Windsor Star - How to grow the perfect tomato

Supplying a steady source of moisture is just the beginning. These days, growing the perfect tomato involves laptops, weather stations, moisture meters and university researchers…

Knowing how much moisture to apply is so tricky that McGill University has finished a three-year study, including research at Wayne Palichuk’s farm, on the amount of water needed to make a top tomato. The research started before the pipeline was built and results should be ready soon.

Chandra Madramootoo, a McGill irrigation and drainage professor who was the lead researcher on the study, compares watering to medication. Popping extra pills doesn’t mean you’ll cure your problem.

“What our research does is say that instead of just putting water the way that you have traditionally put it on, we’re actually going to run some research to see what you really need,” Madramootoo said.