ISHS Acta Horticulturae 458: International Symposium on Water Quality & Quantity-Greenhouse
TOMATO FRUIT YIELD AND WATER CONSUMPTION WITH SALTY WATER IRRIGATION |
| Authors: | T. Soria, J. Cuartero |
| Keywords: | Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., water uptake, salinity, greenhouse cultivation |
| Abstract:
To measure the effects of salinity on fruit yield and water consumption, plants of three cultivars: ‘Rambo’, ‘Daniela’, and ‘Moneymaker’ were grown in gravel in a polyethylene greenhouse. NaCl concentrations in the nutrient solution applied by drip irrigation were: 0 (control), 2, 4, 6, and 8 g/L. These saline concentrations gave, respectively, the following electrical conductivities (EC): 2.7, 6.3, 9.8, 13.0, and 15.8 dS/m. Yields decreased dramaticaly with increase of salinity; even the lowest salinity decreased fruit yield by 43%. Consequently, gravel or hydroponic tomato cultivation with water of 6.3 dS/m or more will be unprofitable. Plant water consumption ranged from 1.03 L/day by control plants to 0.19 L/day at 13.0 dS/m. There was a close negative correlation between water consumption and EC that suggested less water should be used as EC increases. Water use efficiency (WUE), expressed as fruit yield in g/L of water uptake per day, were, respectively, 2108, 2172, 1327, and 2405 in 2.7, 6.3, 9.8, and 13.0 dS/m conditions. The closeness of these yield values suggests that water uptake could be the limiting factor for fruit production in salty conditions, but the amount of water taken by the plant is transformed into fruit at similar rate in the four salty conditions tried. | |
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