The Science Behind Growing Tomatoes

Tomatoes originally came from Peru, the Aztec name translated to plump thing with a navel. The way a tomato plant grows depends on how a farmer mulches and fertilizes it, say researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They’ve uncovered some unexpected details about the biochemistry that goes into producing the juicy red fruit.

Over the winter, the farmers grow hairy vetch, which belongs to the bean family. When springtime comes, they change the vetch and plant tomatoes in the cuttings. The vetch keeps weeds out and nutrients in. Some research is showing that tomatoes last longer and get fewer fungal diseases when grown in dried vetch. “vetch.https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/growing-healthier-tomato-plants” Over the winter, the farmers grow hairy vetch, which belongs to the bean family. When springtime comes, they mow the vetch and plant tomatoes in the cuttings. The vetch keeps weeds out and nutrients in. Some research has shown that tomatoes last longer and get fewer fungal diseases when grown in dried.

If you add any more than or Too much water can also dilute the flavor. “We know that if you harvest fruit from a plant and then it rains a lot and you go back to the same plant the next day, the fruit tastes less flavorful,” says Klee. How much and how often you water depends on how much rain you’re getting, but most experts recommend watering two to three times a week in the hottest part of the summer. Just as important, says Klee, is the soil. He recommends planting seedlings in rich soil with lots of organic matter, or compost. And you can add a steady slow-release fertilizer (like Osmocote).

Then why would the Netherlands have a lot of tomato growers? That’s where greenhouses come in, the Dutch are known for their efficient food production in tomatoes. It’s not just tomatoes, but we sure have a lot of those. Tomatoes aren’t grown in regular soil in most greenhouses. Regular soil is too variable for these greenhouses. Since everything can be controlled in greenhouses (water, light, temperature) they need “soil” which can be controlled very precisely as well. Therefore they use a variety of commercial products. They need feed plant the exact amount of water the plant needs. No water gets lost because it is drained away in the soil, instead, just about everything goes into the soil. In the greenhouse we visited barely any insecticides etc. were used, instead, natural protection of the tomatoes was used. They have several insects they use to fight plagues or diseases, to keep the tomatoes healthy. One of these is bumblebees.

Apparently bumblebees are the most suitable insects for pollinating tomatoes. Not only do they work the whole day long, even when the weather isn’t perfect. Also, once they’ve started pollinating tomatoes, they won’t be interested in other plants anymore, which makes them very faithful workers. These Bumble bees also do not look for nectar and barely sting people, which is nice since there still is quite a lot of handwork involved. This makes them very efficient pollinators for tomato growers.