Josh - A guy from Houston built a three huge greenhouses here a few years ago and went into hydroponic tomato production in a big way. He grew some beautiful tomatoes but they had no taste. They tasted like the tomatoes from Calf that are picked flat-out green and ripened with ethylene gas. They just couldn't compete with the WalMart tomatoes - same thing at higher prices. He went broke and his expensive greenhouses are decaying and falling down.

If your going the farmers market route - direct retail sales - they have to have that vine-ripened flavor.

Jack

I was just thinking of using them to grow transplants to transplant into the field. Plant the seeds in hydroponic grow them into transplant size. Like was done with tobbacco plants
josh

Josh, I start my own transplants in my house and then move them into the unheated greenhouse. I know one of the growers near you, uses one of his 'melon' wagons and covers with plastic. He puts a peak on the wagon, pulls it out of the garage in the daytime, and brings back into in the evening. I think he heats the garage some, but not sure.

Josh, how do they move them from the greenhouse to the field with bare roots? Seems like they'd die. Guess they must wrap them or something.

Boy, that wagon/garage deal sounds like a good idea,..(what's your first name?).., I have a three shelf light tray in the house. It'll only handle about 600 plants at a time. I was a painter and a rich lady in Houston gave it to me 25 yrs ago when I was working in her house. I need to rig something else. I like the wagon idea, if I can figure out how to rig the flourescent lights.

Jack

Name's Marla. He has garage lights, but I don't think he uses them much. I know he has a wood stove in the garage. He also uses this concrete block garage for produce cleaning and he has a smaller bunker cooler out of grocery store.

I got a shelving unit from Sams, 4'x 6'x 2', It has 5 shelves and I put a light attached to ceiling, plus a 4' light for each shelf. I'm going to get a couple more. I start my plants on these shelves and after the temps get above freezing, I moved them out to the 10x20 car canopy covered with plastic.

Tobbacco plants are covered with wet burlap, or paper. I have been buying my tomatoe plants bulk and barerooted just covered with wet paper, I set them with a transplanter on my tractor, and they have to be bareroot. I usaly set between 1,500 to 2,000 plants.
Josh

What varieties do you plant, Josh? Do y'all have Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus up there? TSWV is a big problem here and even worse over in Louisiana. So I have to use all resistant varieties - this year was my first with the determinates. I planted Amelia, Bella Rosa and Top Gun. Amelia did the best of the three, but it's a larger plant requiring higher support. This year I'm going with Niko, also from Harris Moran - a more compact version of Amelia, I gather.

I've always used concrete reinforcing wire cages, but I'm sweitching to Florida Weave next year. With this many plants the cages aren't practical. What support system do you use? Weave, I bet.

Is the transplanter a one man job or does a guy sit on the back of the machine?

Jack

Jack, my customer makes salsa and other tomatoe sauces, for retail sale. He requires Roma tomatoes. Our soils generaly are fairly disease free. We just rotate fields every year.
josh

Josh, I would like to find a transplanter that doesn't need a 3-pt. Have you seen any? I can get a person to help transplant, so it doesn't need to be a one-man. I've not seen a one-man transplanter.

Ive never seen a one man planter neither, but wouldnt that be nifty, dont know how one would get the plants in the fingers though. My planter is from the 50s, 3 point hitch one row. It carries 2 riders who alternate putting one plant in a rubber lined finger. Its ground driven, so I guess thier must be a none 3 point hitch one, Ive never seen one, the amish may have a way to rig one up. But its ground driven and you can vary spacing by exchanging gears as in a ground driven planter. And as the tractor pulls the planter a furrower opens the grond the fingers push the plant in and some plates in a v close and press the furrow as a shot of water and ferilizer are injected. The planter can plant tomatoes, tobbacco, strawberries, peppers, and green onion sets.
josh