Yields of Two Tomato Cultivars Differing in Shoot Growth at Several Plant Populations and Locations

Abstract

Abstract ‘Horizon’, a small shoot-mass tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) cultivar, and ‘Sunny’, a large shoot-mass cultivar were planted at 30.5-, 61-, and 91-cm within-row spacings at five locations in Florida during Spring 1985 to determine if yields differed between these cultivars and among plant densities. Marketable weight and number of fruit per plant, mean fruit size (g/fruit), and shoot weight increased linearly with an increase in within-row spacing. Marketable weight of fruit/ha decreased linearly with wider within-row spacings. Responses of both cultivars to within-row spacing were similar for each measured trait, except for marketable fruit number per plant. A larger increase in marketable number of fruit per plant occurred between 61- and 91-cm within-row spacings for ‘Sunny’ than for ‘Horizon’. Fruit : shoot ratio (w/w) was not influenced by within-row spacings or cultivars. Each measure variable differed among locations. These results suggest that ‘Sunny’, with a larger inherent shoot growth, sufficiently compensated for smaller shoot growth when grown at higher plant densities to maintain marketable fruit yields comparable to ‘Horizon’.