GENERAL CULTURAL PRACTICES: CROP SCHEDULING

Plan ahead… When do you want to market your product for the best monetary return? For hydroponic tomato growers in seasonal countries, get a better price in Winter – no field competition and little from greenhouses in northern latitudes. Alternative: grow year around to maintain stable, consistent market/shelf space. Tomatoes: 2 examples of crop scheduling

• Example 1: Passively cooled greenhouses (vents): No Summer harvesting. Seed first crop in early July in 1" (or 1.5") Rockwool cubes. Transplant in mid-July into 3" (or 4" with 2 holes) Rockwool blocks. Plant 1-month-old seedlings onto Rockwool slabs in August. Harvest from October until March – Top the plants in February, remove when second crop begins producing in March. Seed a second crop in early December as above. Transplant in mid-December as above. Interplant new 1 month old seedlings onto Rockwool slabs in January. Harvest from this new crop from March until July. Remove plants. Clean.
• Example 2: Actively cooled greenhouses (fan and pad): Year around harvesting. Seed, transplant and plant first and second crops as above, removing first crop as above in March. Continue second crop, harvesting from March until the next October. Seed, transplant and plant the third crop, as the first, in July/August. When third crop is ready to harvest in October, remove second crop. Continue the process for up to 5 years.

Note: Concentrate on the production end (growing the plants, harvesting, marketing, etc.)
and purchase 1 month old seedlings from a TRANSPLANT GROWER.
NOTE: Why 2 crops/year? Fruit size and quality go down over time.

GENERAL CULTURAL PRACTICES: CROP AND CULTIVAR SELECTION – Experience

EXPERIENCE: If a grower has experience with a particular crop… stick with it. Example: A family with experience in growing long cucumbers in British Columbia, Canada, moved south of Willcox, AZ and is growing cucumbers… not tomatoes. If a grower does not have experience with a particular crop… Work for someone who is successful with that crop to gain experience.
Hire someone who is experienced… an expert!

GENERAL CULTURAL PRACTICES (Crop & Cultivar Selection) – LOCATION

LOCATION: The selection of a crop will dictate the best location for the operation…
and visa versa.
Example: If a grower chooses tomatoes in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, the optimum elevation is between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. Any lower and it is usually too hot to grow. Any higher and it is too cold to grow (especially during rainy days)…UNLESS SIGNIFICANT EXPENSE ($$) IS PUT TOWARD COOLING OR HEATING!
Example: If a grower has land at about 2500 feet in elevation in Cameron Highland, a crop
that can tolerate warmer temperatures than tomatoes, such as cucumbers could be selected. The selection of a “cultivar” or “variety” is also important when choosing a location. Seed companies are always coming out with new cultivars (or varieties) to suit different climates and tastes. With the move of many growing operations to higher light regions of the world
… remember photosynthesis… (Most of Asian & Middle East countries, Northern Africa, Northern Australia, Southwest USA, Mexico, Spain) AND the demand for good quality, good tasting tomatoes year around, many seed companies are introducing more HEAT TOLERANT varieties. Example (from one of the greenhouse cultivator company in Southwest USA) TRUST Tomato veriety were selected: a Dutch variety (DeRuiter Seed); optimum day temperature = 72 F. The first 10 acres (and next 30) of greenhouses were passively cooled (no fan and pad/evaporative cooling). They were not able to grow in the Summer and therefore started with transplants (1 month old seedlings started in Canada) in August and removed the crop the following July.

GENERAL CULTURAL PRACTICES - (Crop & Cultivar Selection) – MARKET

INTRODUCTION
General cultural practices include all information, techniques and skills required to successfully produce a crop and optimize yields – the main goal of any grower! We will concentrate on tomatoes with reference to other crops to illustrate the variability in cultural practices between crops.
CROP AND CULTIVAR SELECTION
This is one of the most important decisions a grower will make and depends on:
MARKET… LOCATION… EXPERIENCE

1)MARKET:

• Research the region. Know if there are other growers in the area = competition. If there are too many tomato growers… try cucumbers, peppers, basil, melon, chillies/capsicum etc.
• Know the market. Brokerage houses, grocery vs specialty stores, farmer’s markets, restaurants, etc.
• Hydroponics/greenhouse culture is expensive. Therefore, a high cash-value crop must be chosen. These include: 1)Tomatoes: Indeterminant (vining) varieties to take advantage of the vertical space in the greenhouse that has been paid for! Beefsteak: large fruit, harvested individually. Cluster, truss or TOV (tomato on the vine): medium to large fruit, harvested as an entire truss. Cherry: small fruit, harvested individually or as an entire truss. 2)Peppers/Capsicums: Colored bells only, primarily yellows – require sun protection. 3)Cucumbers: Long (European, seedless, parthenocarpic, burpless). They are thin-skinned and must be wrapped in plastic after harvest. 4)Lettuce: Head, leaf or cos; specialty or bred for hydroponics/CEA ( Controlled Environment Agriculture). Summer Bibb or “Limestone” lettuce. 5)Melons: Many types of Melons (Musks, Signal, Cupid, Rock, Sweet etc) 6)Specialty Greens, Herbs and Medicinals: Several types and varieties.
  

NOTE: Consult seed companies for suitable crops/varieties.