EFFECT OF THE ADDITION OF GROWTH REGULATORS IN GEL ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF TOMATOES

Fluid drilling (gel-seeding) has helped to decrease the time from planting to emergence of many small-seeded vegetables and improved the final plant stand of many crops.
Unfortunately, 100 percent final stands, as well as uniform seed emergence (synchrony) within 72 hours, have not yet been achieved consistently in the field.
Incorporation of GA₃ and Nutra Phos 3–15 (foliar fertilizer) in the gel prior to the addition of germinated tomato seeds significantly reduced time to final emergence by 3.2 days.
Incorporation of Enersol, Amplifly, Nutra-Phos 24 and the combination of Enersol plus Nutra-Phos 3–15 in gel significantly increased the total useable fruit yield by 30% compared to the control.
The combination treatment of GA₃ and Nutra-Phos 3–15 appeared antagonistic and resulted in significantly lower fruit yield and delayed maturity.
However, GA₃ and Nutra-Phos 3–15 treatments alone produced higher fruit yields than the combination with no effect on fruit maturity compared to the control.

Symposium on the Timing of Field Production of Vegetables

M.D. Orzolek, R.C. Kaplan

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1987.198.16