is approx. 1.73 acres

How long is the "tomato season" for your greenhouse? It sounds like you are growing tomatoes exclusively now, yes? What other vegetables do you grow throughout the year?

That's great about how efficiently the bees cross pollinate for you. Is it hard to stay competitive with the larger, high-tech growers? I don't know how strong the supply and demand is for produce in your area.

I do remember when I visited Holland in 2000, asparagus was in season, and I got to try white asparagus, which was something I had not been exposed to before.

John

 

Once again John you have my attention.

I love asparagus. How did it taste?

 

I am growing lettuce from last week October untill first week of May.Then I am growing tomatoes from first week of May untill second week of October. Then it's lettuce again.
Not to many people do this like what I am doing.
The smaller businesses like mine are all doomed to disappear.
It's monoculture like peppers (green, red, yellow, orange, white) tomatoes (beef, on the vine, cherry, round), eggplants, cucumbers that will have a future.
The bigger the better, 50000 to 80000 square meters is normal.

High tech growers produce close if not more than 60 kilos per square meter.I am getting the same price, more or less, as they are getting, depends on the quality of course, only there costprice is lower then mine.

I am not selling my tomatoes myself, The Greenery International does that for me, a cooperation of growers.
Tomatoes are exported throughout whole Europe and also to the US. Especially Tomatoes on the Vine.
My neighbour is also exporting to the US.
Unfortunately not as much will be exported to the US as normal because of the weak dollar, tomatoes will be to expensive that way. Flown in by plane.

Germany takes a lot of our tomatoes, Spain is our biggest competitor. Then France, Italy.

Last year prices were super/ excellent outstanding.
Something we hadn't expected, so many factors that can have effect on the price.

I do like asparagus too, heard they are worth nothing like so many other products.
The lettuce season was one big disaster, I have never seen prices that low.
It has only cost me a lot of money to grow lettuce this season.
This may sound weird but it's the truth. Far below costprice.
And that's sad.
And what's even more sad, the price for vegetables in grocery stores is so damn expensive.

 

It was good. The aparagus shoots are kept underground (out of light). White asparagus is supposed to be a little less bitter/sweeter than green asparagus. I can't give a better impression because during most of my visit, my senses somewhat were dulled by lots of fresh beer.
I'd like to go back there again.

John

 

That is something I need to add to my, "gotta try someday list".

 

I uploaded some pictures of my little garden.

What do you think?


It was a partly cloudy day, so the pics aren't perfect.

 

The crops seem to have a nice green color, therefore I think the amount of fertilizer/nutricient is ok.

I would advise to cut some tomatoe leafs especially those who are old and yellow. Cut them just below the first vine.
You don't need them, plenty of leafs left for fotosynthesis.
They will only take up the plants energy.
Use a knife to cut them near the stem, do not break them by hand, you will get a nice cut.
Otherwise you will end up having a fungus in the stem called Botrytis.

How many vines you got per plant, I can only see one!

How many plants are there in one cage.
Did you start with one stem only or more.

What other vegetables do you have?

I see beans, peppers, you also mentioned squash, what's that.

Do I see also some courgette plants.

Do you have any pests in your tomatoes like leafminers, white flies or lice to name a few.

 

How many vines you got per plant, I can only see one!
What do you mean by "vines"?

How many plants are there in one cage.
1 plant per cage.

Did you start with one stem only or more.
I planted the plants from seed.

What other vegetables do you have?
I have cucumbers, and yellow squash.

I see beans, peppers, you also mentioned squash, what's that?


Do I see also some courgette plants.
I dont think so. I dont exactly know what that is.

Do you have any pests in your tomatoes like leafminers, white flies or lice to name a few.
Not anymore. I did have some lil red bugs...didnt know what they were. I used Ortho bug killer for vegtables.