Determination of substrate proportion, sowing depth and temperature for tomato seedling emergence

Abstract

The tomato crop figure among the vegetables with the largest cultivated areas and profitability in the world. Characteristics of temperature, potting media and sowing depth act directly on the speed and uniformity of tomato seedling emergence. The object of the study was using soil and sand to determine the best proportion of substrates, sowing depth and temperature for tomato seedling emergence. A germination test was assessed in three temperatures (20-30, 25 and 30 oC) to verify seed physiological quality, then, an seedling emergence test was carried out using different substrate proportions of sand : soil (1:0, 1:1, 1:2, 2:1 and 0:1), temperatures (20-30, 25 and 30 oC) and sowing depths (1, 2, 3 and 4 cm), also the speed of seedling emergence was evaluated in the same test. The experimental design was completely randomized with 5 x 3 x 4 factorial (substrates x temperatures x sowing depths), with four replicates. The best germination results were obtained at the temperature of 25 °C. The proportion of substrate that allows the best performance of tomato seedlings is 2:1, using a temperature of 25 °C and a sowing depth of 2 cm.