Charles A. Mullins, Dennis Onks, Roy Thompson, and A. Brent Smith

Most tomato cultivars were highly productive and fruit size of No. 1 grade fruit was rather large. ‘Florida 91' was one of the more productive cultivars in yield of No. 1 fruit. ‘BHN 586' yielded poorly.. The yield of No. 2 and cull fruit was excessively high, but harvest was over a very long period and temperatures were very hot resulting in many small fruit. ‘Florida 47' and ‘Florida 91' appeared to be the most satisfactory cultivars.

Tomatoes are grown across Tennessee and are the highest value vegetable crop grown in the state. Most Tennessee tomatoes are grown for the fresh market. 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. Cultivars have been found to perform differently at different locations. The relatively hot climate of middle Tennessee is less conducive to tomato production than the cooler areas of east Tennessee and the Plateau. An experiment was conducted at the Middle Tennessee Experiment Station at Spring Hill, TN in 2001 to evaluate performance of 17 tomato cultivars.

The site was prepared for planting by conventional tillage methods. Fertilizer was broadcast at 750 lb/A of 15-15-15 and incorporated with a disk on May 16. Trifluralin (Treflan) at 0.50 lb ai/A and metribuzin (Sencor) at 0.5 lb ai/A were soil incorporated on May 17. Greenhouse grown seedlings were transplanted to the field on May 18. Plot size was one row, 16 ft. long with 6 ft. between rows. Each row contained 8 plants. Experimental plot design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Eight applications of insecticides and fungicides were applied to the planting. Insecticides were carbaryl (Sevin) at 1.0 lb ai/A or esfenvalerate (Asana) at 0.05 lb ai/A. Fungicides applied with the insecticides were chlorothalonil (Bravo) at 1.5 lb ai/A alternated with azoxystrobin (Quaddris) at 0.1 lb ai/A.

Seven harvests were made between July 23 and Sept. 12. Tomatoes were graded into grades of No. 1, No. 2, and cull. 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 most cultivars (Table 1). ‘Florida 91' was one of the most productive cultivars and produced a high yield of No. 1 grade fruit. The No. 1 grade is usually the only grade that is marketed. ‘BHN 555' and BHN 575' were among several cultivars that produced

high numbers of No. 2 grade fruit. No. 2 grade fruit is sometimes marketable, but much of this grade is not marketed. The yield of No. 2 fruit was excessive in this trial. The harvest season was long as several fruit of No. 1 grade were produced throughout the season. Temperatures were relatively warm during the harvest season. ‘Florida 91' and NC 98100' were among cultivars that produced the most culls. ‘Florida 91' and NC 98100' were among those cultivars that had the heaviest fruit. Sources of seed used in the trial are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Yield in tons per acre of No. 1, No. 2, and cull grade fruit; average fruit weight of No. 1 grade, and source of seed of tomato cultivars at The University of Tennessee Middle Tennessee Experiment Station at Spring Hill, 2001.