Over in the Market Gardeners forum they were talking about how tastless Hydroponic tomatoes are.
Is this true, or just a perception or possably a bias?
Why would Hydro tomatoes be less tastey if they are getting all the nutrients that they need?
Tasteless Tomatoes?
Boy if this is true, I will not be doing the hydroponic thing after all.
IMHO it is only a perception. In the olden days there may had been a problem of "metallic" taste when the nutrient solution contained too much trace elements but a tasteless tomato is not a hydroponics problem. The matter of taste will be more related to the tomato variety used and there possibly economics may have played a role in the use of a fast growing, high yield,long storage capable tomato with a not so great taste but that is not limited to hydrop. grown crops.
"a tasteless tomato is not a hydroponics problem." Could have not said it better.Obviously some varieties are better than others with some commercially grown toms being nothing more than "round red things".Have an old friend who hates anything hydro ,says its artificial and hates hydro Toms with a passion,very rude actually. I have feed him toms in salads,grown both ways and also fried and he didnt know the difference!(He still doesnt) :-)
John in OZ
So the problem would be in the variety of tomato, or possibly partly because they are often picked green. That is pretty much what I figured.
Well, we can grow any variety we want in our home green house.
Thanks for the input.
Has anybody grown any and if so, what varieties? Which varieties are the really best tasting ones?
I have grown tomatoes hydroponically for 4 years now. I think they taste great. You can grow any tomato this way. Whatever tomato you like in soil, plant it using hydroponics. I also have grown lettuce and herbs and they all taste good. I also grow my orchids the hydro method.
Cindy
Up here we have 2 large operations. One has a brand name; Bushel Boy. The other tags all his tomatoes with his farm name. Both sell to super markets around here. When you go shopping, everyone is looking at tags.
Both of these operations pick their tomatoes bright red.
Some hydros show up here in early to mid winter from other patrs of the world. Canada, Arizona, Mid-East. These tomatoes are picked green, gased & shipped. They are not ripe, tasteless & all other qualities of forced produce.
The ones grown locally & picked red are just like your garden tomatoes.
It took a dozen average sized tomatoes to keep the tray full at a build your own burger feed the other night. Only sold about 65 burgers!
If you want more than 4-6 weeks of tomatoes every year, it is the way to go.
We do a variation. Ours are in the greenhouse, but planted in the ground & water with t-tape. Still add fertilizer, although not as much as hydo systems.
Bernie
I tasted a Trust vine-ripe tomato the other day ------it tasted pretty good. The seed are expensive. $22 for 50 seed.
Cricket