Blush Fact:

Tomatoes, along with oranges, watermelons and lemons are in fact berries.

Glasshouse Information

The Blush glasshouses span 20 hectares and produce over 19 million Blush trusses annually.

A row of tomato plants inside a greenhouse at Guyra

The Blush glasshouses are situated in the NSW town of Guyra which was chosen for having the best combination of sub 30°C days and high light intensity.

The glasshouses are wholly devoted to growing truss tomatoes in a naturally recyclable medium called cocopeat. They are also highly water efficient, requiring 90% less water than standard field tomatoes.

Click to view a movie clip about Blush tomatoes. The movie requires that you have the QuickTime Plugin installed, which is a free download.

Glasshouse Facts

The glasshouses have 201,600 square metres of growing area (approximately eight AFL football fields!) and hold over 600,000 plants.

The glasshouses are made from:

  • 2,800 tonnes of steel
  • Approximately 144,000 panes of strengthened glass (2,800 tonnes of glass)
  • 440km of heating pipe in the glasshouse containing 1,000,000 litres of water for heating
  • 248km of irrigation hose
  • 124km of hanging gutters
  • 16km of underground piping
  • 512km of crop wire
  • 5920 steel posts

And;

  • Supports 2,700 tonnes of weight in plants, plus another 1,300 tonnes in hanging gutters and growing medium, totalling 4,000 tonnes of weight, excluding rainwater and snow
  • Produces more than 72 million tomatoes. Side by side these fruit reach from Sydney to Perth and back as the crow flies.
  • 10mm rain on the 20 hectare glasshouse will result in a run off of 2 million litres (2 megs) of water
  • 400,000 cubic metres of soil and rock was moved to level a 20 hectare pad.

Each Plant:

  • Produces 20kg of Tomatoes in one year
  • Has to be pollinated three times a week
  • Grows 20cm in one week
  • Holds 35–40 tomatoes at any time after picking
  • Has to be picked twice a week
  • Has to have three leaves removed every week
  • Has to be lowered 20cm every week
  • Grows one truss per week
  • Has to be truss pruned each week
  • Is grown in a natural recyclable growing medium
  • Is grown with a combination of rainwater and Mountain Spring Water.

Each Tomato:

  • Grows 1mm in size every 24 hours
  • Takes 50–60 days to ripen
  • Has 95% less pesticides used on it than field tomatoes
  • 90% less water to grow than a field tomato
  • 80% less fertiliser to grow compared to a field tomato.

Guyra:

  • Has the best combination of cool summers and high winter light to produce the best tasting tomatoes
  • Is at 1,330 metres altitude
  • Is located between Sydney and Brisbane, 200km inland from Coffs Harbour
  • Has, on average, less than two days per year over 30ºC
  • Has a council that supports the Glasshouse
  • Has people that support the Glasshouse.