Taiwan Yuniu Tomato planted in Boluo Pine Gang, Guangdong (Photo)

In people's impression, tomato is a short herb 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 Yuniu Tomato, which is not only thin and juicy, but also grows like grapes, with a beautiful landscape.

Tunnel planting produces more than 10,000 jin per mu, which is as effortless as picking grapes.

Open the greenhouse, a moist warm face, followed by a new landscape: tomatoes like grapes climb vine growth, a string of crystal red or green tomatoes hanging in the air, suddenly full of people.

Each row of tomatoes is more than one meter apart, and the two adjacent rows grow across the shelf, and the hollow part forms a tunnel. This planting pattern is called tunnel type. The variety, known as Yunu tomato, is different from low-growing tomatoes, which can grow up to 4 meters, while its vine-climbing characteristics allow people to pick fruit as effortlessly as grapes.

Cheng Kai, the greenhouse manager, told reporters that in October 2015, they began to plant 6 mu of 10,000 Yunu tomatoes in the greenhouse, using the traditional model and this tunnel planting respectively. After comparison, they found that the tunnel type has obvious advantages in both the number of plants and the yield.

By using the tunnel planting method, 2500 Yunu tomatoes can be planted per mu, and the number of plants planted in the same area is 1500 more than that planted in the traditional mode. For the traditionally planted Yuniu tomato, it is necessary to get rid of the "apical dominance" after growing to 1.8 meters (the phenomenon of preferential growth of apical buds and inhibition of lateral bud development is called "apical dominance"), and the tunnel type can grow freely; in the traditional planting method, one plant can only produce 8-12 tidbits, while the tunnel type can produce 12-24 tidbits. The fruit-hanging period of Yuniu tomato is 4 months. The yield of traditional method is 3000-5000 jin per mu, while that of tunnel-type Yuniu tomato is more than 10, 000 jin per mu.

When planted in nutritious soil, the sweetness is much higher than that of ordinary tomatoes.

Cheng Kai said that the high yield of tunnel Yuniu tomato is not only related to the planting pattern, but also related to the scientific planting environment.

The soil for growing Yuniu tomato is not ordinary soil, but nutritious soil that has been scientifically allocated. In addition to rice bran, straw and soybean meal, they also added a kind of energy stone to activate the soil. Intelligent equipment is also built in the greenhouse, in which the automatic sensing system can link the temperature, humidity, luminosity and other information in the greenhouse to the mobile phone APP at any time, and can intelligently control at any time. The temperature in the greenhouse is strictly controlled, and the environment with 20-25 ℃ during the day and 15-18 ℃ at night, humidity of 65-85% and light of 30-50 000 lux (unit of illumination) is the most suitable for the growth of Yunu tomato. It is understood that this greenhouse for growing Yuniu tomatoes has a fixed investment of about 200000 yuan per mu of land.

It is understood that this kind of Yuniu tomato is a new variety introduced from Taiwan and is still a fresh and scarce variety in Huizhou. Try a mouthful of jade girl tomato, the skin is thin and juicy, the taste is sweet and delicate, and it is more delicate and delicious than the common virgin fruit. Cheng Kai once took these Yunu tomatoes to the relevant departments for testing. After sweetness testing, it was found that the sweetness of these Yunu tomatoes was about 13 degrees, which was much higher than that of ordinary commercial tomatoes.

The reporter learned from the Boluo County Tourism Bureau that because of the delicacy and nutrition of Yunu tomato, coupled with the rich landscape effect of tunnel planting, this Yunu tomato planting base has become one of the local tourist attractions.

After more than 100 days of growth, the Yuniu tomato planting base has two greenhouses to hang fruit on the market, and uses the network pre-sale mode to sell. "customers place orders online, we pick them in the morning, pack and ship them in the afternoon, and deliver them by express delivery the next day, so that customers can eat the freshest Yuniu tomatoes." Cheng Kai said that their Yunu tomatoes sell for 30 yuan per jin and are currently selling well.