Sunco Ltd. Hydroponic Tomatoes

    By Art Nadler

    When you think cheese, Wisconsin comes to mind. Wine? Napa Valley, Calif., produces some of the best in the world. Tomatoes? Try the arid Las Vegas Valley.

    Don't be so surprised. Situated on 12 acres in North Las Vegas, a growing community not far from the famous Las Vegas Strip, sits Sunco Ltd.'s hydroponic tomato greenhouse.

    Within this massive $6 million crystal structure are rows upon rows of tomato plants towering more than six-feet tall. These vine ripened tomatoes � the kinds of delicious-tasting red beauties rural American farmers used to grow and the ones home gardeners produce with pride � are some of the best in the world.

    Sunco hydroponically grows what's known as "beefsteak" tomatoes, which means they are planted in perlite, a volcanic rock, and fed mineral water for plant nutrition. A plant can receive up to 70 irrigations a day. The tomatoes are then allowed to ripen on the vine before being shipped to market.

    "About 80 percent of the flavor comes from being vine ripened," says Ken Gerhart, president of Sunco and a third-generation horticulturalist. "This is a high-end tomato with a shelf life of three weeks."

    Hydroponic tomatoes cost a little more, Gerhart says, but their flavor is better and they are consistent.

    "Consumers' tastes are finally evolving," he says of the epicurean quality of his tomatoes. "These tomatoes are like a fine bottle of wine."

    Sunco's tomatoes, marketed under the trade name Las Vegas Delight, are planted in July. Harvesting usually begins within 85 to 90 days. Tomatoes are picked through June of the following year, and then the plants are removed and reseeding is begun all over again. Replanting costs approximately $500,000 each year, Gerhart says.

    On a good day, workers pick 30,000 pounds of tomatoes, Gerhart says. Each year, 4 million pounds are picked from the 12-acre greenhouse. Sunco sells throughout the United States and Canada, and does approximately $3 million in sales each year, Gerhart says.

    Sunco Ltd. is owned by Southwest Power LLC, which also owns Las Vegas Cogeneration, a 50-megawatt power plant that sells electricity to Nevada Power Co. Water used to cool equipment in the power plant becomes hot and is used to heat the greenhouse via pipes that run throughout the glass structure.

    Heating and cooling conditions are controlled inside the greenhouse by computers. During the winter, the temperature is kept at between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. High-pressure mist is used to cool the greenhouse during the summer to about 75 degrees.

    Sunco employees pick tomatoes six-days a week. They stand on battery driven carts, activated by a foot pedal that moves on tracks between the 250-foot rows of plants.

    Gerhart says he uses perlite instead of soil because it allows him to control nutrition to the plants better.

    To pollinate the plants, 50 bumble bee hives have been strategically located throughout the greenhouse. The tomato's main predator, the whitefly, is controlled with miniature wasps routinely let loose in the greenhouse. They lay their eggs in the larvae of the whitefly. When the wasps hatch, they kill the tiny whiteflies.

    Hundreds of thousands of wasps, which don't have stinkers, occupy the greenhouse, Gerhart says.

    For more information hydroponic tomatoes contact: Sunco Ltd., Ken Gerhart, president, 3950 N. Bruce St., North Las Vegas, NV. 89030-3350. Phone: (702) 649-4930. Fax: (702) 649-5574.