Hydroponics makes for picture-perfect crops

Farm crops grown to big sizes and picture-perfect appearances are usually thought of as imported into the country. But when you go to the Rustan’s Supermarket or Price Smart, you’d know that such marvels aren’t and are in fact grown in cool Tagaytay, particularly at the Toscana Farms owned by Andre Kahn and Leo Prieto Jr. While they admit to importing the hybrid tomato seeds from Belgium, which produces the finest of the lot, growing them locally would have been impossible if not handled the way Toscana Farms does.

Since it started producing five years ago in Silang, Cavite, Toscana Farms has become the most significant supplier of perfectly-grown crops such as tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants and honeydew melons. Toscana Farms is the most successful grower of such tomato variety in a tropical setting. These gems of produce are churned out almost everyday, thanks in part to the owner’s idea of utilizing the hydroponic farming technology.

The hydroponic technology is responsible for growing deep red tomatoes, bright red, green and yellow bell peppers, deep violet eggplants and honeydew melons sweetened to suit your taste – all more than twice the size of their varieties found in wet markets. In short, they’re not the "panggisa" variety.

Andre Kahn explains that the technology they use in fact makes for healthier and better-tasting produce since the nutrients are directly channeled into the fruits from the roots. In fact, their growing system surpasses the European standards, which some of the finest restaurants in the metropolis immediately took to liking.

Since Toscana Farms insists on producing crops that are uniquely different in taste and appearance, the technology they use is quite demanding. They don’t grow these crops openly but in seven greenhouses fenced within a 1.7 hectare lot, four of which are over 2,000 square meters in size, each one big enough to house 6,000 plants. Imported from Israel, the structures are strong enough to withstand the strongest typhoons. The greenhouses are equipped with computer-operated mist-producing machines and giant fans to regulate temperature, especially when temperature rises to critical levels.

Hydroponic farming is soil-less farming. The growing media are a combination of cocopit and volcanic rock. Once mixed, they’re placed in beds. Seeds are initially placed in a nursery for 30 days after which they are transferred to the beds.

The hydroponic method makes fertilization more efficient because computers take over the whole process of watering these seedlings. Plants never drown in water. As a wider alternative, a computerized drip irrigation system is used. Small amounts of water drips onto the plants in calibrated precision. If there is excess fertilized water, this is collected and channeled to Toscana Farms’ other herb produce. Since this is fertilized water, Toscana Farms are able to grow a bounty of herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, celery, dill and more.

Their farming technology is intricate. Toscana imports bumblebees from Israel to pollinate the plants. These bumblebees pollinate virtually all the plants in a greenhouse. On the average, a bumblebee’s lifespan is 45 days so they are replenished with new bees every so often.

The process is complex needing precise care. As the tomato vines grow, they are pulled up by the tiniest of plastic strings so that the vines don’t droop. The process is repeated on the vegetables themselves as they grow heavier and bigger in size. Better to pull them up ever so slowly than let them droop down and fall off the vines.

Toscana Farms is up to the task. Since growing to become a major supplier, Toscana Farms harvests 1 to 2 1/2 tons of produce each week, large enough to supply its current clients.

For more information, please call Toscana Farms at 890-6472.