Charles A. Mullins

Most tomato cultivars were highly productive and fruit size was large for most of the cultivars. ‘Mountain Fresh’ was one of the more productive cultivars. ‘Florida 91’ produced large fruit. Other cultivars that performed well were ‘Sunbrite’, ‘Florida 47’, ‘Floralina’, ‘Carolina Gold’ and ‘BHN 189'. The pear shaped cultivars ‘Cortez’ and ‘Sun 6252' also performed well.

Tomatoes are the highest value vegetable crop grown in Tennessee. Tennessee tomatoes are grown primarily for fresh market usage. Although some tomatoes are grown for local markets, most tomatoes are grown for the shipping market. This market prefers relatively large fruit that are firm and free from defects. A relatively large part of the tomato acreage is on the Cumberland Plateau and in east Tennessee, but tomatoes are grown throughout the state. Cultivars have been found to perform differently at different locations. Diseases are a problem on tomatoes in humid Tennessee, and spotted wilt virus, and Race 3 Fusarium wilt were reported problems on standard cultivars in 2000. An experiment was conducted at the Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, TN in 2000 to evaluate performance of 18 tomato cultivars. Some of the cultivars are reported to have resistance to spotted wilt virus and Race 3 Fusarium which were problems in some areas of Tennessee in 2000.

The site was prepared for planting by conventional tillage methods. Fertilizer was broadcast at 600 lb/A of 15-15-15 and incorporated with a disk on May 11. Pebulate (Tillam) was soil incorporated at 6.0 lb ai/A on May 15 for weed control. Four foot wide black plastic mulch was laid on 6 ft centers on May 16. Drip irrigation tape was laid with the plastic mulch. Greenhouse grown seedlings were transplanted to the field on May 16. Plot size was one row, 12 ft long with 6 ft between rows. Each row contained 8 plants. Experimental plot design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Metribuzin (Sencor) at 0.5 lb ai/A and Sethoxydim (Poast) at 0.2 lb ai/A were applied for post emergence weed control on May 30. Paraquat (Graxomone Extra) at 0.25 lb ai/A was applied as a directed application on July 18 for control of nightshade. Six applications of insecticides were applied to the planting. Insecticides were carbaryl (Sevin) at 1.0 lb ai/A or esfenvalerate (Asana) at 0.05 lb ai/A. Eight applications of fungicides were made, and fungicides used were a combination of mancozeb (Dithane DF) at 1.6 lb ai/A plus chlorothalonil (Bravo) at 1.5 lb ai/A alternated with azoxystrobin (Quadris) at 0.1 lb ai/A.

Five harvests were made on a weekly schedule. Some tomatoes were ripe using this frequency, but breaker tomatoes also were harvested at each harvest date. Tomatoes were graded into grades of No. 1, No. 2, and cull. Reasons for defects that reduced grade to No.2 or cull were recorded by number. Catface included fruit with a blossom scar over an inch in length. Crack fruit had cracks of over an inch in length. Shape was fruit that were off shape. Size was fruit that weighed less than 0.25 lb. All data were analyzed by analysis of variance methods, and means were separated by Duncan’s multiple range tests at the 0.05 level of probability.

Tomato yields were relatively high for all cultivars (Table 1). ‘Mountain Fresh’ was one of the most productive cultivars and produced a higher yield of No.1 grade fruit than all cultivars except ‘Cortez’, ‘Sun 6252', ‘BHN 189', ‘BHN 537', ‘BHN 444', and ‘BHN 5435'. The No. 1 grade is usually the only grade that is marketed. ‘Seedway 10250' and ‘BHN 446' produced more No. 2 grade fruit than all cultivars except ‘Floralina’. No.2 grade fruit is sometimes marketable, but much of this grade is not marketable. ‘Florida 91' and ‘Floralina’ were among cultivars with the most culls. However, culls were a very small percentage of the harvested fruit. ‘Florida 91' had heavier fruit than all cultivars except ‘Sunbrite’, ‘Florida 47', ‘Floralina’, ‘Carolina Gold’, ‘Mountain Fresh’ and ‘BHN 189'. The pear shaped cultivars ‘Cortez’ and ‘Sun 6252' produced fruit with the smallest weight. Sources of seed used in the trial are presented in Table 1.

Defects that reduced grade to No.2 or cull are presented by number of fruit per acre (Table 2). ‘BHN 446' produced more catfaced fruit than all cultivars except ‘Seedway 10250', ‘Carolina Gold’ and ‘Florida 47'. Cultivars that produced the most cracked fruit were ‘Seedway 10250' and ‘Sun 6252'. The most fruit with a poor shape were produced by ‘BHN 442'. ‘Seedway 10250' produced more fruit of small size than all cultivars except ‘Sunpride’, ‘’Mountain Fresh’, ‘EX 1446346', and ‘BHN 537'. Blossom rot and rot were not very severe in the trial. ‘Floralina’ was among cultivars that produced the most fruit with blossom rot, and ’BHN 537' had the most fruit with rot. Levels of blossom rot and rot were very low for all cultivars in the trial.

All cultivars produced round red fruit except ‘Carolina Gold’ which produced yellow fruit and ‘Cortez’ and ‘Sun 6252' which produced pear shaped fruit. The reported Fusarium Race 3 resistance of ‘Floralina’ and ‘EX 1446346' and spotted wilt virus resistance of ‘BHN 444' were not evaluated in this trial as neither disease was presence. Observations of ‘Floralina’ indicated that the stems were a little more difficult to separate from the fruit than for most other cultivars. Observations of ‘BHN 444' indicated that fruit lacked uniformity in shape. About 75% of the fruit were round and 25% were slightly elongated. The elongated fruit were not sufficiently off shape to be No. 2 grade, but the different shapes would not produce an attractive packed product.

Table 1. Yield in tons per acre of No.1, No.2, and cull grade fruit of tomato cultivars at The University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2000.