Studies on the Effects of Vermicompost on Physicochemical Properties and Growth of Two Tomato Varieties under Greenhouse Conditions

Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate effects of different vermicompost rates on breeding quality and growth of two tomato varieties. Six treatments were applied, combining vermicompost (VC) with rice husk ash (RHS) and coconut fiber (CF) with the following proportions: 3/3 VC (control treatment, T1), 2/3 VC + 1/3 RHS (T2), 2/3 VC + 1/3 CF (T3), 1/3 VC + 2/3 RHS (T4), 1/3 VC + 2/3 CF (T5), and 1/3 VC + 1/3 RHS + 1/3 CF (T6). The results demonstrated that there was significant difference between combining VC, RHS, and CF into EC and combining those into macronutrients of substrates with increasing VC mixture proportion; however, water-holding capacity (WHC), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) contents were significantly increased with reduced VC mixture proportion. A mixture of VC with RHS and CF made with the rate of 1:1:1 significantly influenced emergence and elongation of seedlings of both varieties. Biomass allocation was affected by VC amendments for two varieties in seedling stage and one field-grown tomato variety. The VC amendment did not affect the phosphorous (P), Fe, and Zn contents but significantly influenced nitrogen (N), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and Mn concentrations in the shoots. The mixture of VC with RHS and CF made with the rate of 1:1:1 was found to provide optimum conditions for seedling performance of the two tomato varieties.