Category: News

Did you know that the taller a greenhouse, the more energy efficient it is?

The reason being, in taller greenhouses, there is more growing space. A contributing factor to this is that there is less humidity than in lower glass houses. Therefore, we don’t need to put as much energy into taller glass houses because we don’t need to open the vents as much to control the humidity. Having the vents open less often means that we can keep the CO2 levels higher which is better for the crop and allows it to grow in a more efficient way.

You may be wondering how we get our crops to ripen as we descend into the cold winter months with less natural light through shorter days and colder nights. Here at R&L Holt, we won’t let that stop us! Here are the two ways that we keep our crops ripe in the coldest conditions… 

1. Keep your crop healthy

A healthy crop is crucial to maintaining its ripeness as a healthy crop produces the right nutrients to ensure the plant stays healthy.

1. Put heating relative to light level

This allows the plant to ripen in accordance with the weather. On a darker, more dull day, we won’t emit as much heat compared to a lighter day where we add more heat to progress the ripening. 

Did you know that you can hand pollinate tomato plants? Want to find out more? Well here’s how you can…

With tomato plants being self pollinating, they produce flowers with both male and female organs which enables the pollen to be shed directly onto the stigma of the flower.

The most common way that tomato plants are pollinated is by the wind or by bees. However, as with everything, sometimes they need a helping hand to release their pollen, for example if plants are kept indoors or in a glasshouse.

Hand pollination of tomatoes is a simple process which should be conducted on a warm and bright day for the best results: 

1. Shake the flowers by tapping behind the flower with your finger to stimulate the plant to release pollen. 
2. Do this for 2-3 consecutive days to ensure that the pollination has been successful. 
3. You will know that successful pollination has taken place when the flower begins to shrivel and fruits begin to form.

Will you be hand pollinating your tomato plants?

How much do you know about how we irrigate our crops with NFT at R&L Holt? Whether you’re an expert, you aren’t familiar with the topic, or you just want to find out some more, we’re going to tell you three fun facts about this process. 

1. The plants sit in a plastic gully to be preserved and protected 
2. The plastic gully enables water to flow through the plants, providing them with the required nutrients they need to survive 
3. This is an extremely sustainable process because the water gets recycled 24 hours a day

Have you learnt something new today? Head over to our TikTok page for more information! 

November marks the beginning of the winter season, cold days, cosy nights and very British weather. Now the clocks have gone back as the winter sets in, this has a huge impact on the way we grow our tomatoes.

We will stop picking at our Hornsfield Nurseries site by the end of November. If you’re wondering why, keep reading…

We’re stopping the crops growing further due to the decreased light levels throughout the winter months meaning that the old ones are the final crops in our Hornsfield Nurseries for November 2022. But don’t worry, our Hornsfield Nurseries will be back in December after a couple of weeks of deep cleaning the Nurseries to make room for the new plants. Looks like the spring cleaning is starting early!

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important within our daily lives and a habit that we need to adopt to preserve the beauty of our planet. Here at R&L Holt, we are extremely committed to this cause and would like to show you how! 

Here are three things that we do to make our tomato growing sustainable as we do our bit to help the environment…

1.  Sustainable heating 

To remain efficient and sustainable, we use steam and hot water biomass boilers and have CHP engines to help power the lit crops rather than less sustainable alternative methods of heating. 

2. Reusing and preserving water

All sites have reservoirs that collect rain water. With filtration and sterilisation equipment used we recirculate solution in closed sytems to ensure we are efficient with this resource.

3. Recycling waste material 

All leaves and waste from the plants is used in the Anaerobic Digestors or composted.

We hope that you have learnt something about our sustainability methods and are encouraged to try more sustainable practices in your routine!

Here at R&L Holt, it is important to us that you, our loyal tomato community, understand everything about our business and our reasoning behind certain aspects of this. 

We have discussed our three sites, Sandylands Nurseries, Hornsfield Nurseries and Springhill Nurseries and now it is the turn of our La Serra site to be discussed. 

In 2019, our La Serra site was developed for annual tomato production. Its features include hybrid lighting with both top LED and Interlighting, meaning that the site is powered by CHP through a Biogas Anaerobic Digester and a Solar Farm. This is a huge development for R&L because our La Serra site is improving the carbon footprint and sustainability of our business. 

The construction of this site would not have been possible without the forty years of growing experience by the Holts, that helped to design this superb site fit for the twenty-first century!

We have some exciting news to share with you!

Last week we attended the Annual British Tomato Conference, our first large event in three years due to the restrictions of Covid! 

The Annual British Tomato Conference is a great opportunity for growers, suppliers and retailers to meet up and discuss the industry while listening to interesting presentations on a range of subjects. 

We at R&L Holt were extremely excited to attend this event after the last few being virtual. It is always a pleasure to see our like minded tomato community while sharing and comparing ideas about how to improvise our current growing and maintaining methods in the future!

Learn more about what we got up to here.

Being a business that has been active for forty years (and many more to come!) it is easy to overlook the origins of a business as time promptly passes by. This blog will transport you back in time to where R&L Holt, your favourite tomato growing business first began and what happened before the twenty-first century…

Where it all began, 1979

R&L Holt began with the purchase of our first site Sandylands in 1979. This was comprised of a mixture of indoor and outdoor plants.

The expansion commenced, 1985

The construction of the first glass house for R&L Holt called ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’ began in 1985. This ensured that the tomato plants were well insulated in all seasons, and as we know in Britain, they can be extreme!

Considerable construction, 1999

Following on from the construction of the first glass house swiftly follows the construction of the second in 1999 which has since been called ‘Fred’. From this point onwards we can see a rapid progression in the expansion and growth of the business to keep up with high customer demand.

So, that’s where it all began! We are extremely grateful to our loyal followers, customers and friends who ensure that this business is a continuous success. We look forward to the next 40 years with you!

The growing of tomatoes is not as simple as it may seem, it takes a lot of hard work as well as dedication and consideration of the plants. To ensure that the tomatoes are being looked after correctly, a range of factors need to be considered, one of which is maintaining a healthy temperature in glasshouses so that the tomatoes can thrive. With winter fast approaching, we have put together a compilation of the most useful facts to consider when heating glass houses which will in turn help you and your greenhouse-growing at home!

1. A thermal mass – These are objects that absorb heat during the day and release it during the night so most of the hard work is done and it’s extremely sustainable!
2. Add insulation – Attaching a layer of bubble wrap to the interior walls of the glass house can reduce heat loss and block cold drafts. This is an effective way to maintain temperatures in your glass house and it is easily accessible, there’s always some bubble warp lying around.
3. Let the sunshine come in – This is the most natural way to maintain the heat in a glass house, as nothing is better for tomatoes than the sun! For this to work for maximum benefit, there must be no obstacles in the path of the sun and tomato plants.

We hope that you have found these facts helpful and that they will be of use to you when heating your own glass houses!