Storage of plug seedlings of tomato under limited fertilisation,and growth,flowering and yield after planting |
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| Authors: | Hideyuki Tanaka Koji Murai Takao Nakanishi Takahiro Tezuka Shuji Shiozaki |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shimane University, Matsue, Japan;2. Agriculture Institute, Tokushima Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Technology Support Center, Ishii, Japan;3. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai, Japan |
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| Abstract: | We stored plug seedlings of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Momotaro) under limited fertilisation (LF) for 12 weeks, and evaluated growth and development during storage and after planting. Seedlings in the LF treatment were grown in substrate containing starter fertiliser and irrigated with water. Controls (CT) were irrigated with nutrient solution. Stem growth, leaf growth, and biomass accumulation slowed or ceased during storage of LF seedlings, while CT seedlings showed increases in these parameters. At 2 weeks after planting, the stem length of LF seedlings was shorter than that of CT seedlings, but the two seedling types had similar numbers of leaves. At harvest, LF and CT plants had similar numbers of leaves under the fruit trusses, but the trusses formed at lower heights in LF than in CT seedlings. LF and CT plants produced similar numbers of fruits and similar yields from the first to third trusses. These results indicate that tomato plug seedlings can be stored for more than 2 months under LF. |
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| Keywords: | Limited fertilisation plug seedling storage tomato |
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