Articles
THE EFFECTS OF PLANT DENSITY AT EQUAL TRUSS NUMBER PER SQUARE METER ON YIELD IN GLASSHOUSE TOMATO
In the experiments which were carried out in the spring and were replicated for two years, the plants were heated only when they were faced with frost danger.
In 1987, the seedlings of cv.
Granada were planted at a distance of 80 x 15, 80 x 30 and 80 x 45 cm between and on the rows and were topped successively after the second, fourth and sixth trusses.
In the second year the seedlings of cv.
Turquiesa were planted at a distance of 80 x 15, 80 x 22.5, 80 x 30 and 80 x 37.5 cm between and on the rows and then they were topped after the second, third, fourth and fifth truss after leaving two leaves.
So, for all treatments the number of flower trusses per square meter was the same (16.66) in both years.
The highest yield was obtained from the plants which were spaced 80 x 22.5 cm between and within the rows and were topped after three trusses.
However in this treatment, 90 % of the yield was harvested during the first 14 days.
This short harvest period is very important if it occurs in the period in which sale prices are high enough on the market.