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What are best practices for commercial production of heirloom tomatoes?

I am an experienced grower of tomatoes interested in expanding into commercial production. I’m looking for guidance on seed starting, fertilizing, irrigation, staking or other vine support methods, organic pest control, harvesting, storing, transporting, displaying, and legal requirements.

Johnny’s selected seeds has many good videos about growing heirloom maters commercially.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com

You should also get a subscription to Growing for Market if you do not already subscribe-it is one of the best publications for market farmers, especially new ones http://www.growingformarket.com

From my own experience heirlooms tend to yield a lot less than hybrids and most people out there want a perfect red orb of a tomato and are put off by the black, orange, yellow, green, stripped, fluted kinds of fruits.

You will want to plant at least 500 plants for decent marketable harvests. Know that at least 1/3 will not be marketable (but you can use them for your own uses). Plant more regular looking reds than anything else. Pick them before they are fully ripe or you will lose far more than 1/3 to cracking, bug damage, etc.. Store in a cool room (65F to 72F), never ever refrigerate.

Mulch is very important, I use landscape fabric as drip irrigation works better with such than straw mulch and plastic mulch asphyxiates the soil quite a bit and can be used for one season only. i use the Florida weave to support the vines

I start all my plants indoors under lights using soil blocks in early May so they are ready to be transplanted out in late May/early June. Unlike many growers I like transplanting small (no more than 6″ tall) seedlings as they go into the mulch better and I believe recover from transplant shock days earlier

I display all my tomatoes in pint of quart pulp tills, this keeps people from handling the fruits which quickly ruin them. I have signs that tells people what the variety is and what they cost. sampling is important if you market is new to heirlooms, it educates your customers.

Tomato Plants Care

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