GreenHouse Tomato Farming Project by HCDA

[hack77]

sorry. the sentence should read thatch the roof..... NOT THE WALL.

[nzee]

This is grt Hack...i read about slowing rippening og tomatoes through lowering temperatures to about 17 degrees. Below this, the fruit will freeze and loose quality when you try to sell it. But your method looks good.

Actually my plan was: if i have tomatoes during the high season and the prices are low, then i would slow rippening and sell them during the low season.

Slowing rippening also involves reducing Oxygen levels to the tomato.

[webfarmer]

For those of you interested in making a traditional fridge as suggested by hack77, here is a helpful link How to Make a Local Fridge using Charcoal(english version),Engeri yokukolamu fridge yamanda (luganda version) Collecting and Exchange of Local Agricultural Content

[hack77]

Nzee,
It works by timming the market, just like flower growers time for Valentines. In your case growing during heavy rains is good for you and bad for open field farmers. You could switch to growing a different crop when the weather is good for outdoor growing.
About slowing down ripening by use of CO2. It has so far not proved commercially viable, we would have done it. Cooling is still the method of choice for fresh produce.

[Amateur2008]

1st I want to thank all of you for the good work of freely sharing this valuable information on green hse tomatoes.

I have done tomatoes b4 in the open field and for the past few months; since April this year I have been harvesting from my pilot g/hse in Kitengela. Honestly, this' a wonderful idea and am glad my trial has been successful. Don't ask for the figures.

I have seen the excitement this new venture has generated amongst kenyans but caution must be observed b4 pumping money in this venture coz it ain't cheap and any slight mistake can cost you alot.

Do not compromise on the structure if you expect to receive any good returns. The plants must also be tendered for properly with regular spray, prunning, layering,watering, etc. Just remember after you tender for them well they will not hand you the money, even that you have to go for by selling.

Basically, do your homework properly as this is a business just like any other.

[bure kabisa!]

I did my greenhse and it has burnt me. It is the first time and i bet i have made a lot of mistakes. It is a 6X25M and I have harvested for about 3 months. I have been doing about 60 Kgs per week and honestly, i dont think this will ever lead me to break even. In addition, now there is a disease they r calling bacterial wilt where whole stems are wilting then drying up. Am told there is nothing anyone can do about this disease. I have 2 questions:-

1. What would be the approximate production per week for this size of house?
2. Some pple are advising me never to plant tomatoes in the area again, that the bacteria is in the soil. Is it true nothing can done to the soil?

[hack77]

Not true, that there is nothing you can do.There is an antagonistic fungi to fusariun called trichoderma harzium, the commercial name is ECO-T, apply it through the drip lines once a week and it will arrest spread of the disease. If it doesnt work forget about the Wangari Mathai and pump some fungicide, wait a few days then pump in ECO T again. If you do not reinnoculate after applying a fungicide to your soil you will be in for a big shock.Secondly do not assume at the first instance that the symptoms are obviously primarily caused by bacterial wilt, if you have nematodes punturing the roots the result is the same as it creates avenue for infection and low yields(which you have reported). You could aply an insecticide through the drip lines to take care of nematodes if you see gall like swellings on the roots containing white minutre eel like organisms.I hope this information is useful.
The yield you are obtaining is very low sugesting either insuficient watering or lack of adequate fertilizer application.The ec of the solution you apply in soil should be around have an EC of 1.2 to 1.4 at a volume of 3 to 5 litres per square metre per day depending on the weather, this means that the water contains enough fertilizer.

[bure kabisa!]

@hack77

Thanks so much for this insight. But forgive my ignorance, you are bit too technical. What is ECO-T, EC ... and what do the ratios mean?

[hack77]

ECO T is the trade name of the fungi Trichoderma harzium, which will colonise the soil and prevent the fungi causing you the problem(Fusarium)from spreading.
EC is simply electrical conductivity, the more salt(fertilizer) a solution has the higher the EC.

[nzee]

Hack77, in your experience, how effective is this ECO-T?