Eurofresh provides protected environment for tomatoes

July 15, 2008

Salmonella free tomatoes! A walk through the Eurofresh tomato plant in Snowflake is like a visit to the set of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” Instead of the usual home garden tomato vine that stands about two to three feet high with branches spreading out, the vines in the Eurofresh greenhouses soar high above ground.

The vines themselves, which grow to about 50 feet, are woven back and forth reaching a height of about 18 feet, tied up with string. As high as that is, there is another three meters (nearly 10 feet) of a buffer zone between the tomatoes and the roof. Visitors to the greenhouse are required to wear white lab coats so they won’t leave any unwanted material on the vines if they should happen to brush against them.

“In our Snowflake operation, each plant produces 40 to 50 pounds per plant,” said David Leitch, general manager of Eurofresh’s packing operation. “We produce about 150 million tomatoes here. “At this farm, we only grow utility tomatoes which are of uniform size. We have 40 to 50 contracted customers that we supply year-round.”
Clusters of tomatoes in varying stages of ripeness range along the last 18 feet of vine that goes straight toward the ceiling.

As the tomatoes ripen, the leaves around them are cut and finally the clusters themselves are cut off and that now empty portion of the vine is bent to allow the next cluster to come closer to the floor. The top end of the plant continues to grow and blossom until it reaches about 50 feet in length.

“Because we supply produce 12 months of the year, we try to stagger the growth so we are never out of production,” Leitch said. “We also stagger our cleanouts. Our production planning consists of an ideal scenario, but depending on our sales, we can adjust the plan.”

MORE>>

Written by Matt · Filed Under Hydroponics News