Abstract
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a major vegetable crop world-wide and grown in high tunnels in many regions. This study investigates the use of two fertilizer sources, chemical and integrated (composted poultry manure plus urea) fertilizers, and grafting on growth, nitrate-N content, yield, and fruit quality of tomato grown in high tunnels in northwestern Washington. Grafting treatments consisted of ‘Panzer’ tomato grafted on one of three tomato rootstocks ‘Estamino’, Maxifort’, ‘DRO138TX’, or non-grafted (control). Application of chemical fertilizer increased number of leaves per plant, plant height, and cumulative fresh biomass of pruned suckers relative to tomato plants grown with the integrated fertilizer treatment. Grafted tomato plants had greater plant growth than non-grafted plants throughout the growing season. There was no significant difference between fertilizer treatments on nitrate-N concentration in plant tissue or fresh petiole sap; however, grafted plants contained higher levels of nitrate-N than non-grafted plants. Total and marketable fruit weight and number did not differ due to fertilizer source, but total and marketable fruit weight was higher for grafted plants than for non-grafted plants in 2016. There was no significant effect due to fertilizer source on fruit firmness, water content, pH, titratable acidity, and β-carotene; however, total soluble solids (TSS) and lycopene content were higher for fruit grown with integrated fertilizer in 2016. Grafting enhanced water content of tomato fruit in 2015, and TSS (°Brix) in 2016.
Highlights
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important fresh market vegetable crop grown in the U.S, with 1,225,870 t harvested from 38,160 ha in 2015 (United States Department of Agriculture 2016), and is an important crop for farmers’ markets, farm stands, restaurants, and community supported agriculture in many regions, including northwest Washington
Using three rates of poultry manure (PM) (10, 20 and 40 g.kg−1soil) and a no PM control, the authors reported that plant dry biomass increased significantly with all three levels of PM as compared to the control, but there was no difference among the PM application rates; leaf N was significantly greater for all PM treatments at final harvest (Demir et al 2010)
The number of leaves per plant, plant height, and leaf area significantly increased with all study treatments as compared to the control, and all growth parameters were greatest for the chemical fertilizer plus PM treatment
Summary
Many fresh market tomato growers in northwest Washington use organic or sustainable production practices, including manure and/or compost applications to improve soil health and crop yield by enhancing the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil (Stone and Elioff 1998). Limited research has been carried out to measure plant growth in response to soil fertility management strategies in high tunnel tomato production. Given the relative lack of published research reports on the effects of fertility management in high tunnel tomato production, studies under field conditions may be informative. A field study carried out in Monticello, AR, compared production of several heirloom tomato cultivars using chemical and organic (poultry litter) fertility sources (Francis and Stark 2012). A study in Magnesia, Greece, compared non-grafted, self-grafted, and grafted tomato in greenhouse (grown in soil) and open field
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