This is odd, tomatoes are one pf the easiest fruits to grow, even in like a window garden or pot. Who would pay $93.00 for tomatoes?
I think that $93 must refer to the big box that grocers buy, not the small box consumers buy. There’s no way someone would pay that for like, 6 tomatoes in a box.
Agriculturally they aren’t that easy. They are a tropical plant and, at least in my region where we have cold winter and a shorter growing season than Mexico, something like apples are way “easier” to grow and ship. I put that in quotes because fruit is a pain in the ass no matter what.
Edit: I feel like people here are bringing up gardening when this is a story about agriculture. The two are only loosely related. It’s like saying you can get a beautiful plastic part on the 3D printer in your closet when factories in Mexico are down there injection molding them by the billions.
There’s no way you can compete at scale when Mexico can get year-round crops directly in the soil. Mexico can’t compete with Canada on rapeseed for the same reasons. It’s just another reason why the tariffs are so fucking stupid for the USA.
Tomatoes are best grown in greenhouses. In Canada, the whole greenhouse is automated.
Tomatoes are best grown in greenhousesHold on, gotta stop you right there - Tomatoes are best grown in gardens where they get sunshine, rain and nutrients from the soil.
Also, I realize you are probably talking specifically about tomatoes in Canada where the climate doesn’t really support growing them in their nature settings.
In summer they grow fine. Last frost is around equinox, and they can be started inside easy. I’m zone 7b here.
I grow them all year round in a tent in my basement, I’ve got a solar powered setup, LED lights + hydroponics. I haven’t paid for a tomato since 2009. Nothing beats plucking a fresh heirloom tomato off the vine in the middle of February during a snowstorm. A pinch of salt, a dash of balsamic, and it’s a treat.
I have to admit, I started my whole indoor gardening hobby to grow pot, but now I grow all sorts of stuff. I went from 1 tent of pot to 1 tent of pot and 15 tents of food. I also have a closet in my bedroom dedicated to growing 4 kinds of mushrooms.
Sounds like a sweet setup
Fun fact, indeterminate varieties can be cloned very easily - you can plant the suckers or prune the lower branches and shove that in soil.
Tomato?! That’s ethnic food.
