Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

General discussion regarding the techniques and methods used to successfully grow tomato plants in containers.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old March 13, 2013   #1
SEAMSFASTER
Tomatovillian™
 
SEAMSFASTER's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: American Fork, Utah
Posts: 160
Default Growing in soil vs. hydroponics

I'm considering growing in a soilless medium. I have zero experience with hydroponics so I'm not qualified to answer these basic questions:

1. Assuming optimal growing conditions and methods, how does the flavor of tomatoes grown hydroponically compare to those grown in soil? Are there published taste comparisons?

2. How does nutrition level compare, particularly with regard to trace minerals?

3. Can some of these huge heirloom varieties be grown successfully and profitably in a hydroponic system?

4. Can tomatoes be grown successfully in a hydroponic system with organic methods and products?

5. Is there a type of hydroponic setup which could be considered sustainable?
SEAMSFASTER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 13, 2013   #2
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

1. That depends upon the soil you're comparing it to.

2. It should be the same or similar.

3. Yes, but there's a big difference between successful and profitable.

4. Yes, but organic nutrients tend to be more expensive.

5. They all take work and human tending. Aquaponics would probably be the most sustainable, but you still have to feed the fish. Aquaponics is also hard to get the nutrients right, at least in my opinion. There are people on here who have done it, but I've had a hard time when I tried.

Last edited by Cole_Robbie; March 13, 2013 at 10:50 PM.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 13, 2013   #3
Keger
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Richmond, TX
Posts: 327
Default

Man, I see guys around here try this and go broke. They are going to "Make Their Money" when we cant grow anything.

And they are gone, real soon.

If you have deep pockets, have fun.

If not, well, let nature do its thing. Nature always wins....
Keger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 14, 2013   #4
Urbanfarmer
Tomatovillian™
 
Urbanfarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Freeport, Texas
Posts: 134
Default

Only professionals with large operations and nutrients by the truckload are profitable. Amateurs can barely break even.

As for quality, I wouldn't have believed it myself until we produced heirloom tomatoes better in every way than anything I'd ever grown. On an amateur level, if you have a solid platform, perfect nutrient, and good seed, you can grow astounding tomatoes for your family and friends. If you're really good, you can make some decent side money at the farmer's market.

Never believe that garbage about hydroponic tomatoes tasting like cardboard. If you grow a cardboard supermarket variety, yes, that is what you will get. A wonderful heirloom grown correctly in a hydro system will out-perform your soil plant.
Urbanfarmer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 15, 2013   #5
beefyboy
Tomatovillian™
 
beefyboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Pt. Charlotte fl
Posts: 330
Default

Hi Urbanfarmer (Ed) , this is Chuck. I think I told you about this site, correct?
beefyboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
hydroponic , nutrition

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:06 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★