Immediately from the start in 1900 when tomatoes were being grown professionally in greenhouses for the very first time, nurserymen invested in new technologies and production methods. An international head start was achieved due to these continuous innovations that the sector has never parted with. One of the most important breakthroughs in greenhouse farming was the use of a substrate as a replacement for cultivation in soil. Substrate is a foundation, a nutrient base.Er zijn different types of substrates such as turf, sawdust, glass wool, coconut fibre and rock or mineral wool. Rock wool, a natural product from the German Eiffel, is the substrate that is used the most in tomato cultivation. The great advantage of using a substrate is being able to control the cultivation better. Substrates are also free from moulds and they can be recycled.

The computer is also a resource that cannot be ignored by the grower and is widely applied in greenhouse farming. More and more advanced software has continuously been designed to ensure the cultivation could be controlled in the best possible manner. Innovations with regard to growing light, screen installations and suspended cultivation drainage pipe systems have also given the cultivation of tomatoes a strong boost the past few years. All these innovations are necessary to ensure you can stay ahead of the competition and to reduce the cost price.

The high energy prices and the social discussion about energy consumption have led to greenhouse farming also making great leaps ahead in the area of energy saving. Significant initiatives have been developed the last few years of which cogeneration is probably the most important one. Cogeneration generates electricity. This releases heat and CO2. This heat is used to heat the greenhouse or it is stored to use at a different moment. The CO2 is filtered and dosed to the plants. The produced electricity is usually sold to an energy supplier that, in turn, supplies households with electricity. Some companies use the electricity themselves in the winter for lighting the greenhouse to grow tomatoes. We already have greenhouse farming companies that themselves heat households with the surplus heat.Plants need CO2 to grow. This greenhouse gas is a waste product of the oil refineries. A few years ago they came up with the idea of taking this CO2 to the greenhouse areas through a pipeline. This ensures the plant can better grow and the CO2 emissions from the oil refineries is reduced.The developments, however, go even further.

The last innovation is the ‘closed greenhouse’. An integrated climate and energy system for the maximum control of the growth factors,the temperature and CO2. The surplus heat is stored and only used again when needed. Venting is a thing of the past. The closed greenhouse can generate no less than forty percent sustainable energy and save a minimum of thirty percent with regard to fossil fuels by storing the heat produced during the summer. This, therefore, ensures that modern greenhouses can contribute to the reduction of the greenhouse effect and to the improvement of the environment with these developments