ISHS Acta Horticulturae 711: V International Symposium on Artificial Lighting in Horticulture
INTERPLANTING ENSURES CONTINUOUS TOMATO PRODUCTION |
| Authors: | J. Näkkilä, T. Hovi-Pekkanen, R. Tahvonen |
| Keywords: | Lycopersicon esculentum, year-round production, supplemental lighting, artificial lighting, greenhouse |
| Abstract:
Seven successive tomato stands (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. ‘Espero’) were grown between 27 September 2001 and 30 December 2002 in southern Finland (Piikkiö, 60°23’N, 22°33’E) to investigate the effects of planting density on yield and quality of yield. The planting densities examined were 2.0 (low density, LD) and 2.5 (high density, HD) plants m-2. Supplemental lighting was provided by 400 W HPS lamps. The photoperiod was 18 h d-1. The lamps were automatically turned off, once the outdoor global radiation exceeded 286 W m-2. Artificial photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) at a height of 80 cm above the ground was 203 µmol m-2 s-1. The plants were pinched after 10 clusters. Successive plantings were planted in the following timetable: the 2nd stand was planted after the harvest from the 1st stand started and the 3rd stand was planted after the 1st stand was cleared, etc. Successive stands were cultivated in different planting rows of the same double row. After 59 harvesting weeks the total cumulative yield of LD and HD planting were 81.6 and 96.9 kg m-2, respectively. On the average LD and HD planting produced weekly 1.4 and 1.6 kg m-2 total yield in weight and 1.3 and 1.5 kg m-2 first class yield in weight, respectively. With a 25 % higher planting density, the yield in weight and in number increased by 19 % and 22 %, respectively. Light use efficiency of LD and HD planting was 7.6 and 9.0 g mol-1, respectively. The planting density had only a little influence on the quality of fruits. In interplanting method the biggest quality problem was radial cracking in fruits that were harvested mature. | |
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