In the last 10-12 years, a concept that has become increasingly common in vegetable production has emerged. The subject of tomato production in a soilless greenhouse.
Soilless agriculture is carried out in a special product obtained by compressing coconut fruit shell pieces called “ cocopeat ”, which is the last and most widely used product, without using soil in modern greenhouses.
It is a type of production made in special arrangements 50-60 cm above the soil, under controlled conditions (the temperature will not fall below 11-12 ° C throughout the year; automatic opening and closing ventilation systems with an automatic fertilizer system called EC, whose salt level and pH are adjusted).
Most tomatoes are produced in soilless agriculture all over the world. In addition to tomatoes, other edible vegetable types such as cucumbers and peppers are also produced in a hydroponic greenhouse. In addition, in recent years, mainly lettuce, green and leaf-consumed vegetables and strawberries are also produced in different ways.
Soilless greenhouses in Turkey have become widespread in areas with geothermal hot water in the inner regions and in the provinces. Geothermal hot water is extracted from a distance of 1000 meters or more, although it varies according to the regions. Hot water provides a temperature above 12°C in the greenhouse even when the temperature drops below zero in winter, enabling intensive tomato production for 10 months of the year.
In general, seedlings are planted in the greenhouse in December and January in soilless and intensive production is made throughout the year. The temperature of the geothermal water used in the soilless greenhouse should be 60°C and above, and the flow rate (flow level) of the water should be high. In recent years, according to the conditions, in regions with a water temperature of 45°C, two plantings per year have been made, and two crop systems have been introduced in the form of short-term autumn-spring.
Soilless tomato production is a production system with high input costs. It can be economical to build a greenhouse of at least 20 decares . Extracting geothermal water from 1000 meters is very costly. Today, a minimum cost of over 1 million TL must be sacrificed to produce 1000 meters of hot water. The cost of 1 decare (1000 m2, 1 decare) greenhouse can be 200,000-300,000 TL or more.
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In soilless production, it is possible to amortize the initial cost in 2-3 years with a smooth and systematic production model. But in soilless production, the amount of production, that is, the yield, is high.
In a very good production system in a greenhouse with normal soil, 10-12 tons of product can be obtained from 1 decare, while in soilless production, a minimum of 30-35 tons of tomatoes can be obtained from 1 decare greenhouse, and 50 tons of tomatoes can be obtained in maximum country conditions. In countries such as the Netherlands and Canada, artificial light is also applied in soilless production, and the product taken from 1000 m2 varies between 60-80 tons/da .
In the production of soilless tomatoes, the type of tomato that we call bunch tomatoes is used as a bunch of 140-160 g. The clusters are harvested by cutting with scissors and sold as clusters in large markets, in special containers made of foam, wrapped in stretch film.
Tomatoes produced in a soilless greenhouse are both more suitable for export and can be sold at higher prices than normal greenhouse tomatoes. In recent years, studies have been carried out on the economic potential of producing large red and pink tomatoes and large village tomatoes in a hydroponic greenhouse. In the studies, it has been seen that large pink village tomato varieties such as Gülköy and Ergen , and red village tomato such as Yükselköy can both be produced with higher yields and sold at higher prices compared to cluster tomatoes.
It is necessary to pay attention to fertilization from soilless tomato production. In case of wrong fertilization, the production system may be adversely affected since there is no cultivation infrastructure that can regulate and tolerate the wrong application, such as soil.
Soilless agriculture is a special and professional production method and is used as an effective and high profit system in tomato production.
Sources
Ercan ÖZKAYNAK