Response of the Tomato to Population Pressure1 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Competition for assimilates and fruit position affect fruit set in indeterminate greenhouse tomato
Annals of botany, 1995
Localization and characterization of fruit set in winter tomato crops was investigated to determine the main internal and external controlling factors and to establish a quantitative relationship between fruit set and competition for assimilates. Individual fruit growth and development was assessed on a beef tomato cultivar during the reproductive period (first nine inflorescences). A non-destructive photograph technique was used to measure fruit growth from very early stages of their development and then calliper measurements were made on big fruits. From these measurements we determined the precise developmental stage at which fruit growth stopped. Fruit potential growth, which is defined as the growth achieved in non-limiting conditions for assimilate supply, was also assessed by this method on plants thinned to one flower per inflorescence. The latter was used to calculate the ratio between actual and potential growth, which was found to be a good index of the competition for as...
HortScience
Compact growth habit (CGH) tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are determinate plants with shortened internodes and strong side branching due to the brachytic gene (br) that grow either prostrate or upright as a result of unidentified gene(s). Compact growth habit tomatoes do not require staking, tying, or pruning and can potentially be mechanically harvested, lowering Florida fresh-market tomato production costs. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of two planting configurations (single and double row) and breeding lines (BLs) on CGH tomato plant growth, flowering pattern, yield, and postharvest fruit quality. Two experiments were conducted in Immokalee, FL, during Spring 2013 and 2014 in a split-plot design with four replications. Planting configurations affected CGH tomato growth at midseason in 2013 but not in 2014; however, in 2014, CGH tomato vines grew outside the beds into the row middles, which is uncommon for this tomato type and undesirable. Pla...
Journal of Plant Physiology, 2015
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) shows three growth habits: determinate, indeterminate and semideterminate. These are controlled mainly by allelic variation in the SELF-PRUNING (SP) gene family, which also includes the "florigen" gene SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS (SFT). Determinate cultivars have synchronized flower and fruit production, which allows mechanical harvesting in the tomato processing industry, whereas indeterminate ones have more vegetative growth with continuous flower and fruit formation, being thus preferred for fresh market tomato production. The semi-determinate growth habit is poorly understood, although there are indications that it combines advantages of determinate and indeterminate growth. Here, we used near-isogenic lines (NILs) in the cultivar Micro-Tom (MT) with different growth habit to characterize semi-determinate growth and to determine its impact on developmental and productivity traits. We show that semi-determinate genotypes are equivalent to determinate ones with extended vegetative growth, which in turn impacts shoot height, number of leaves and either stem diameter or internode length. Semi-determinate plants also tend to increase the highly relevant agronomic parameter Brix × ripe yield (BRY). Water-use efficiency (WUE), evaluated either directly as dry mass produced per amount of water transpired or indirectly through C isotope discrimination, was higher in semi-determinate genotypes. We also provide evidence that the increases in BRY in semi-determinate genotypes are a consequence of an improved balance between vegetative and reproductive growth, a mechanism analogous to the conversion of the overly vegetative tall cereal varieties into well-balanced semi-dwarf ones used in the Green Revolution.
American Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 2015
The time course of growth of individual tomato fruits (Solanum lycopersicum) was analyzed in relation to the fruit initiation date and cumulative degree days of growth. Experimental data of dry weight (DW), fresh weight (FW), radial diameter (FDIAM), and dry matter concentration (DMC) of three different cohorts of fruits of determinate fresh-market tomato cultivar Florida 47 were determined under field conditions in Florida during spring of 2006 and 2007. Successively later cohorts (1 week intervals) had longer lags prior to rapid growth, slower maximum growth during the rapid phase, and smaller DW, FW, and FDIAM at maturity. These growth patterns were analyzed by fitting the data to a three-parameter Gompertz function for DW, FW, and FDIAM, and to a fourparameter modified Gompertz function for DMC. The good agreement of predicted and measured Original Research Article
Plant Growth Regulation, 2002
Fruit sink strength or its ability to attract assimilates depends bothon sink activity and size. This study investigated one main component of sinksize, that is the number of fruit cells during tomato plant development. Plantswere grown in a controlled climate chamber under a limiting (LS, six fruits pertruss) and non-limiting (NLS, two fruits per truss and CO2enrichment) supply of carbon assimilates. Under NLS conditions, fruit cellnumber was homogeneous among successive trusses, and fruits contained onaverage1.2 × 106 more cells than under LS conditions,though differences were not significant on the first truss which underwent thelowest competition. Under LS conditions, an ontogenetic increase in cell numberwas observed in proximal fruits of the upper trusses attributed to theenlargement of the apical meristem during plant development. The decrease ofcell number from proximal to distal fruits within a truss, that was expectedfrom the literature, was generally observed in the LS experiment, with anaverage significant difference of about1.6 × 106cells between the first and fifth fruits. Nevertheless, whereas the gradient incell number from proximal to distal fruits was steep in the upper trusses, itwas not significant on the lower trusses indicating that this gradient largelydepended on the level of competition during floral development. Thus, under lowassimilate supply, cell division is a main limiting factor for fruit growth,although cell enlargement during further fruit development is also affected,butwas not measured in this work.
Influence of the number of flowers upon the growth of the first-cluster fruits in tomato
Scientia Horticulturae, 1987
Favaro, J.C. and Pilatti, R.A., 1987. Influence of the number of flowers upon the growth of the first-cluster fruits in tomato. Scientia Hortic., 33: 49-55. In this work, the effect of both the decrease in the number of flowers of the first cluster and the removal of the second truss upon the growth of the fruits of the first infrutescence in two tomato cultivars, one of semi-determinate growth ('Marmande') and the other of indeterminate growth ('Platense'), has been studied.
Response of Field-Grown Indeterminate Tomato to Plant Density and Stem Pruning on Yield
International Journal of Vegetable Science, 2018
Plant density and stem pruning are factors affecting production of field-grown indeterminate tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Plants were established at plant densities of 16,000, 20,000, or 30,000 plants ha −1 and pruning treatments were no stem pruning (0S), prune side shoots below the first flower truss (1F), or prune plants to 1 stem (1S) or 2 stems (2S). Increased plant density resulted in fewer fruit, marketable yield, and total yield per plant. Plant density did not affect marketable and total yield per hectare. Plants subjected to no pruning, or pruning of side shoots below the first flower truss, had the highest marketable yield per plant and per hectare. The lowest plant density, and no pruning, tended toward increased total yield per hectare. A plant density of 16,000 plants ha −1 , without stem pruning, is recommended based on cost saving of hybrid seed, due to use of fewer plants, and labor for pruning.
International Journal of Sciences Basic and Applied Research, 2013
A field experiment was conducted at Wollo University experimental site during March to June 2013 cropping season. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of intra-row spacing on the growth and development of tomato. The experiment was conducted on a randomized complete block design with three replication. Only one variety Roma VF was used on the experiment. The treatment used are 20, 25, 30,35cms spacing between plants with an inter-row spacing of 70cm. Growth and development parameters were recorded and analyzed by using ANOVA. The result revealed that tomato plants planted at 30 and 35cms had higher branch number, flower and fruit number per plant but shorter in plant height. In general this research indicated that high plant density (narrow) spacing greatly affected plant. Significant effects (p≤0.05) of intra row spacing were observed for number of flower per plant.. The wider spacing (30cm,35cm) had the highest flower per plant (53 and 56) and the lower spacing (20cm an 25cm) had lowest flower per plant (21 and 26). Significant effect (p≤0.05) of in the intra-row spacing was observed for number of branches per plant. A significant effect (p≤0.05) of intra row spacing was observed for plant height. The maximum height was recorded from lower spacing (20cm, 25cm) i.e. 51 and 44 and the minimum plant height were recorded from wider spacing i.e. 40 and 39. Highly significant effects (p≤0.01) of intra row spacing were observed for number of fruit and leaf area. The wider spacing (30cm and 35cm) had the highest fruit per plant (43 and 44) and the lower spacing (20cm an 25cm) had lowest fruit per plant (10 and 12cms).
Journal of Applied Horticulture
The effect of planting densities on yield, plant morphology, and physiological characteristics in determinate-type cooking 'Suzukoma' tomato were examined [high density (HD), medium density (MD), and low density (LD), corresponding to 792, 396, and 264 plants• a-1 ]. Although the fruit yield per plant under HD was 0.6 and 0.5-fold lower than that under MD and LD, respectively, the yield per area under HD was 1.2-and 1.5-fold higher than that under MD and LD, respectively, because planting density under HD was 1.5-and 3.0-fold higher than under MD and LD, respectively. There were no differences among planting densities on fruit set ratio, fruit weight, marketable fruit ratio, and soluble solids content. Lateral shoot length at the first cotyledonary node and third to fifth true leaf nodes under HD was shorter than one third of those under LD. Hence, the total numbers of flowers and fruits per plant were the lowest under HD. The extent of reduced photosynthetic rates and SPAD values for the third, fifth, and seventh true leaves under HD were not so larger compared to LD, despite being extremely reduced photosynthesis photon flux density (PPFD) at a low position in the plant community. The causes of decreased lateral shoot length at intermediate nodes under HD compared to LD suggested that the concentrations of isopentenyl adenine riboside (iPR) and trans-zeatin riboside (tZR) in stems, and IAA, iPR, tZR, and trans-zeatin (tZ) in lateral shoots under HD were lower than in those under LD. From these results, it was indicated that yield per area under HD was higher than under LD due to the morhological and physiological change of the plants by light conditions in the plant community.