Growing hydroponically means you can control most of external conditions influencing your crop. Primarily, the controlled environment lets you achieve maximum crop-yield, crop production in the absence of suitable soil and the ability to ignore ambient temperature and seasons. Water is used more efficiently and one can grow more than soil-based growers using the same land area.
Contrary to perceptions of undernourished hydroponic tomatoes that grow in less than favorable conditions without adequate light and with no flavor, hydroponic tomatoes taste as good as the next tomato. The hydroponic tomato is isolated from the soil and hence safe from soil-based pests, crop-diseases and salinity. The tomato is also a product with high economic value, so it makes sense to produce it using the best systems, i.e. hydroponics systems. Tomatoes are easy to grow whether you are using indoor or outdoor hydroponics gardening systems, but you have to take care of their specific nutritional and environmental needs. Here are some factors that could make or break your hydroponic tomatoes!
Tomatoes need a moderate temperature range to grow optimally. High temperatures are easier to handle, but not above 93 degrees F. The ideal range is 55 to 85 degrees F and frost or prolonged cold is a simply a no-no. Exposure to strong light for at least five hours a day is a must. Nutrients need to be easily absorbed and should be rich in nitrogen. Tomatoes totally respond to pollination. Unless you want to artificially pollinate your plants, you must make them available to natural pollinators, which means turning them over to insects and wind. But most greenhouses and indoor spaces obviously can’t use natural pollinators, so you have stick with the artificial way. Tomatoes suffer in the wind and in polluted air. Don’t overwater them, but make sure you give them adequate water. Too much or too little doesn’t work here.
One can grow hydroponic tomatoes from seedlings, transplants or seed. Seedlings or transplants are the easiest, but seed provides more customised solutions as there are more varieties of tomato available to you, that are not produced as commercial seedlings or transplants. Seed growing has another advantage; it’s less expensive as you can plant scores of seeds and select the best sprouts. And this will still cost less than buying a few dozen seedlings or transplants. Advanced Nutrients is a good place to look for hydroponics plant nutrient solutions that which are organic or synthetic; their products, like No Shock or Jump Start for example, aid plant growth in the crucial first few weeks after sowing.
Once you know your tomatoes, you can start practising specialised techniques that will make your seed-grown crops a success. Like pre-germination, for instance. Here, you place seeds on a dampened paper towel in a covered container and keep this container in a warm and dark place. Peat pots or rockwool cubes can also be used to pre-germinate seeds. Your seeds should sprout within 5-7 days. If they are on a paper towel, replant them into peat pots, rockwool cubes/slabs, soil or other media. This should be done only after the seeds have sprouted to show a white “rootlet” that’s about half an inch long. Growers who intend to grow their seedlings in soil usually use an early root zone mixture which is lighter and more aerated than regular root zone media. This allows young plants to navigate the media with their delicate, beginning root systems.