Tomato talk with Harry Hill

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay resident Harry Hill, formerly the municipal spokesperson, is a man of many talents.

Besides being a keen photographer and nature enthusiast, Harry also tries his hand at hydroponics and aquaponics at his home in Santos. He grows mainly tomatoes and salad leaves.

Modest Harry says: "It's a learning curve. I learn new things every day. I discovered my plants don't get enough calcium. Tap water is harder than the roof water I use, which does not provide enough calcium."

Harry says hydroponics is not complicated. "Not every set-up will give you the same results. Sometimes you don't use soil at all. You use nutrient-rich water and a dripping system. This is aquaponics. The plant floats in the water. There are many ways of doing this."

Harry says you can implement the systems anywhere and points out: "Urban farming is big in Johannesburg. There are large warehouses or garages. The soil is poor where I live."

Tomatoes cultivated by Harry Hill using the Dutch (Bato) bucket system.

Soluble mixture
Therefore, Harry buys a nutrient-rich, soluble mixture which he adds to water. "The system has a reservoir and a pump, which pumps water overhead. There are drips over each plant. The water circulates all the time."

Harry says: "My reservoir is 100 litres and I top it up with on average about 50 litres weekly, which means I use about 250 to 300 litres of water per month.

"There is also the Bato system - known as the Dutch bucket system which one can use." Tomato plants grown in water are properly secured in their holders to keep them upright, Harry explains. "You have to check the pH of the water regularly; some plants don't like water too alkaline, others not too acidic." He notes that the plants "develop an amazing root system", even though they are growing in water only, not soil.

When one thinks of hydroponics one usually visualises tunnels covered by plastic, but Harry says: "In my case, my plants are outside. I had a bit of a tunnel, but I had problems with temperature control, so I cut the plastic away and replaced it with bird-proof net. Birds are a large enemy." One can imagine how birds feel about a plump, juicy tomato. It gets devoured, Harry says.

Harry's hydroponically cultivated salad leaves.

Hefty
The first fruit of Harry's tomato crop this year is a hefty 342 grams.

He has been experimenting with hydroponics for four years and says he has had a few successes and failures.

"In 2019 I was successful with 'gourmet' lettuces and I harvested about 10 kilograms of tomatoes."

This year his plants are not bearing as well. "I have only planted the heirloom tomatoes - the old varietals of brandywine, black krim and so forth, not the new, modern, disease-resistant varietals." He thinks the new hybrids probably do not taste as good as the older varietals.

The first tomato of Harry's 2020 crop. It weighs 342 grams.