TOV / Truss Tomatoes — DutchGreenhouses

The Dutch export standard, sold on the vine

Truss tomato is harvested as a whole cluster with the vine attached, and that is the product: the fruit is graded on evenness across the truss, not on individual fruit. A cluster carrying one pale or undersized fruit is downgraded whole, so uniformity is worth more here than peak size. It is the format Dutch growers built the export trade on, and it remains the reference crop for high-wire production.

What the crop needs

The crop is long-cycle, grown on substrate and carried on a high wire, planted once and picked for most of the year. Because the plant sets and ripens continuously, the climate has to hold a steady relationship between light and temperature rather than chase a target; a swing shows up several trusses later as uneven ripening. Root-zone control through drip and drain recirculation carries the fruit load, and screening and carbon dioxide dosing are part of the standard envelope rather than additions to it.

What the greenhouse has to do

The house is built for a season that never pauses. The structure carries a crop wire and a fully hung plant for most of the year, and Gutter Height">gutter height sets the air volume the climate system has to keep stable underneath it. Light transmission is the first specification: light that reaches the crop in the dark months is production that does not have to be bought back with heat or lamps.

Uniformity is the second. A cluster is graded whole, so a cold corner, a dry section or a shaded bay shows up later as a downgraded truss rather than as a local problem. Even transmission, even air movement and even water delivery across the whole floor decide the grade, which is why the structure, the screening and the irrigation are specified as one package rather than bought as three.

DutchGreenhouses® specifies the structure, climate, screening and irrigation together around the truss tomato crop, its cultivar and the local climate, so the whole cluster reaches grade. Get in touch to plan a tomato greenhouse for your market.

Cherry tomatoes

Small fruit, high count, and labour as the deciding cost.

Cocktail tomatoes

Between cherry and truss, and a class in its own right.

Beef tomatoes

A large-fruited class where the Dutch evidence is historical.

Hydroponics

Substrate growing with drip supply and drain recirculation.

Climate

Heating, cooling, humidity control and carbon dioxide dosing.

Grow lights

Supplemental light for the low-light months.

Questions

Truss tomato, asked and answered

What makes truss tomato different from loose tomato to grow?

The cluster is graded as one unit, so evenness across the truss decides the grade. That puts more weight on steady climate and consistent fruit set than on reaching maximum individual fruit size.

What decides the size of a truss tomato greenhouse?

The market window and the harvest rhythm. A crop picked for most of the year is sized for continuous throughput, so growing area, internal transport and packing capacity are dimensioned together rather than around a single peak week.

Does truss tomato need supplemental lighting?

It depends on the latitude and the market window being supplied. Lighting extends the productive season in low-light months, and it brings its own heating load and electrical service, so it belongs in the greenhouse design rather than in a later upgrade.

Crop data

TOV / truss tomatoes — reference values

Reference values from the DutchGreenhouses crop model, each traced to its Dutch source below. Ranges describe published practice across systems and seasons; a project setpoint is calculated for the actual greenhouse, crop and climate.

Day climateMedium confidence¹²³⁴⁵

Air temperature: 19–23 °C
Relative humidity: 82–88 %
Vapour-pressure deficit: 0.28–0.45 kPa
Daily light integral: 18–35 mol/m²/d
Photoperiod: 16–18 h
CO₂ concentration: 600–800 ppm
Root-zone temperature: 17–20 °C

Night climateMedium confidence¹³⁶⁷

Air temperature: 17–20 °C
Relative humidity: 85–90 %
Vapour-pressure deficit: 0.2–0.34 kPa
CO₂ concentration: 420–500 ppm
Root-zone temperature: 17–20 °C

Irrigation and root zoneMedium confidence⁶⁸⁹¹⁰

Supply EC: 3.5–4.5 mS/cm
Supply pH: 5–6.2 pH
Drain fraction: 20–30 %
Daily water use: 1–5 L/m²/d
Dosing capacity: ≈ 2 L/m²/h

Where these come from

Kas als Energiebron, 2020 — Lit tomato crop timing and lighting. University/extension · High confidence · E015One Dutch full-LED trial; cultivar and planting date apply.
Kas als Energiebron Academy Tomaat, 2023 — Radiation–temperature ratio (RTR). University/extension · Medium confidence · E016A practice method and participant example, not a universal optimum.
Kas als Energiebron / Delphy, 2022 — Energy-efficient LED temperature and humidity. University/extension · High confidence · E017Observed successful trial conditions; not proof that RH values are universal optima.
Kas als Energiebron / WUR, 2014 — Tomato CO₂ operating range. University/extension · High confidence · E023Economic and ventilation context still changes the optimal dose.
Kas als Energiebron project 20184 — Modern full-LED tomato project configuration. University/extension · High confidence · E029Demonstration configuration; installed capacity is not a universal crop optimum.
Kas als Energiebron / Delphy, 2025 — Humidity, EC and transpiration under LED. University/extension · Medium confidence · E018Interim results; final minimum-transpiration guidance was not yet published.
WUR / del Amor & Marcelis, 2005 — Humidity response and nutrient uptake. Peer-reviewed · Medium confidence · E022Controlled-condition mechanism; not a mature commercial recipe.
Proefstation voor Tuinbouw onder Glas / WUR, 1994 — Closed-system tomato nutrient solution. University/extension · Medium confidence · E021Authoritative Dutch basis but old; modern root-volume and cultivar effects require monitoring.
WUR / Li, Stanghellini & Challa, 2001 — Tomato EC × transpiration response. Peer-reviewed · Medium confidence · E027High-salinity experiment; use for risk response, not the normal operating setpoint.
Kas als Energiebron, 2023 — Nutrition under lower transpiration. University/extension · Medium confidence · E028Supports a feedback strategy rather than a static nutrient recipe.

These are reference values, not a specification. DutchGreenhouses does not publish project setpoints; those are calculated per greenhouse, crop and location.

From the knowledge base