Abstract
To study the effects of cover methods and nitrogen (N) levels on the growth and yield components of tomato Cv. Pear F1, field experiments with a 4x3 factorial design were conducted in the 2019 spring and winter seasons using a randomized complete block design with three replications. The cover methods included four treatments: bare soil (BS), black plastic mulch (BPM), transparent polypropylene row cover (RC), and a combination of BPM and RC (BPMRC) with the RC removed approximately 30 days after transplanting. Nitrogen (N) was applied at three levels (150, 180, and 210 kg N ha-1). Using BPM and RC generally led to an increased air temperature, air humidity, soil moisture, and soil temperature compared to the BS treatment. Higher N rates (180 and 210 kg N ha-1) did not result in different tomato fruit sizes and fruit weights but positively increased fruit yield and quality (Brix values and fruit dry weight) as compared to the 150 kg N ha-1 addition. The cover methods positively affected the yield components and fruit yield of tomato as well as the fruit characteristics compared to the BS treatment. Using cover materials (BPM and RC) combined with a higher N application significantly increased the yield attributes and fruit yield. The highest fruit yield was achieved under the mulching treatment by black plastic (BPM treatment) combined with a 210 kg N ha-1 application, resulting in 50.90 tons ha-1 in the spring and 58.27 tons ha-1 in the winter.
Highlights
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most important and popular vegetable crops grown commercially worldwide
Soil covering by black plastic mulch (BPM) and row cover (RC) led to increases in the air temperature and humidity, soil temperature, and moisture in the microclimate surrounding the plant canopy, and therein, the combination of BPM with RC resulted in higher values of soil and air characteristics
The cover methods interacting with the higher N application led to significantly increased plant heights and number of leaves per main stem
Summary
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most important and popular vegetable crops grown commercially worldwide. The main inhibition factor for tomato production is inadequate soil moisture, especially in the dry season, but mulching and covering technologies are common and effective practices to overcome this issue and improve crop production worldwide (Ogundare et al, 2015). Et al (2017) reported that mulching, especially BPM, reduced leaching of nutrients, so soil nutrient use efficiency was increased. Row cover (RC) has been documented to effectively provide a favourable environment around the plant with higher air temperature, relative humidity, and soil temperature (Moreno et al, 2002; Hernandez et al, 2004; Nair & Ngouajio, 2010; Muleke et al, 2014), resulting in more rapid growth, earlier harvest, and increased crop yields in plants such as Brassica rapa subsp. Under the combination of RC with plastic mulch, greater growth rates as well as earlier – marketable – total yields of Zea mays L. (sweet corn) (Aguyoh et al.,1999) and Cucurbita pepo L. (summer squash) (Gordon et al, 2008) were reported in comparison with those grown in bare soil with or without RC
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