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- Florida Company Pursues
Hydroponic Tomato Niche
- By Bill McNutt
Ohio Correspondent
- Leo Calligaro came to the United States from Venezuela six years ago to learn how to grow tomatoes without soil. Now he’s demonstrating to other growers that hydroponic culture works, while helping to meet the demand for gourmet-type tomatoes that sell at a premium.
More interestingly, perhaps, he’s accomplishing this on Central Florida land not suited to outdoor cultivation or even pastureland, due primarily to a poor quality water supply. While these qualities might have helped the decision to establish nearby Cape Canaveral Space Center in Brevard County, little opportunity was available for agriculture, until hydroponics.
It was Calligaro’s prior training and experience as a mechanical engineer that was a big help when he turned to hydroponics. When it came time to reduce salt content of the water supply through a reverse osmosis process - with all of the technical requirements - he was in familiar territory.
Calligaro spent a considerable amount of time drawing up a business plan prior to setting up the initial enterprise, which has grown to 24 greenhouse bays. When talking to other budding entrepreneurs, he stresses the necessity of doing this in a realistic fashion. A business plan should consider every possible negative, he says, in order to establish a successful enterprise of any type.
Partnered with Dallas Powell, and master grower Russell Armel, the trio has succeeded in establishing the Hydro Age partnership, in an area dominated by greenhouse flower and potted plant growers, who also found a way to produce on poor quality soil in its natural state.
The hydroponic technique has been around for centuries, possibly even as part of the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Holland and Israel, with small amounts of available outside growing acreage, have produced this type of tomatoes for years. Vines spring from seed implanted in an artificial medium known as Perlite, which can be reused for several growing cycles.
According to the partners, tomatoes are grown in a clean, controlled environment, with fewer natural pests, which enables Hydro Age to identify their tomatoes as pesticide free. The claim is easier to accomplish than with outdoor vegetables because in the greenhouses free of dirt and dust, predatory bugs and sealed entrances are good allies, along with the introduction of bumblebees for pollination.
Tomatoes are shipped 34 weeks a year, with hotter parts of the year excepted, since the higher temperatures will cut back production. To even out cash flow, peppers and herbs are produced for commercial markets, though hydroponic grown tomatoes are the primary product, Calligaro said. On their existing 35 acres, Calligaro and Powell have 24 greenhouse bays on 1.5 acres. Ten year-round workers are needed, with another dozen contracted for seasonal harvesting.
Tomatoes on the shipping line are placed first in an agitated water wash, then proceed down the shipping line and through a colorimeter, which, interestingly enough, is set for a light pink tinge. The tomato achieves its peak red color after several days in transit or storage.
The tomatoes are eventually bound for one of several markets, or to such locations as North Carolina, Minnesota, or New York. Every tomato has a generic hydroponic sticker in place; those going to specific Southern supermarkets such as Albertstons, Food Lion and Publix, are similarly labeled but also include the market name.
A major problem with this type of production has been the development of a steady supply that wholesale buyers could count on. Florida growers such as Hydro Age are rapidly meeting this challenge. Acreage grown has gone up by about one-third for each of the last five years, with probably 100 acres now commercially grown.
Growers are in the process of getting more acreage, but are reportedly having problems getting it zoned for agriculture. Calligaro feels officials may be a little short sighted in their approach, since the company produces needed food crops on acreage that is not satisfactory for other uses. The low water table and water quality problems preclude any greater residential or commercial development, in their opinion.
A major attraction has been the ability to secure greenhouse yields four times greater than outdoor grown tomatoes, then sell them at three times the price. But before growers rush out to start such a business, they need to do the kind of business plan Calligaro did. Risks as well as costs are higher, and need to be thoroughly considered. Crop production techniques can be computerized, but someone needs to set up the program.
Hydroponic production in Florida is a rapidly growing enterprise, in part because facilities can be set up without any soil type consideration, according to the growers. Demand for high quality fruits and vegetables has nowhere to go but up, given recent emphasis on their health benefits.
As a health food, tomatoes are especially popular, particularly in helping develop some types of cancer resistance. Tomatoes are very high in lycopene which gives the product its red color but is also effective in neutralizing the free radicals that damage body cells, researchers have found.
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