Rootstock performance for cherry tomato production under organic, greenhouse production system

Abstract

Studies have indicated that grafting increases yield and prevents plant diseases. An experiment was installed to evaluate the influence of rootstock on the physicochemical and phytotechnical characteristics of a cherry tomato cultivar (Sweet Grape) under organic, greenhouse production system, from July to December 2014. The experiment consisted of a randomized complete block design, with eight replications. Treatments were composed of four rootstocks (Emperador, Muralha, Enforce, and Enpower) and the ungrafted cultivar Sweet Grape (control). The following variables were analyzed: plant height, yield, firmness, discard, yield/discard ratio, total titratable acidity (TTA), total soluble solids (TSS), ratio, pH, number of clusters, and number of leaves. Data were subject to analysis of variance by the F test, at 5% significance level, and means were compared by the Tukey’s test. Plant height was significantly different among treatments. Rootstocks presented no significant differences on yield, number of clusters, and TTA. The rootstocks Emperador, Enforce, and Muralha presented significant difference when compared to the control. For number of leaves, all rootstocks were significant when compared to the control, but not in relation to each other. The rootstocks presented the following yields: Emperador = 66.57 t ha-1; Muralha = 59.79 t ha-1; Enpower = 58.44 t ha-1; Enforce = 57.92 t ha-1; and the control cv. Sweet Grape = 51.28 t ha-1. Results revealed that rootstocks have the potential to improve cherry tomato’s yield in an organic cultivation system and do not interfere negatively with the physicochemical quality of the final product.

Instrumental and sensory analyses of fruit quality attributes of grafted grape tomatoes in high tunnel organic production systems

“…Mauro et al 14 . reported that grafting with rootstocks with different genetic backgrounds resulted in similar tomato fruit firmness among all rootstock treatments in a greenhouse study, which was also reported by Albino et al ., 9 who grafted cherry tomato with interspecific rootstocks ( S. lycopersicum × S. habrochaites ). However, in another study conducted in a plastic greenhouse, Romano and Paratore 37 found that fruit firmness of cherry tomato varied with rootstocks.…”

“…It has also been reported that rootstock effects on cherry tomato fruit total sugars, SSC, and TA were rootstock cultivar dependent 12,37 . However, Albino et al 9 . demonstrated that grafting cherry tomato with interspecific rootstocks ( S. lycopersicum × S. habrochaites ) resulted in similar SSC, TA, SSC/TA, and pH as the non‐grafted cherry tomato.…”

“…In a survey of 389 respondents from throughout the USA, 42% preferred grape tomatoes over plum (36%), cluster (27%), cherry (25%), and yellow slicing tomatoes (4.4%) 5 . Grafting tomato with certain rootstocks has been reported to increase plant resistance to soilborne pathogens, tolerance to abiotic stresses, 6 nutrient uptake, 7 and fruit yield 8‐10 . Grafting has been adopted for small‐fruited tomato production but, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reports of rootstock impact on grape tomato fruit physical attributes and composition although very few studies have been conducted with cherry tomato (also S. lycopersicum var.…”

Evaluation of Sugarcane Agroindustrial Wastes as Substrate in Soilless Cultivation of Tomato (S. lycopersicum Linnaeus): Effect of Substrate Composition on Yield Production

“…In general, the best performance in this variable was observed with a high FPM content. On the other hand, it has been established that plants with a high number of leaves usually present a high yield, thus, leaves quantity was also measured during the experiments [78]. At 20 DAT, the plants with a high number of leaves were in the following order T 6 (31.50 ± 0.71) > T 8 (25.50 ± 4.92) > T 15 ∼ = C 1 (24.5 ± 0.70) > T 11 (24.0 ± 0.00) ∼ = T 9 (22.0 ± 2.83) > T 14 (21.67 ± 1.52) > T 12 ∼ = T 1 ∼ = T 4 (21.00 ± 2.0) whereas samples with a low number of leaves were T 3 (16.67 ± 5.51) < T 5 ∼ = T 7 (16.00 ± 0.0) < T 13 (15.50 ± 4.94).…”

Tomato Production Influenced by Variety, Irrigation and Organic Fertilization

“…Although countless researches have been done with regard to the quantitative and qualitative improvement of the tomato yield, there still remain undefined the technological measures, which ensure consumer safety and sustainability of the producer. The data from the scientific literature highlights the fact that in organic tomato crops, the number of fruits per plant, plant weight and yield are 30-70% lower than in conventional farming (Bilalis et al, 2018;Albino et al, 2018).…”