Professional horticulture · Tomato
Tomato Grow Bag Manufacturer in India
Coco substrate for protected tomato
Long-cycle greenhouse tomato is a demanding crop for a substrate, because it has to work for ten or eleven months. We blend, compress, fill and pack to your gutter layout at our own facility in Tamil Nadu.
Substrate requirements
What a tomato crop asks of its substrate
It needs enough water buffer that a failed irrigation does not cost you fruit, and enough air in the root zone that the same buffer does not suffocate roots in winter when uptake slows.
- Water buffering 4.77 – 7.32 L/kg Across the published blend range. Enough buffer that a failed irrigation does not cost you fruit.
- Air-filled porosity 5.2 – 30.8 % Enough air that the buffer does not suffocate roots in winter, when uptake slows.
- Predictable drainage Steered, not guessed A slab that drains predictably lets you steer root-zone EC rather than guess at it.
- Long-cycle structure Ten to eleven months High-wire tomato runs most of the year. The slab has to hold its structure for the whole cycle.
Growers running high-frequency drip on high-wire tomato generally want a substrate that holds moisture well without becoming saturated at the base of the slab, and that drains predictably so EC in the root zone can be steered rather than guessed at.
Reference blends
Which coco blend suits greenhouse tomato
Three of the five reference blends are relevant to tomato. The figures are measured, and the EC method behind them is the 1:1.5 volume extract.
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Usual starting point
80 : 20
Cocopeat to chip
- Water holding capacity
- 6.73 L/kg
- Air-filled porosity
- 10.2 %
- WaterRetentive base
- AirEnough chip to keep air moving through the slab
The usual starting point for greenhouse tomato.
-
50 : 50
Cocopeat to chip
- Water holding capacity
- 5.66 L/kg
- Air-filled porosity
- 21.0 %
- WaterLess buffer
- AirMore air
Where irrigation frequency is high, the climate is warm, or the crop has previously shown root problems in the lower slab.
-
100 : 0
Straight cocopeat
- Water holding capacity
- 7.32 L/kg
- Air-filled porosity
- 5.2 %
- WaterHolds the most water
- AirLeast air
Generally too retentive for long-cycle tomato under frequent drip, though it has a place in propagation and low-frequency irrigation systems.
These are starting points based on the measured properties of each blend, not prescriptions. The right answer depends on your climate, your irrigation frequency and your drain percentage. Tell us those three things and we will suggest a ratio — including one that is not on this list.
Blending and packing are done to your requirement. If your crop needs 65:35, a particular particle grade, a slab length that suits your gutters, or a pack format and print that fits your handling line, that is what we produce.
EC figures use the 1:1.5 volume extract method.
Root zone
What happens in the root zone
Water and air compete for the same pore space. The blend ratio decides how that space is divided, and your irrigation frequency decides how often it is refilled.
- 01 Water Held in the fine pith fraction. More pith, more buffer between irrigations.
- 02 Air Held in the coarse chip fraction. More chip, more oxygen at the root surface.
- 03 Roots Colonise where both are available. Saturation at the base of the slab is where long-cycle crops lose roots.
- 04 Drainage Hole number, diameter and position decide how the base of the slab behaves.
- 05 Irrigation frequency High frequency needs more air and less buffer. Low frequency needs the reverse.
Tell us your climate, your irrigation frequency and your drain percentage, and the ratio follows from those three.
Made to order
Custom tomato grow bags built to your gutter layout
Tomato growers rarely want a stock bag, because slab length has to suit gutter spacing and hole layout has to suit plant density. All of the following are made to order.
- Blend ratio Any proportion, not only our standard steps.
- Compressed and expanded dimensions Cut to your gutter and bed layout.
- Planting holes Count, spacing and size for your plant density.
- Drainage holes Number, diameter and position, which determines how the base of the slab behaves.
- EC level Washed to low EC, or unwashed if you process in-house.
- Buffering On request, or supplied unbuffered.
- Film and print Plain or your own branding.
The substrate in service
A coco grow bag in use: planting holes cut to the crop spacing, drainage cuts at the base of the film, roots working through the profile.
- Blend ratio Any proportion, not only our standard steps.
- Compressed and expanded dimensions Cut to your gutter and bed layout.
- Planting holes Count, spacing and size for your plant density.
Manufacturing
We are a manufacturer, not a trader
Blending, compression, filling and packing happen at our own facility in Peravurani, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu. Visitors are welcome.
Staging Genuine CocoSeller factory photograph required.
Questions
Tomato substrate questions growers ask
We are a manufacturer. Blending, compression, filling and packing happen at our own facility in Peravurani, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu. Visitors are welcome.
An 80:20 cocopeat to chip blend is our usual starting point, at 6.73 L per kg water holding capacity and 10.2% air-filled porosity. A 50:50 blend at 21% air-filled porosity suits warmer climates or higher irrigation frequency.
Yes. Compressed and expanded dimensions, planting hole count and spacing, and drainage hole position are all made to order. Tell us your gutter layout and plant density.
The 1:1.5 volume extract method. If your specification uses saturated media extract, tell us and we will supply the equivalent figure. The two differ by roughly a factor of two.
Our standard product is unbuffered, washed with water alone to below 0.5 mS/cm with no chemical treatment. Calcium buffering is a separate chemical process available on request, and for long-cycle tomato on automated fertigation it can be worth it, because it avoids a nutritional wobble in the first weeks.
Yes, and we would encourage it. Tell us the area and we will produce enough to trial properly, with the batch test report for that lot.
Build your tomato substrate around your growing system.
Tell us your gutter spacing, plant density and irrigation frequency, and we will propose a specification.