Effect of Plant Population and Breeding Lines on Fresh-market, Compact Growth Habit Tomatoes Growth, Flowering Pattern, Yield, and Postharvest Quality

Abstract

<jats:p>Compact growth habit (CGH) tomatoes (<jats:italic>Solanum lycopersicum</jats:italic>) are determinate plants with shortened internodes and strong side branching due to the brachytic gene (<jats:italic>br</jats:italic>) 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. Plants of CGH tomatoes had a similar flowering pattern to a conventional upright tomato cultivar, which was unexpected. Planting configurations did not affect marketable yields in 2013, but single-row plots produced higher extra-large and total marketable yields at first and total season harvests in 2014. Total season marketable harvests ranged from 26.1 to 53.6 and 29.3 to 45.6 Mg·ha<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Fla 8916 was among the highest yielding BLs, maximizing extra-large and total season marketable yields. Unmarketable fruit ranged from 22% to 31% and 25% to 52% of the total season harvest in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and the most common defects were sunscald, off-shape, catface, and graywall. All CGH evaluated may be suitable for mature-green harvest regarding postharvest fruit quality, although fruit ripening uniformity was of concern in 2014. Average CGH total season marketable yields harvested twice were lower than expected yields of staked-upright tomato cultivars that may be harvested three times, but higher than Florida average yields. However, CGH tomato total production cost can potentially be lower than staked-upright cultivars making CGH tomatoes a viable alternative for the Florida mature-green fresh-market industry to remain sustainable.</jats:p>

Effect of Phosphorus Rates on Growth, Yield, and Postharvest Quality of Tomato in a Calcareous Soil

“…After reaching breaker stage, tomatoes were moved out of the packing house and ripened at room temperature (23 to 24°C) to the tableripe stage (defined as ''the point at which redripe tomatoes become noticeably softer when pressure is applied with thumb and fingertips to the equatorial region of each fruit'') for postharvest evaluation (Frasca and Ozores-Hampton, 2014). Fruit firmness was tested as deformation using an 11-mm probe and 1-kg force applied to the fruit equator area for 5 s by a portable digital firmness tester (Model C125EB; Mitutoyo Corp., Aurora, IL); fruit exterior color was measured using a 1 to 6 scale where 1 = green and 6 = red (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1997); total soluble solids (TSS) at 20°C, and pH were measured by a portable refractometer (Fisher Catalog Number 13-946-26; Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA) and a pH meter (Accumet AR 60; Fisher Scientific), respectively.…”

Responses of Tomato to Potassium Rates in a Calcareous Soil

“…At the first harvest, 10 mature-green fruits from each plot were collected, treated with ethylene, and ripened at 20°C with 85% to 90% relative humidity in DiMare's packing house (Homestead, FL). After reaching the breaker stage, tomatoes were moved out of the packing house and ripened at room temperature (23 to 24°C) to the table-ripe stage (defined as ''the point at which redripe tomatoes become noticeably softer when pressure is applied with thumb and fingertips to the equatorial region of each fruit'') for postharvest evaluation (Frasca and Ozores-Hampton, 2014). Four fruit from each plot were tested for fruit deformation using an 11-mm probe, and 1-kg force was applied to the fruit equator area for 5 s by a portable digital firmness tester (Model C125EB; Mitutoyo Corp., Aurora, IL); exterior fruit color was measured on the same four fruit using a 1 to 6 scale, where 1 = green and 6 = red (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1997); one-fourth of each of the four fruit was used to measure TSS at 20°C and pH using a portable refractometer (Fisher Catalog Number 13-946-26; Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA) and a pH meter (Accumet AR 60; Fisher Scientific), respectively.…”

Fine Mapping of the brachytic Locus on the Tomato Genome

“…To address this, the stem length should be reduced without negatively affecting fruit yield. Investigation of feasible traits to develop the ideal fresh-market tomato architecture for mechanical harvest has already revealed a tomato growth habit, named as compact growth habit (CGH), and shorter stem is a key component for CGH (Frasca et al, 2014;Gardner and Davis, 1991;Kemble et al, 1994aKemble et al, , 1994b. Moreover, the combination of CGH with jointless pedicel trait (Scott et al, 2013) could make it economical to do harvesting with mechanical harvesters.…”

“…Introduction of the tomato br into normal phenotype tomatoes has shorter internodes that inevitably reduced stem length (Balint-Kurti et al, 1995;Barton et al, 1955;MacArthur, 1931). The locus has been shown to be the primary source of the shortened internode phenotype in freshmarket tomato breeding programs (Frasca et al, 2014;Scott et al, 2010;Tigchelaar, 1986). Furthermore, the locus was chosen for the source of shorter architecture in indeterminate tomato lines, giving relative ease of horticultural practices (Panthee and Gardner, 2013).…”

“…Furthermore, the locus was chosen for the source of shorter architecture in indeterminate tomato lines, giving relative ease of horticultural practices (Panthee and Gardner, 2013). It is notable that no evidence for a significant negative correlation was observed between marketable fruit harvests, and the br has been reported in a peerreviewed forum (Frasca et al, 2014;Gardner and Davis, 1991), which at least partially suggests different mechanisms/genetic loci affecting internode elongation. The br locus was mapped onto tomato chromosome 1 through classical genetic experiments (Balint-Kurti et al, 1995;MacArthur, 1931), but the molecular basis of this locus has remained unclear.…”