My Secret Recipe to Growing AMAZING Tomatoes! \ Hydroponic Tomato Farming

In this video I will share our fertilizer recipe that we are using in our hydroponic growing system as well as the quantities of each nutrient and how we mix and deliver them to the tomato plants in the greenhouses.
We use a Crop King Nutrient Injector System to deliver the fertilizer solution to the plants. There is not a reservoir system and we do not recirculate our leach water in our operation. We currently grow 6 different hybrids in 14,000 Sq.ft. of greenhouse space using the Dutch Bucket growing method for the beefsteak type tomatoes and coconut coir slabs for our grape tomatoes.
#hydroponicgrowing

[@jasonwish-]

Check out our new farm channel here: www.youtube.com/@wishwellfarms/featured

[@wishwellfarms]

I just released a video on our farm channel explaining all of this, please check it out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKKwi2urhLGrsJosi=3dycL7vUskllwir7

[@justinellingson4908]

Thanks for the video love the vegetable farm Vids almost as much as the hiking

[@jasonwish-]

Thanks Justin I appreciate that! I wish more of my subscribers felt that way! Farming videos are so quick and easy to film and edit and backpacking and kayaking trips sometimes take weeks to edit.

[@ASTHECROWFLIESHIKING]

Awesome! Those are some great tomatoes. Amazing farm. Crow✌️

[@jasonwish-]

Thanks Crow! If we ever meet up for a backpacking trip I’ll supply the veggies!

[@venusknight886]

Best video ever, very educative!

[@jasonwish-]

Thanks, glad it was helpful!

[@backpackingadventures4813]

Wow! I didn’t realize there was that much science to it. You make it look easy. Amazing!

[@jasonwish-]

I really enjoy showing our farming operation through videos! Thanks Dan!

[@BackpackingwithBuckley]

This is absolutely fascinating Jason. I plan to undertake a garden one of these years. I'll be sharing this with my highly skilled gardener brother in law! Really cool pal!

[@jasonwish-]

Thanks man! I wish all my backpacking and kayaking subscribers enjoyed this stuff more because there is so much I could share about our farm but most of them just want to see hiking and kayaking.

[@BackpackingwithBuckley]

@@jasonwish- start a new channel or who cares? Lol. I love it dude. I know nothing about this stuff but I want to learn more badly. My family has owned a Nursery since 1951 and sadly, the green thumb didn't interest me until recently. Keep making these videos!

[@kiwimanNewZealand]

New Subscriber here love the video i too make my own nutrients like u do this was a gr8 Vid.

[@Inko03]

Great educational video!

[@jasonwish-]

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it!

[@JorgePicco]

Best hidroponic video.

[@jasonwish-]

Thanks!

[@jeffs6229]

Beautiful farm! I enjoy hitting the farmer’s markets and road stands up in the mountains here in GA. It’s amazing the work that goes behind all the good food! How do you have time for FKTs and backpacks?! I’m ready for a BLT! Thanks for sharing!

[@jasonwish-]

Well, I always make sure to set aside time for enjoying life whether it’s backpacking kayaking or RVing with my wife and kids. Yes, farming keeps me pretty busy and it can be hard to get away from May through September but I make sure I take advantage of my downtime during the other months. Even when we’re farming 70 hours a week I still make the time to train three or four days a week. Thanks Jeff!

[@CorvetteAustin24]

Video idea: Do a daily video to show a week in the life of a farmer. Greenhouse videos are great, absolutely love all greenhouse projects. Keep up the great work!

[@jasonwish-]

I've thought about doing that this summer but then I think back to 2019 when I did a bi weekly farm vlog for like 9 months and it never really got much traction for me...its hard to think about filming when your busy in the middle of harvesting and working with employees, but I will consider it. Thanks for the idea!

[@mhusdnutrition]

Great Greenhouse videos. Thank you so much for the information. We're about to start up a school greenhouse/cherry tomatoes. Just curious about your drain to waste system. Have you ever measured the EC of the waste water? Other videos have noted quite a bit of nutrients being lost out the back end, then deciding to recapture that water, creating a closed loop. Love your setup & your Bees!

[@jasonwish-]

We just let our leach water drain into one of our veggetable fields, we are not set up to recapture the water. Part of our daily routine is to check the EC in the leach and measure the amount of leach, this tells me if the plants are getting enough fertilizer or too much, same with the amount of water. We try to keep the leach water between 10-20% of what the total feed water was each day and the keep the EC between .5 to 1 point higher than the feed EC. There are a lot of contaminants and salts in the leach water, it would take a special system to eliminate this for me to be able to reuse the leach water. Best of luck with your school greeenhouse!

[@rowenaleyte]

amazing video keep vlogging

[@jasonwish-]

Thank you! I'll keep at it!

[@edschultz5718]

I am def gonna make the trip from Pittsburgh this summer to get some of your fruit and veggies! Is there like a VIP tour I get or something? haha

[@jasonwish-]

Of course! All of my subscribers get behind the scenes tours and a free bag of veggies to take home 😁

[@99cornisland]

I am old but I really hope to get to where you are one day before death do me part. Great operation you have going. I learned a tremendous amount from watching that. Thank you

[@jasonwish-]

Thank you, best of luck to you!

[@josephherrera1027]

hey Jason, great stuff as usual! I think I've been through all of your tomato videos and I've been wondering what your yields are like?

[@jasonwish-]

They are decent but not as good as they could be if I extended my growing season. We terminate all of them in late September or early October And since they our Staggered that means the earliest greenhous is being harvested for less than six months and the second one for 4.5 months and the final one for only three months. We hardly have a need for them once we get into late August because of all the field Tomatoes. To answer your question we usually end up somewhere between 20 and 25 pounds per plant on average across-the-board. If we grew longer I’m sure we could get over 30 pounds.

[@josephherrera1027]

@@jasonwish- Hey man, thanks for the reply :D. 25 pounds a plant isn't too shabby! Do you'll do the entire hydro set up just for the increase in yields or the timing of the market?

[@jasonwish-]

@@josephherrera1027 we grew in the soil inside the greenhouses for a few years and always had issues with fertilization so when an opportunity came by for me to switch to hydroponic I dove in. We get twice the yields and so much easier to monitor the plants nutritional needs.

[@GuruTheGreatOfficial]

🙏🏻 Namaste bro well experienced

[@jasonwish-]

Thanks!

[@MrLibbyloulou]

Very interesting video, would your recipe be okay with soil/compost do you think....?

[@jasonwish-]

I’m guessing it would be OK but it would probably be a little wasteful because not that much would be needed since soil has a lot of the nutrients in it already. I am feeding an inert sterile medium with absolutely nothing in it to grow tomatoes so they are 100% relying on what I give them. If you are interested in the farming content, please check out our farm channel here where I post three videos per week.: youtube.com/@wishwellfarms?si=_nJBMggXK-1SZHeu

[@TM-we6eg]

Is the amounts based off how many plants your growing......thank you for the video it's very informative

[@jasonwish-]

No, it has nothing to do with the amount of plants. Those amounts are only going to work if you have some kind of injector or proportioner system. We use a billow pump proportioner. If you were just mixing several ounces of fertilizer to some gallons of water for direct feeding I suppose a different formula would have to be used and I don’t know what that would be right off hand.

[@Inko03]

Hi Jason, how are you, hope you doing very well. I have one question: that recipe on the paper you diluted in the 50gal of water is ×100 concentrate? Thank you.

[@jasonwish-]

Well, I'm not sure exactly, my irrigation system uses billow pump proportioning and here is what the manual says: The dilution ration for the reservoir system is 1:128. One ounce of stock solution from tank #1 and one ounce of stock solution from stock tank #2 are diluted to every gallon of water. Hope that helps.

[@brubexcastelino7002]

Hi great video What was the EC in the mixing tank for final nutrient solution?

[@jasonwish-]

Thanks. 2.3 average depending on stage of plant and the amount of clouds or sun. I’ve gone as high as 2.5 - 2.7 on long cloudy stretches and down to 1.8 -1.9 during lots of sun. If the leech EC spikes I will often feed only pH corrected water to bring it back down to where I want it.

[@marzouqhumoud2616]

Hi few questions please do you clean each duch bucket individually ? Or is there a way you clean all together ?

[@jasonwish-]

We dump the perlite every other year and refill them with fresh, but we have never cleaned our buckets. Please check out our farming channel to see more of our farming operation where we release three videos per week. youtube.com/@wishwellfarms?si=8Ka8_l2Yds2ik4Cv

[@chestnutplanter]

What medium do you use in your bato buckets? Thanks for these vids!

[@jasonwish-]

Perelite for the red round tomatoes and coco coir slabs for the grape tomatoes...all started in rockwool/stonewool

[@ngaleumopougoue9982]

Thank you for these explanations, great video. I would like to know; - what is the medium in which you grow these tomatoes... Is it soil?? - is it possible to come visit your greenhouse? I'm a greenhouse farmer in Cameroon, Africa

[@jasonwish-]

We start our seeds in rock wool and transplant into perlite. We are in Ohio in the USA.

[@josephgwethnyemek917]

hihi. il an amaze with this hydroponic technics n growing tomatos. my name Joseph and i am from Cameroun in the central Africa. how Can i do to com o do a training in tour Farm? because o am a Farmer in m'y country?

[@jonathansimau2958]

This is very inspiring. Please am kindly asking for your help, starting with supplier of variety,fertilizers and temperature for best results.

[@jasonwish-]

Since I am in Ohio I work with a company called crop king here in Ohio which is where I get my tomato seeds. They specialize in hydroponics and would have everything a person would need and are very knowledgeable. The fertilizers can be purchased at any greenhouse supply company. I keep my minimum air temperature around 62°F and maximum air temperature below mid 80s Fahrenheit.

[@ssegwanyisteven7446]

Thx for the video but how do u determine the amount of to give to the plants

[@jasonwish-]

Good point, I know I didn’t elaborate on that too much mainly because everybody’s recipe will be slightly different based on what your water sample analysis is. I would suggest finding a reputable company that specializes in hydroponics to help you determine what the best recipe is for your crops that you are growing and your water that you are using.

[@dheeraj9521]

Sir ,This video is very Informative , But Sir how do you deal with deficiencies occur in Plants , Do you use any other EDTA like boron , Zinc , etc.. in nutrient solution or as Spray on plants..

[@jasonwish-]

There is zinc EDTA in tank one, and all the other micros are in the liquid micro mix in tank two. If my leaf analysis shoes anything deficient I will spray a high quality foliar fertilizer or adjust my recipe slightly but this rarely happens.

[@OldPackMule]

Damn, serious computers and science stuff. That's a lot of work. Guess there will be no backpack trips until this fall.

[@jasonwish-]

Yeah there’s a lot of science in farming that most people don’t realize. There’s no way I’m gonna let farming get in the way of my adventures, I will definitely be out on the trail, on the rivers and RVing with the wife plenty this spring and summer still!

[@blakeliu1446]

That was super informative. What ec and ph is your well water? I plan to use ro water and wanted to use a similar recipe as yours. Thanks brotha

[@jasonwish-]

I would much rather have ro water...my well water causes problems sometimes. EC is .78 with a pH of 7.7

[@Inko03]

@@jasonwish- 1 EC = 500 ppm or 700?

[@jasonwish-]

@@Inko03 I'm not sure...I will go get my testing meter and see what it says and get back with you. I don't use ppm for anything.

[@Inko03]

@@jasonwish- Just a manufacturer name tells everything

[@jasonwish-]

@@Inko03 I thought you were wanting EC of my well water?

[@dheeraj9521]

Sir, What is the value of Magnesium Sulphate after correction in Normal feeding plan you wrote...

[@jasonwish-]

In our non-boosted program during early growth there’s only 13.5 ounces used and during boosted we use 7 lbs. 4 oz. This is based on our water analysis however everybody’s will be slightly different.

[@Inko03]

Hi Jason! How much % leach from total nutrient you get to drainage per day?

[@jasonwish-]

I shoot for 10% but can fluctuate between 5 and 20 depending on the sun.

[@forrestbond1496]

Question: Do you market to local grocery stores or ship out your produce ? It's obvious you know what you're doing.

[@jasonwish-]

We used to Wholesale to a small supermarket chain of about 12 stores about 15 years ago but now we retail everything at two of our roadside stands and at ten farmers markets around Columbus Ohio.

[@timmcwilliams8024]

Where do you get your bulk nutrients and chemicals from ? All from Crop King?

[@jasonwish-]

No, I can get my water soluble fertilizers a lot cheaper from Waldo and Associates in Perrysburg Ohio and Martin’s produce in Eastern Pennsylvania. As far as chemicals, we get them from a local supplier.

[@user-tg7kq7mk9m]

well this is just my opinion but I havent found one greenhouse tomato grown hydroponically or in a green house that tastes as good as a organic outdoor soil grow.

[@jasonwish-]

I totally agree. I would never compare a hydroponic tomato to an August field grown tomato, they're completely different. But, no one has tomatoes for sale at the Farmers' Markets in Ohio in May, June and most of July, so having a locally grown tomato during those months is so much better tasting than anything you can find in the grocery and the demand for them is off the charts!

[@user-tg7kq7mk9m]

@@jasonwish- agree with that bro!

[@davidoluwafemi3413]

Can i have the cost implication to set up 2 acres of hydroponic greenhouse (tomato farm)

[@jasonwish-]

I am not qualified to give you an estimate on something this extensive, I only have a tenth of an acre and it was all purchased used. My guess is about 1 million USD per acre with a full a state of the art, high tech setup.

[@benzpheerachat4704]

Hi I'm a bit late. Can i ask? Magnesium sulfate in the normal program is only 13.5 ounces

[@jasonwish-]

Yes, that it correct. Doesn't take much in the normal program. Remember, this is based on my water anaylisis.

[@benzpheerachat4704]

​@@jasonwish- Thank you so much. ☺☺☺

[@AngelPenaranda]

can you share with me the name of the nutrient and where to buy everything you show on the video? Thank You

[@jasonwish-]

All of these nutrients that I mentioned by name and that are on my recipe list can be purchased from and greenhouse supply company.

[@LovelessPrince27]

Hello from Thailand, could you give me a link source for this recipe THX🙏

[@jasonwish-]

No source link for recipe. This is a custom recipe from Crop King in Ohio USA based on my water analysis

[@LovelessPrince27]

@@jasonwish- compare to my recipe (based on Arizona university) all component is same but amount in tank B so far smaller than your recipe

[@jasonwish-]

@@LovelessPrince27 I've never really tried a differnt recipe. The non boosted recipe for when the plants are pre fuit is much less.

[@agilegold]

Do you grow any heirloom tomatoes?

[@jasonwish-]

We do not. Too many other smaller growers around us that specialize in that area, and they are a pain to grow; very prone to cracking/splitting.

[@renanjacob6791]

Granite powder on the plant pot will help with micronutients balance? Amateur question*

[@jasonwish-]

Never heard of granite powder, and I’ve never used it, we already have a micro nutrient blend that’s mixed in with the recipe. Please check out our Farm channel where I post two videos a week about our greenhouse Tomatoes currently. Wishwell Farms Produce.

[@renanjacob6791]

@@jasonwish- tank you, I from Brazil, the green houses here use organic matter on the pots, im searshing for cheap alternative to my farm, like your, using mineral as inert sintetic soil. I gonna build some beds with sand and try. Your channel has much details wich I don't find in any book. Thank you so much.

[@jasonwish-]

@@renanjacob6791 www.youtube.com/@wishwellfarms/featured

[@baazigaj9125]

Epic video: I am curious about carbon dioxide to the plants.

[@jasonwish-]

We do have a carbon dioxide enrichment device in one of our greenhouses that we used for two seasons about 4 years ago, but have since quit using it as we did not seem to notice a measurable difference in our crop. Most likely this is due to starting them later in the winter and spring and on sunny days they are getting exposed to fresh outdoor air often so a lot of the benifit of running it is lost. If we were growing through out the winter this may be different. Since we havent used it in a while I can't speak to the ppm that we used as I don't remember. Thanks for watching!

[@ssegwanyisteven7446]

Which breeds or varieties do u grow

[@jasonwish-]

Big Dena, Terero and Foronti

[@DannyTillotson]

NPK 2-10-48 right?

[@jasonwish-]

No, We mix our own recipe based off our well water sample. It’s a mixture of calcium nitrate, potassium nitrate, iron, mono, potassium phosphate, sulfur of potash and magnesium sulfate and a liquid micro mix.

[@aseasonoftomatoes1572]

Are all of your tomatoes grown in beto buckets or do you have others?

[@jasonwish-]

All of our red round beef steak varieties are grown in bato buckets but our grape tomatoes are grown in coconut core bags. They seem to be a little more forgiving but it’s much harder to monitor the water they are taking up or not taking up and to check leachate.

[@aseasonoftomatoes1572]

@@jasonwish- I have found in my bags that a good judge is just how heavy they are. I used three gallon bags full to the top as well as about half full due to the cost. I also tried two gallon and they have some that lol as healthy as the three gallon. I had trouble with my injectors to begin with and I didn’t get the growth I wanted. Got the PH settled and the heat let off under 100 and they have taken off. Really enjoy your channel. You have this pretty well down!

[@DraGon-cg6ge]

Hi mister! my water EC .85 pH 7

[@jasonwish-]

pretty close to what mine is

[@DraGon-cg6ge]

@@jasonwish- thanks for the answer!

[@DraGon-cg6ge]

@@jasonwish- I took measurements using the cheapest Chinese device, I can remeasure ?

[@jasonwish-]

I guess I’m not exactly sure what you are asking? Are you wanting to know what my EC and PH is of my feed solution?

[@DraGon-cg6ge]

@@jasonwish- yes mister!

[@saltytree729]

you familiar with biostimulants? im 5 years into research and development with a biostimulant mix. let me tell you, just once a month foliar feeding your plants with this biostimulant mix will blow you mind you will need less fertaliser become microbes just do it way better than us, bioponics it is :)

[@jasonwish-]

Yes, I’m familiar with them. I’ve tried all kinds of different things on my vegetable crops over the last 23 years some help a little bit but most of the time never see enough improvement to be worth the extra expense. If yours is so great, send me a sample I’ll try it out.

[@Smokeybeesnatural]

Chores are done, time to hit the trail!

[@jasonwish-]

Let’s go! I really want Samuel to be able to join us but I’m game for LBL or Grayson’s possibly later this month.

[@afterburner3999]

unbeleevable neerly 2litres acid per 10 gallon water, how many tomatoes in each green hose, im growin 6 in 8 gallon containers kratky style.

[@jasonwish-]

Yes, but that acid and water tank is being proportioned at 1:100 ratio so that 50 gal tank is able to feed 2,500 plants for a week.

[@daviddvash1703]

Hi, thank you. What sort of EC you run with and when do you change it .

[@jasonwish-]

We normally run a 2.3- 2.7 depending on the amount of sun or clouds and the time of the year. If the leach ec ever gets too high and out of hand we will just feed straight acidified water to bring it back down. The EC is never really changed but the amount of fertilizer in the feed solution changes to a boosted program when there is fruit starting to set on the plant.

[@ssegwanyisteven7446]

Which breeds or varieties do u grow

[@jasonwish-]

Big Dena by Syngenta, and Terero and Foronti by DeRuiter.

[@ssegwanyisteven7446]

@@jasonwish- what is the average production per plant per year

[@ssegwanyisteven7446]

@@jasonwish- and tell me also the average weight per fruit

[@jasonwish-]

@@ssegwanyisteven7446 we only harvest for 5 months and get between 15-20 lbs per plant but most growers harvest for 7-9 months and get 25 to 40 lbs per plant.

[@jasonwish-]

@@ssegwanyisteven7446 10-14 ounces is most common but they can range from 6 oz to 1.25 lbs.