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- Author or Editor: Athanasios P. Papadopoulos x
- Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science x
Abstract
Cultivars of greenhouse tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were grown in the greenhouse and in growth chambers to study the effects of root and air temperature on flowering and yield. A low air temperature of 19° (day)/14°C (night), during the fall crop, caused no reduction in yield when compared with the commonly used 22°/17° air temperature. A 13°/8° air temperature during the spring crop drastically reduced yield compared with the 19°/14°C air temperature. Flowering of ‘Ohio MR-13’ in growth chambers was delayed significantly at air temperatures of 24°/8° compared to 24°/17°, but the flowering of ‘Vendor’ was unaffected by air temperature treatments. Marketable yield of ‘Vendor’ was significantly higher at 24°/8° compared to the 24°/17° treatment, while the marketable yield of ‘Ohio MR-13’ was unaffected. At a constant, day air temperature of 24°, the amount of small fruit decreased as night air temperature was lowered from 17° to 8° and maturity was delayed as night air temperature was lowered from 14° to 8°. The effect of low air temperature on flowering and yield of tomatoes was large and could not be offset by increasing root temperatures. At air temperatures of 24°/17°, 24°/14°, and 24°/8°, marketable yields were affected adversely by the absence of root thermoperiodicity (day to night root temperature variation).
Abstract
Four cultivars of greenhouse tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were grown in the greenhouse and two cultivars were grown in growth chambers in order to study the effects of root and air temperature on the elemental composition (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) of leaf tissue. Most of the variation observed in the nutrient composition of leaves was due to air temperature and the cultivar used; only few root temperature effects were significant. Low air temperatures (24°/14°C, 24°/8°, 19°/14°; day/night) resulted in higher N concentrations in the leaf tissue, whereas root temperature had little effect on N. Response to air temperature was similar for P or for N. However, response to high root temperature (27° and 24° in the greenhouse and the growth chamber, respectively) was greater for P than for N. Air and root temperatures had little effect on K concentration in tomato leaves. Consistently high Ca and Mg levels resulted with low air temperatures (24°/8°, 19°/14°, 13°/8°), whereas root temperature had no effect on accumulation of these two nutrients. The incidence of blossom-end-rot in the fruit of all cultivars used in the study was associated with low Ca and Mg levels in the leaf tissue.
A study was conducted in mini-greenhouses covered with single-glass (glass), double inflated polyethylene film (D-poly), or rigid twin acrylic panels (acrylic) to determine the effects of covering materials and supplemental lighting (SL) (65 μmol·m-2·s-1 at 1 m from the ground, providing a 16-hour photoperiod) on growth, yield, photosynthesis, and leaf carbohydrate concentration of `Trust' greenhouse tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Regardless of the light treatment, the marketable yield (kg·m-2) and the number of fruit per square meter in D-poly houses were higher (P ≤ 0.05) by 15% to 16% and 13% to 17%, respectively, than in glasshouses. Under supplemental lighting (SL), similar results were observed in acrylic houses compared to glasshouses. Covering materials had no significant effect on photosynthesis and leaf chlorophyll (chl) concentration. SL increased the number of leaves (March) by 15% (P ≤ 0.05) in glasshouses, marketable fruit yield by 23% (P ≤ 0.01) in acrylic houses, leaf specific weight by 19% to 33% (P ≤ 0.05) in all houses, total chl concentration by 10% to 14% (P ≤ 0.01) in acrylic houses, and photosynthetic rate (March) by 22% (P ≤ 0.01) in glasshouses. Under nonsupplemental lighting (nonSL, daily solar radiation of 8.42 MJ·m-2), plant height in acrylic houses was significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than in glasshouses. Neither covering materials nor SL affected (P ≤ 0.05) dry matter allocation to the fruit. Results suggest that D-poly and acrylic houses with SL provide the best environment for the early yield (February to March) under southwestern Ontario growing conditions. The photosynthetic rate decreased (P ≤ 0.05) by 18% in acrylic, and 15% in D-poly and glasshouses after 2 months of growth under nonSL. Conversely, the decrease in carbon exchange rate was not significant in D-poly houses and glasshouses under SL. As a result, the photosynthesis decline observed in the present study could not be explained by leaf starch accumulation in March.