Greenhouse Tomato Production in Cocopeat - About Us Tomato Presentation.pdf · Cocopeat Tomato...

Greenhouse Tomato Production in Cocopeat

Turkey

May 2009

Andrew Olley Consulting

Andrew Olley

(B.Agr.Sc.,MAIAST)

Greenhouse Agronomist

Andrew Olley Consulting (confidential)

Cocopeat Tomato Production Presentation

1) History Andrew Olley Consulting

2) Australian Industry

3) Galuku Cocopeat

4) Cocopeat Irrigation Management

5) Cocopeat Nutrition Management

6) Leaf Management

7) Consultancy Services


1) History Andrew OlleyBachelor Agricultural Science (Greenhouse Agronomist)

- Specialist in Greenhouse crop production

- 23 years experience in hydroponic / greenhouse production starting in 1986

- Commercial consultant since 1993 (16 years experience)

- Owner Sunshine Greenhouses for 8 years. Specialist research greenhouse of 5000 square metres for development advanced production methods for tomatoes and cucumbers in hot climates

- Consulted for Galuku Cocopeat since 1996

- Consulted within Australia plus 20 plus other countries including

-Sth Africa - Maldives - Holland - Qatar

- Dubai - Mexico - Fiji - Malaysia


Sunshine Greenhouses- Research Facility of 5000 square metres

- Specialist work in Cucumber / Tomato production based on Cocopeat media

- Cucumber production 65 kgs / m

- Tomato production 40 kgs / m (non heated)

2) Australian Tomato Industry


Turkey



• Australian Greenhouse tomato industry present since early 1990’s

• Traditionally medium technology industry

Plastic greenhouses of low gutter height less than 3 metres

Limited heating

No Carbon dioxide

• Early 2000’s change to high technology production involving

Full heating / Hanging gutter systems

Carbon Dioxide

Glasshouses in colder production areas

Plastic houses with 4 plus metre gutter height

• Pollination is done by hand 3 times per weeks as Bumble Bees as prohibited in Australia

• Labour costs are very high @ AUD $20 per hour (US $15 / hour)



Crop is usually grown over a 40 week period

- Northern Australia transplanted Early Autumn

- Southern Australia transplanted Early Winter

- Growing Costs of AUD$ 2.50 / kg average returns of AUD$2.75 / kg

- Growers being forced to grow at least 40 kgs / metre before any profits are made

- Greenhouse tomatoes are approximately 10 % of the fresh tomato market

- Compete with field tomatoes which are easy to grow due to mild climate and spread growing regions within Australia.

- Dramatic growth greenhouse tomatoes is now occurring as field supply is irregular and of poor quality

- MEDIA used is COCOPEAT and ROCKWOOL in the industry



Temperature Graph Growing Conditions

(Antalya South Hemisphere adjusted)

J F M A M J J A S O N D

C

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Antalya

Sydney



Australian growers achieving following yields

Plastic houses no heating 35 kgs / metre

Plastic houses high gutter + heating 45 kgs / metre

Plastic houses high gutter + heating + CO2 50-55 kgs / metre

High Technology Glasshouses 55-60 kgs / metre

High producing Glasshouse in Australia

“Blush Tomatoes” 200 000 square metres growing in Galuku Cocopeat achieving

yields of 65 + kgs / metre



Godfrey Dol of “Blush Tomatoes” & Joe Davids, Director of Galuku

200 000 square metres of Glasshouse



Blush Tomatoes crop that exceeded 65 kgs / metre fruit production

3) Galuku Cocopeat


Galuku Hydroponics\ASSETS\Galuku Hydroponics.exe

Fully Interactive Website

Involved with commercial Cocopeat since 1992

Full Technical Support and Independent Consultants

Custom manufacture Cocopeat products to suit crops / gr0wing systems

Currently in excess 4 million growbags in production around the world

www.galuku.com

3) Galuku Cocopeat


Controlled Steer Growbags WC and Air Content can be customized to suit production method and grower requirements

3) Galuku Cocopeat


Controlled Steer Growbags allow root development throughout the media maximizing strength of the root zone

3) Galuku Cocopeat


Competitor growbags without customized media components have very poor root growth only at base of the bag as finer material makes bag to wet

4) Irrigation Management Cocopeat


Most Critical part of Greenhouse Tomato management and most often the area where growers have technique incorrect to maximize yields

Important Definitions for this Presentation

1) STEERING the crop = Growers technique / tools to control crop production and growth in a desired direction

2) VEGETATIVE growth = Crop growth with thick stems, upright flowers truss, strong growth, poor fruit set as all crops energy going into leaf growth

3) GENERATIVE growth = Thin stems, flower truss at 90 degrees to stem, long thin leaves, high fruit set, small fruit size and slow speed of plant growth

4) BALANCED crop = Plant growth is strong while fruit growth and size is also performing well



VEGETATIVE PLANT GENERATIVE PLANT

Flower Truss



Vegetative Crop



Generative Crop



Steering Crop for Vegetative to Generative



Balanced Crop at TRUSS 36 fruit size and crop Vigor Still good at 35 degrees


- What is the purpose Irrigation ?

1) Water for growth of the plant / crop

2) Water for Transpiration to cool the plant

3) Water to allow excess salts to be drained from the root zone

Simple Formula for Greenhouse Crop Irrigation Requirements

100 joules light = 300 mls Irrigation per square metre

Approximate requirements broken into

100 mls for plant growth

100 mls for Transpiration

100 mls for Drain runoff / EC regulation


Irrigation Management Cocopeat

- Irrigate Tomatoes effectively irrigation application should be LINKED to accumulated light levels

- Irrigation based on TIME alone will not accurately meet the crops demands for irrigation

- Exception is on low light / cloudy days where accumulated light will not trigger sufficient irrigation for EC control of the growing slab hence override timed irrigation applications should be applied


Irrigation Period


Irrigation Management - LIGHT LEVELS

Light Intensity

Light Sum

Irrigation Total

6am 7 8 9 10 11 12pm 1 2 3 4 5 6pm

Last IrrigationFirst Irrigation


- Volume of Irrigation to apply per DRIPPER or per SQUARE METRE iscritical

- Cocopeat growbags have a threshold of water infiltration which if exceed does not allow irrigation to pass through the slab rather it moves around the sides of the bag

- This is referred to as FALSE DRAIN


Normal Irrigation moving through all areas of the cocopeat

FALSE DRAIN where irrigation moves around sides growbag

HIGH ECZONE

Greater 450 mls / m irrigation applied300-450 mls / m

irrigation applied



False Drain does not allow for the regulation of EC in the slab and hence crops can be pushed into a highly GENERATIVE mode which may decrease crop yields

CRITICAL THAT IRRIGATION DOES NOT SUPPLY MORE THAN 300-450 mls per square metre per application to avoid FALSE DRAIN occurring

This is equivalent to 2 L / hr drippers @ 3 per square metre applying no more than 2-3 minutes of irrigation at any one time

Shorter more frequent irrigations are much better than longer intervals of larger volumes

Irrigation VOLUME should be FIXED through the day and irrigationTIMINGS should be changed to suit light levels.


Irrigation Management - IRRIGATION TIMINGS

Light Intensity

Irrigation Timing

6am 7 8 9 10 11 12pm 1 2 3 4 5 6pm


Irrigation Period


- Irrigation period through the day is critical to be able to STEER crop in the desired direction and to keep fruit production in balance

- Ideal COCOPEAT volume to allow STEERING of the crop is approximately

8 -10 Litres Cocopeat per square metre of greenhouse

Ideal GROWBAG size for modern greenhouses

1 metre long x 15 cm wide x 10 cm high

(15 Litres volume) at plant density of 3 plants square metre gives 9 Litres per square metre media

Less than 8 L is insufficient in periods of hot weather hence crop will STEER to GENERATIVE actions

Greater than 10 L is too much available water volume and crop will STEER towards VEGETATIVE actions




The right MEDIA volume allows the grower control over the growthhabit of the crop and yields can be maximized.

Critical that greenhouse irrigation system has no more than 3 valves per pump unit to allow sufficient water to be applied to the media in summer growing conditions.

More valves per pump unit saves costs however will not keep up with crop water demands during summer periods.

In peak summer Irrigation system should be able to supply 10 Litres of irrigation per square metre per hour in irrigation applications of no more than 450mls per square metre per cycle to avoid false drain


- To allow for maximal crop production Cocopeat requires drying during the night period to allow the oxygenation of the root zone.

- Drying of the root zone also has the effective of producing plant hormones in the crop to STEER the growth in the growers desired direction.

COCOPEAT

Drying 8-10 % at night STEERS GENERATIVE

Drying Less than 6 % at night STEERS VEGATIVELY

Knowing the moisture content of the growbag is critical to STEER the crop and knowing when to start and stop irrigation each day.

Moisture Content can measured Automatically or Manually using either

1) Scales to measure the weight of the water changes in the growbag

2) Electronic meters to measure water content directly



- Simple Manual scale system for measuring WC growbags



- PRIVA root optimizer measuring WC / ph / EC / Drain



- Irrigation start time should be approximately 1-2 hours after sunrise to allow the crop to WAKEUP and start to absorb water from the growbag

- Measuring water content allows the grower to see when the crop is ACTIVE and the first irrigation should be applied

- If irrigation is applied to early excessive ROOT PRESURE may force water into the fruit and SPLIT fruit may result

- The LAST irrigation of the DAY should be timed to allow sufficient drying time of the COCOPEAT overnight. This last irrigation may occur 2-3 hours before SUNSET to give the active crop time to reduce the Water Content in the growbag.



Irrigation Management – SLAB WATER CONTENT

Slab WC %

6am 7 8 9 10 11 12pm 1 2 3 4 5 6pm

Last Irrigation

First Irrigation

Irrigation Period

Irrigation Timing

80

78

76

74

72

70

WC %

Root UptakeSlab Saturation

Slab Drying


- DRAIN (Runoff) is essential in Hydroponic media to regulate the EC of the growbag. EC has the effect of OSMOTIC PRESSURE on the plant and determines the volume of water the plant can absorb.

- HIGH EC reduces water uptake and is a GENERATIVE action

- LOW EC increases water uptake and is a VEGETATIVE action

- In general COCOPEAT requires approximate 30-40 % DRAIN each day to keep the root zone at a set EC level by the grower

- IMPORTANT that is an AVERAGE figure for the day and must be varied at different times of the day to keep the EC of the root zone constant

- Maximum DRAIN should occur at the peak of light through the day as this is when the plant is absorbing large volumes of water and reduce nutrient uptake occurs. This is the critical time than DRAIN must be around 50 % to keep the EC in balance in the growbag

- The first 1 or 2 irrigations at the start of the day should not cause DRAIN as the growbag will have dried down at night



Irrigation Management – DRAIN RUNOFF %

Drain %

6am 7 8 9 10 11 12pm 1 2 3 4 5 6pm


Irrigation Period

Irrigation Timing50

40

30

20

10

0

Drain %

Max Drain %

Av Drain %


- To keep the rootzone at the IDEAL EC level for desired STEERING of growth the EC must be monitored regularly

- The DRAIN EC is critical to be known so effective irrigation cycles can be scheduled.

- If the DRAIN EC is HIGH more frequent irrigations should be given to slowly bring it back into range

- If the DRAIN EC is LOW less irrigations should be given to bring it back into range

- THE APPLICATION OF LOW EC or WATER ALONE through the irrigation should never be given to reduce the EC and this will cause the plant to take up large volume of water and fruit quality will be greatly reduced with symptoms of SOFT fruit

- If the EC in the DRAIN needs to be altered more than 0.5 dsm it should be gradually done over a period 1-2 days so the plant is not shocked by the changes in the root zone.



- The greenhouse computer should be used to automatically adjust the EC of the irrigation based on light intensity as this helps keep the ROOTZONE of the growbag at a constant EC level

- However the difference between HIGH light and LOW light EC setpoints should not be more than 0.5 dsm as a change through the day greater than this will cause unstable root zone and loss of yield and quality

- During intense summer periods where night temperatures do not drop below 25 degrees night applications of Irrigation may be require to stop the slab drying down to far and causing the EC to rise.

- In summer growbags starting off below desired WC can be hard to bring to saturation when heat / light levels are high.

- Checking WC graphs during hot night periods is critical to ensure growbags do not dry down too far.



Irrigation Management - EC MANAGEMENT

EC Slab

6am 7 8 9 10 11 12pm 1 2 3 4 5 6pm

Last Irrigation

First Irrigation

Irrigation Period

Irrigation Timing

3.2

3.1

3.0

2.9

2.8

2.7

2.6

2.5

EC ds/m

EC DrainEC Irrig

5) Cocopeat Nutrition Management

- For Tomatoes it is NOT necessary to have growbags pre buffer treated provide a reputable company with good quality cocopeat is being sourced

- Complete nutrient solution at Hydration is acceptable to buffer the bags

- Trace elements should be in CHELATE form i.e. EDTA where possible top ensure full availability in the root zone

- This is particularly important for COPPER which is degraded when Copper Sulfate in used both in the Nutrient Tanks and in the Growing Media

- Nutrient Tanks should be kept at a pH level of less than 5.5 to ensure full nutrient availability when used.

- If runoff water coming from the growbags is greater than 5.8 pH units then Iron DPTA should be used in preference to Iron EDTA

- If pH is fluctuating then a combination of the two Iron Chelate forms should be used

- If EC raised NEVER flush with WATER as this will decrease crop yield. Use greater irrigation frequency to lower the EC of the rootzone


6) Tomato Crop Leaf Management- Leaves have a number of very important roles for the Tomato Crop

1) Production of Assimilates (Sugars) to growing the plant and to grow the fruit

2) Evapotranspiration to allow the plant to cool in hot weather and to allow the uptake of nutrients form the root zone

Great care should be used when deciding to remove leaves from the crop.

Exposed fruit to light will COLOUR more quickly however to much leaf

removal will slow plant growth and effect yield.

Leaf removal reduces the plants ability to COOL itself and has great effects

on the humidity in the greenhouse which will effect crop yield


6) Tomato Crop Leaf Management

- Leaf removal should only occur at the speed that the crop is producing new leaves to keep the FRUIT production in balance.

- A maximum of no more than 3 leaves per plant should be removed at any one week as greater removal will place great stress on the plant and fruit size and yield will suffer.

- Only 1 truss of fruit should be exposed for ripening as greater truss exposure will push the plant into GENERATIVE action and hence future fruit production will be effected

- If the crop is strong growing and EC / Irrigation management is not slowing plant speed consider removing 1 leaf from the TOP of the plant as this will reduce assimilates and reduce speed of growth


7) Consultancy Services

- World Wide Consultancy services are available in greenhouse and remotely by the way of PHONE and EMAIL support

Crop Advice and Management

Growing Media selection and Management

Plant Nutrition Management

Climate Management

Trouble Finding in problem crops

Advice on Nutrient Laboratory Analysis

Training Growers, Agronomists and Consultants

Design, Planning and Project Management of Greenhouse Systems and

irrigation

Email: [email protected]



Thank you for your attendance

Thank you to GALUKU Cocopeat for providing Travel Costs and my Consultancy

fees to provide this information to you

Thank you to Mr Ahmet for providing Hotel accommodation, greenhouse visits and the organization and provision of the seminar

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