Minitomato cultivation with substrate under different fertigation management strategies

Abstract

The application of high level of fertilization and inadequate management of fertigation in tomato crop can promote increase of salinity of the solution, nutritional imbalance and physiological disorders in the plants, consequently reduces the productivity and the quality of the fruits. The aim of this study was to evaluate different fertigation strategies in growth and production of mini tomato plants cultivated with substrate in a greenhouse. The experimental design was in randomized complete blocks with four treatments and twenty replicates. The treatments corresponded to four fertigation strategies, as follows: T1 [(control) fertigation with leaching of 20%]; T2 fertigation throughout the day and irrigation at the end of the day with leaching of 20%; T3 irrigation with leaching of 20%, followed by fertigation in all activations of the irrigation system; T4 fertigation with leaching of 20% and reuse of the leached solution. Stem height and diameter, number of clusters, total and commercial fruit production, fruit size, fruit color, total titratable acidity, soluble solids content and fruit texture were evaluated. No significant differences were detected among the treatments in relation to the growth variables of the mini tomato plants. The strategies of fertigation tested do not influence significantly the growth of tomato plants. The T1 and T4 managements provide higher commercial production and fruits with higher content of soluble solids when compared with other management strategies evaluated. Considering the nutritional factor, we recommend to reuse the nutrient solution used in the tomato cultivation with substrate, correcting daily the electrical conductivity of the solution.

Avaliação da produção de cultivares de pepino para conserva e de mini tomate com e sem aplicação de fertilizante foliar

“…O cultivar Mascot F1 apresentou produtividade de 1,6 e 1,4 kg planta -1 , respectivamente com solução nutritiva padrão e reuso da solução ambas com fração de lixiviação de 20%. (BEZERRA et al, 2018). Esses resultados sugerem a necessidade de realizar novos trabalhos, visando aperfeiçoamento de técnicas que permitam incrementar a produtividade, especialmente manejo da solução nutritiva em substrato.…”

Minitomateiro consorciado com adubos verdes fertirrigados com efluente tratado de laticínio

“…Em geral o cultivo de minitomates é realizado em ambiente protegido, em substrato e fertirrigado. O substrato deve apresentar boa capacidade de água, ausência de agentes fitopatogênicos, aeração adequada e características físicas constantes ao longo do ciclo de cultivo (MACIEL et al, 2016;BEZERRA et al, 2018;GUSMÃO;GUSMÃO;ARAÚJO, 2006).…”