Moisture Soil Level Determination in Husk Tomato (Physalis ixocarpa Brot.) Crop in Western Mexico

Abstract

When moisture conditions in soil are suitable, the husk tomato has good vegetative growth and high yield. The objective of this work was determine the minimum available moisture level to obtain the highest yield, and establish an irrigation calendar. Treatments evaluated were: 15%, 30%, 45%, and 60% of moisture reduction in soil, according to the gravimetric method, in a randomized complete-block design with four replications. The variance analysis and Duncan test were carried out at a 0.05 level of probability for following variables studied: Fresh fruit yield (kg/ha), plant height, root length, and fruit diameter. The results show that a 30% reduction moisture level was remarkable with a 28,610.67-kg/ha yield of fresh fruit. In relation to agronomics characteristics, the results show that, for plant height, root length, and fruit diameter were remarkable with the 15% and 60% reduction moisture, respectively. This was due to the greater interval of irrigation and tendency of root system to search for moisture. The greater vegetative growth and yield is with a moisture level of 65% to 80% present in soil, indicating that the husk tomato tolerates this 30% of reduction moisture, with higher values producing more stress in plants and modifying the vegetative growth and production.