Guangdong Boluo Songshugang Cultivates Taiwan Jade Maiden Tomatoes (Photos)

In people's impressions, tomatoes are a low-growing herbaceous plant on the ground, generally no more than half a meter tall. However, in Songshugang Village, Changning Town, Boluo County, local farmers have recently cultivated a new variety called Jade Maiden tomato. This Jade Maiden tomato not only has thin skin and is juicy, but also grows by climbing vines like grapes, with a beautiful landscape effect.

Tunnel-style cultivation yields over 10,000 jin per mu, as effortless as picking grapes

Opening the greenhouse, a moist warmth rushes over, and a new landscape unfolds: each tomato plant climbs and grows like a grapevine, with clusters of crystal-clear red or green cherry tomatoes hanging on the vines in the air, immediately making one's mouth water.

Each row of tomatoes is spaced more than one meter apart, and two adjacent rows grow crosswise along the trellis, forming a tunnel in the hollow part. This cultivation pattern is called tunnel-style. This variety called Jade Maiden tomato is different from the low-growing tomato plants; its plants can grow up to 4 meters tall, and its vine-climbing characteristic allows people to pick the fruit as effortlessly as picking grapes.

Greenhouse manager Cheng Kai told reporters that in October 2015, they began planting 6 mu and 10,000 Jade Maiden tomato plants in the greenhouse, using both the traditional pattern and this tunnel-style cultivation. After comparison, they found that the tunnel-style had obvious advantages in both the number of plants and the yield.

Using the tunnel-style cultivation method, 2,500 Jade Maiden tomato plants can be planted per mu, 1,500 more plants than the traditional pattern in the same area. Traditionally cultivated Jade Maiden tomatoes must have their “apical dominance” removed after growing to 1.8 meters (the phenomenon in which the terminal bud grows preferentially and inhibits the development of lateral buds is called “apical dominance”), while with the tunnel-style they can be allowed to grow freely; in the traditional cultivation method, one plant can only produce 8-12 flower clusters, while the tunnel-style can produce 12-24 flower clusters; the fruiting period of Jade Maiden tomatoes is 4 months, the yield of the traditional method is 3,000-5,000 jin per mu, while the yield of tunnel-style Jade Maiden tomatoes reaches more than 10,000 jin per mu.

Nutrient soil cultivation, sweetness much higher than ordinary tomatoes

Cheng Kai said that the high yield of tunnel-style Jade Maiden tomatoes is not only related to the cultivation pattern, but also to the scientific growing environment.

The soil for growing Jade Maiden tomatoes is not ordinary soil, but scientifically blended nutrient soil. In addition to rice bran, straw, and soybean meal, they also added an energy stone to activate the soil. The greenhouse is also equipped with intelligent devices, among which the installed automated sensing system can link information such as temperature, humidity, and light intensity inside the greenhouse to a mobile app at any time, and can intelligently regulate them at any time. The temperature inside the greenhouse is strictly controlled; the environment of 20-25°C during the day, 15-18°C at night, 65-85% humidity, and 30,000-50,000 lux of light (the unit of illuminance) is most suitable for the growth of Jade Maiden tomatoes. It is understood that the fixed investment for this kind of greenhouse for growing Jade Maiden tomatoes is about 200,000 yuan per mu.

It is understood that this Jade Maiden tomato is a new variety introduced from Taiwan, China, and is still a fresh and scarce variety in Huizhou. Taste a Jade Maiden tomato: thin skin, juicy, sweet flavor, delicate texture, more delicate and delicious than the common cherry tomato. Cheng Kai once took these Jade Maiden tomatoes to relevant departments for testing. After a sweetness test, it was found that the sweetness of these Jade Maiden tomatoes is about 13 degrees, much higher than ordinary commercially sold tomatoes.

Reporters learned from the Boluo County Tourism Bureau that, as scarce things are precious, the deliciousness and nutrition of Jade Maiden tomatoes, together with the landscape effect of the tunnel-style cultivation, have made this Jade Maiden tomato planting base one of the local tourist sightseeing spots.

After more than 100 days of growth, at present two greenhouses at this Jade Maiden tomato planting base have begun to bear fruit and go on the market, and they are sold using an online presale model. “Customers place orders online, we pick fresh in the morning, package and ship in the afternoon, and express delivery arrives the next day, allowing customers to eat the freshest Jade Maiden tomatoes.” Cheng Kai said that their Jade Maiden tomatoes are priced at 30 yuan per jin, and sales are currently good.