Abstract
The objective of the study was to determine the effect of growing medium in greenhouse cultivation on the yield and fruits quality of “cherry†tomato two cultivars. Cultivars ‘Dasher F1’ and ‘Pareso F1’ were chosen for the experiment. The growing mediums compared were: standard mineral wool slabs and coconut fibre slabs, chosen as an environmentally friendly alternative to mineral wool. Tomato seeds were sown in December; seedlings were planted to the experimental greenhouse in January. The fruits were harvested at 5th stage of maturity, according to USDA classification (i.e. ‘light-red’), and subjected to analyses. Harvest terms for quality evaluation of the fruits were June and September. There were determined for the fruits: total and marketable yield, and quality parameters: pH of the fruit juice, titratable acidity, total sugars, soluble solids, total phenolic acids, lycopene, α-carotene and β-carotene contents. The results showed that the fruits harvested in September showed a higher dry matter and carotenoid content that the fruits harvested in June. However, the fruits harvested in June were characterized by a higher total sugars content, higher pH of the juice and higher soluble solids content. The plants grown in both mediums had fruits of similar quality, but the plants grown in coconut fibre showed noticeably higher total yield. Therefore, it can be concluded that the coconut fibre can be used as the environmentally friendly medium for greenhouse cultivation of ‘cherry’ tomatoes, the alternative to mineral wool.
Highlights
Tomato is one of the most popular vegetables grown in the world (Causse et al, 2003)
Many studies indicate that the key factor for plant growth, yield, fruit quality and storage ability is the growing medium used in greenhouse cultivation (Kowalczyk et al, 2011)
In the study “cherry” tomato plants cultivated in coconut fibre slabs gave a higher yield than the plants cultivated in mineral wool slabs
Summary
Tomato is one of the most popular vegetables grown in the world (Causse et al, 2003). Tomato fruit sensory quality relates to several attributes, like dry matter, sugars content and juice acidity (Kowalczyk et al, 2011). Many studies indicate that the key factor for plant growth, yield, fruit quality and storage ability is the growing medium used in greenhouse cultivation (Kowalczyk et al, 2011). The most popular growing medium used in a modern soilless vegetable cultivation is a mineral wool (called a rock wool). With this sterile inert medium, precise plant nutrition is possible. Such optimisation of growing conditions aims to a high yield of good quality. After completing the growing season, coconut fibre slabs can be composting and use as an organic fertilizer
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