Study on Effect of Age of Seedlings Transplant on the Performance of Tomato （Lycopersicon esculentum） in a Southwestern Nigeria Location

Field trials were conducted at the experimental site of the Department of Plant Science of the University of Ado Ekiti, Nigeria during the 2005 and 2006 cropping season to examine the effects of age of transplanting on the performance of tomato Lycopersieon esculentum L. Establishment count %, plant height stem girth, earliness to flower, and fruit yield were significantly affected by the ages at which the seedlings were transplanted. The 2 and 3 weeks after sowing transplants were identical in performance and gave the highest number of field establishment count, growth increase, and yield. The 4WAS transplants performed better than the 5WAS transplants. It is concluded that a delay in early transplanting of tomato seedlings after 4WAS could lead to a very high reduction in tomato yield in the study area.