Additional index words. Solanum lycopersicum, greenhouse, season extension, plasticulture, hoop house, local markets, IPM Abstract. Organic and heirloom tomatoes are high-value products with growing demand but there are many challenges to successful cultivation. A systems comparison study was carried out to evaluate the production of the popular heirloom tomato 'Cherokee Purple' (Solanum lycopersicum L.) under high tunnel and open field systems in North Carolina from 2007 to 2008. Management of the high tunnel (i.e., temperature and irrigation), weather events as well as pest and disease pressure influenced crop quality and yield. The high tunnel and field systems achieved similar total yields (100 t · ha L1 ) the first season but yields were 33% greater in the high tunnel system than the field system in the second year (100 t · ha L1 and 67 t · ha L1 , respectively). Both years, the tomatoes were planted in high tunnels 1 month earlier and harvested 3 weeks earlier than the field. The accumulation of ' '1100 growing degree-days (GDD) was required in both systems before 50% of the fruit was harvested. Fruit cracking, cat-facing, blossom-end rot, and insect damage were the major categories of defects in both systems. Incidence of both Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) and Gray Leaf Spot (GLS) were lower in the high tunnel compared with the field in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Results of this study suggest that with proper management techniques, high tunnels can optimize yields, increase fruit quality, and provide season extension opportunities for high-value horticultural crops.
Southern blight (Sclerotium rolfsii) and root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) cause severe damage to fresh-market tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) throughout the southeastern United States. Grafting is an emerging technology in U.S. tomato production, and growers require information regarding the resistance characteristics conferred by rootstocks. In this study, southern blight (SB) and root-knot nematodes (RKN) were effectively managed using interspecific hybrid rootstocks. During 2007 and 2008, field trials were carried out at two locations that had soils naturally infested with S. rolfsii. At the end of the growing seasons, the mean SB incidence of nongrafted plants was 27 and 79% at the two sites. SB incidence among plants grafted onto rootstock cultivars Big Power (one location only), Beaufort, and Maxifort ranged from 0 to 5%, and area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) values were lower than for nongrafted and self-grafted controls (P < 0.01). At one location, soils were naturally infested with RKN, and all three rootstocks reduced RKN AUDPC and RKN soil populations at first harvest (P < 0.01). Big Power was particularly effective at reducing RKN galling and RKN soil populations at final fruit harvest (P < 0.01). Fruit yield was higher when resistant rootstocks were utilized (P < 0.05), and in our study grafting was effective at maintaining crop productivity in soils infested with S. rolfsii and M. incognita.
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