TomatoTech

Welcome to TomatoTech! This site will be kept and updated though a 6 month period I am working with this project in greenhouse technology in Vasa, Finland.

In this project we are going to test and reasearch about the oppurtunities of growing in 'Closed Greenhouse Managment'. This means all cooling and dehumidifying is done by machinery inside the greenhouse.

Today, the most common method of ventilation in commercial greenhouses is through opening vents on the roofs and letting moisture out that way. The downside of this system is that CO2 aswell as alot of energy is let out, and bugs and diseases are carried in.

Closing up the greenhouse may not lead to great amounts of energy saved in operation since it also takes energy for mechanicially dehumidifying the air. But when plants photosynthesize they require CO2 and the more they get, more tomatoes are produced! Today, commercial greenhouses spend a fair deal of money on buying CO2, only to let most of it out through vents. So, if we can get higher yields of tomato this may be a way of saving energy per kilo tomato that's grown.

That's the technical aspect of the project. I also find it intresting to discuss the way we farm in a local and global context and would love if those reading would like to discuss this and give their point of view. Are we going for big industrial farms and extensive shipping across the world or can we somehow find the technics and economy to farm locally..?