Home | Our Systems | Sustainability | Company | Contact Us

VanHart Greenhouses - Commercial Organic Tomato Growers

This demonstration was conducted at VanHart Greenhouses located in Holland Marsh, Ontario, Canada. This multi-generational operation, owned and directly managed by Ron VanHart, has been certified organic since the 1980’s, and is considered by many to produce the finest premium produce in Canada. Over the years, VanHart Greenhouses have developed 45 varieties of vegetables, and experimented with over 300 tomato varietals. All of their tomatoes are greenhouse-grown, planted directly in native Holland Marsh peat moss (described by VanHart as the “richest peat moss in the world”) and are irrigated via a sophisticated computerized system which monitors & delivers the precise quantity of a proprietary (developed by R. VanHart) waterborne nutrient mix to the roots of each plant as required. Using this system, Mr. VanHart produces prodigious yields (amongst the highest yield per plant ever recorded), however, this “super-charging” system comes at a cost to the plant; often completely exhausting the plant by mid-season and requiring removal and replacement by new plants (4 to 5 week downtime in production). VanHart Greenhouses growing activities are conducted from April to October (inclusive) annually, and the greenhouses are not artificially heated.

For the purposes of this demonstration, Mr. VanHart allotted one of his greenhouses to receive the TE AquAlign™ System (integrated into the manifold of the nutrient irrigation system for that greenhouse) and a second greenhouse, planted with the same varietal, to serve as a control. As a result of this being a full scale commercial operation, a certain condition was imposed (due to the business’ financial considerations): Mr VanHart reserved the right to end the demonstration at any point, if: (a) any adverse effects were noted; (b) no discernable effect was observed; and (c) should, at any point in time, the plants (control and/or TE AquAlign™) drop below viable yield levels.

This condition impacted this demonstration only insofar as the “Control” was concerned. The “control” plants, following the established cycle, were exhausted by July 16, 2012 and subsequently removed; rendering the remainder of the demonstration lacking the original “Control” for comparison.

Objectives:The primary focus of this demonstration was to illustrate the benefits of the TE AquAlign™ System when integrated with nutrient feed irrigation as measured by extending the yield of high volume production tomato plants. The secondary objective was to show the effect of TE AquAlign™ (“TE”) on the health and resilience of tomato plants as demonstrated by physical characteristics of the plants (including brix sampling) as compared to the Control.

Monitoring Protocol: Due to the obvious constraints of conducting this demonstration in an active commercial operation experiencing ongoing harvesting of both Control and TE plants, it was determined at the onset that the primary assessment of the first objective would be a “days-of-yield” comparison. To ensure yield per plant was maintained, the demonstrator conducted random weekly fruit-per-plant counts (“TE” and “Control”); this count to be augmented by verification of the greenhouse operation’s harvesting personnel & Mr. VanHart’s expert oversight as per his pre-established condition.

The protocol for assessment on the second objective was conducted on a weekly physical examination basis of randomly selected plants (“Control” vs. “TE”). Included in that examination was an active flower count, stem comparison, leaf comparison and turgidity assessment. Brix readings would be taken in both July and August of mature fruit from both “Control” and “TE”.

Results: The summer of 2012 was hotter and significantly dryer than normal, a widespread problem in North America this year. While all of the VanHart tomatoes are grown in greenhouses with temperature activated fans to dissipate extreme heat and are irrigated (hence not subject to drought conditions), the greenhouse operation was still plagued with environmental related challenges (including higher than normal insect populations).

The “Control” tomatoes were removed and replanted on July 16th, providing 38 days of continuous production. The “TE” plants were removed October 8th after the second hard frost (while still producing fruit & flowers), providing 121 days of continuous yield.

The “TE” plants produced 83 days longer than the “Control”… In other words… TWO Plantings of “Control” will yield 2.5 months of production. ONE Planting of “TE” will yield 4 months of production.

Finally, we know that crops with higher BRIX have a higher sugar content, higher protein content, higher mineral content, and a greater specific gravity or density. This adds up to a sweeter tasting, more mineral nutritious food.

Our samples showed an average BRIX of 6.5 for “Control”… The TE AquAlign™ tomatoes average BRIX was 7.68… A 15.3% HIGHER BRIX!

NOTE: As the growers using our systems will attest, the benefits they received resulted in impressive and measureable improvements, but they are also the first people to tell us that Mother Nature is a fickle mistress. So, while many of the results in our field demonstrations are very significant, we do not mean to suggest that those results will be duplicated in every instance. It is our expectation that you will see a 10+% improvement in your results provided those ‘variables beyond our control’ don’t intervene… But, ‘aligned’ water versus ‘raw’ water? Over 20 years of research and applied field trials says you’ll see the difference!

For more information concerning this demonstration, and others like it, contact us, and we’d be pleased to assist you!