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Tomato Cultivar Evaluation David L. Coffey Interpretative Summary Evaluation studies were continued involving commercial cultivars of tomatoes with selected new releases with claimed bacterial wilt tolerance. Total marketable yields among 10 cultivars evaluated ranged from 508 to 846 boxes/acre of marketable fruit with fruits in the size grade range of 4x5 and larger comprising from 27 to 41% of the total. Yields and pack-out by grades from all cultivars were considerably lower than typical for the experimental location. Soon after transplanting the plants experienced three consecutive nights of freezing or near freezing temperatures which greatly influenced their overall growth and vigor. Visual ratings for incidence of foliage diseases were significantly less from 'Mountain Fresh', a commercially recommended cultivar for the area, than those from other cultivars evaluated. Ratings for plant vigor and measurements for plant height were the greatest for ‘Mountain Fresh’. Disease severity ratings and vigor ratings for all cultivars were increased and lowered, respectfully, by the unfavorable growing conditions experienced by the young transplants. Introduction Many new cultivars of tomatoes are available and of commercial interest to Tennessee growers. Many of these new releases have been bred for geographical areas other than Tennessee and determining how they are adapted and how they perform under Tennessee conditions are on-going objectives for our evaluation research. Fruit characteristics such as size, shape, color, firmness, etc. are always of interest for new cultivars as all these specific fruit characteristics all have important impact as to how they are accepted in the local and shipping markets. Materials and Methods Tomato transplants were grown in float-beds at the Tobacco Experiment Station, Greeneville. Plants were grown in 72 cell seedling planters filled with conventional growing media. Plant were grown in the greenhouse for about four weeks and were transplanted to the field on May 15, 2002. This planting date was delayed about 7-10 days due to rainy weather and thus plants were overgrown somewhat prior to planting. During the hardening period after removal from the greenhouse, plants experienced a hail event which did some damage to them. Shortly after transplanting, plants also experienced 2-3 successive nights with temperatures at or near freezing. Field plots were established in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Black plastic mulch (1.25 mil) was utilized. Plots were 20 ft long on 8 ft centers and were equipped with trickle irrigation. Plants were spaced 20 inches. apart on the plastic with 12 plants per plot. All plots received a 500 lbs/A broadcast application of 10-10-10 fertilizer prior to transplanting. Plots were fertigated with KNO3, CaNO3, and NH4NO3 combinations. Fruits were harvested two times on July 03 and July 30. All data were analyzed by ANOVA methods and means of significant treatment differences were separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at the 0.05 level of probability (Table 1 and Table 2). Results Table 1. Fruit yields by grade(Los Angles lug arrangement) from cultivars evaluated at KES in 2002
Means in a column followed by the same letter do not differ significantly according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at P= 0.05. Table 2. Plant disease and vigor ratings of tomato cultivars evaluated at PES in 2002
Means in a column followed by the same letter do not differ significantly according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at P =0.05. *rating scale 1-5, 5= most severe **rating scale 1=5, 5= most vigorous | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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