Based in Queensland, Wide Bay Seedlings specializes in producing seedlings mainly for open-field crops such as tomatoes, watermelons, and capsicums. But now, Adrian and his team are setting their sights on the future - one that's increasingly automated and greenhouse-based.
"We supply lots of watermelons, tomatoes, and capsicums to growers around Australia - mostly for open field production, but the greenhouse sector is definitely growing," Adrian shares.
At last week's International Tomato Event hosted by TTA x ISO, and Artechno, Adrian Ross, Director of Wide Bay Seedlings, one of Australia's commercial young plant nurseries, attended the event with his wife, Vicki Ross. The couple will also attend Greentech Amsterdam this week and are looking for automation opportunities and innovations to implement back home.
A developing local sector
Wide Bay Seedlings has largely followed the open-field demand. However, 2025 marks a pivotal shift for the company. "This year we'll be moving into doing high-tech tomatoes and other crops for protected cropping, for the first time," he says. "We have done some grafted cucumbers and other crops for high-tech systems, but this is our first real push."
That shift also means adapting production methods, both in plant care and infrastructure. "High-tech greenhouse crops are usually grown in rockwool blocks," he explains. "Whereas open-field transplants are more traditional in our facilities. The varieties are quite distinct, as a greenhouse variety just won't survive in the open field. It's too harsh. So it means we will need to gear up technologically to supply greenhouse demands."
Tackling tomato rugose virus and industry shocks
The recent outbreak of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) in Australia has also left a mark on the industry. Adrian points out the challenges faced by growers and regulators alike.
"Our biosecurity services around the country have locked the gate on everything these past couple of months, until recently. But the virus won't go away, and they realized it," he says. "Some of the best greenhouses in the country have had it. It's part of our world now."
The virus sent shockwaves through the sector. "Some growers couldn't produce," he notes. "There was a bit of a shift with people moving from tomatoes into cucumbers, just trying to keep their greenhouses viable."
Now, Adrian says, the industry is stabilizing. "This will just bring everything back to earth and let people get on with producing."
Seeking automation partnerships
"We've been talking to TTA x ISO," he shares. "Ben was over at our place a month or so back, and we've come here to look at their tomato grafting machine."
"We graft a lot of watermelons, but all that's done by hand," Adrian says. "Tomato grafting is easy, actually, but it's still a craft and takes a lot of time and labour. We have a lot of artists working for us. Magicians with razor blades."
He's optimistic about what automation could mean for both efficiency and scalability. "We were here last year looking at TTA x ISO's machinery, and although they didn't have exactly what we needed yet, the direction they're going in is exciting."
Click here for the TTA x ISO & Artechno Tomato Event photo report.
For more information:
Wide Bay Seedlings
[email protected]
www.wbseedlings.com.au