[PDF] Optimizing Nitrogen Management For Grafted And Non Grafted Fresh Market Tomatoes Grown In High Tunnels In Pennsylvania eBook

Author : Andrew Blunk
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Page : 0 pages
File Size : 22,80 MB
Release : 2022
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Fresh-market tomatoes are the most common vegetable crop grown in high tunnel systems in the Mid-Atlantic Region and there is an increasing adoption of grafted tomato plants due to the benefits offered by vigorous rootstocks. In these production systems, it is common for N fertilizer rates to be determined by "prescriptive" recommendations that fail to account for the changes in N throughout each unique growing season. This often results in overfertilization of N up to two times more than actual crop needs which can lead to environmental pollution, reduced crop yields and quality, and lower farmer profits. The increasing adoption of grafted tomato plants in high tunnel and enhanced vigor of grafted tomato plants compared to non-grafted ones calls for a better understanding of the N demands and the optimization of N fertilization in this growing environment. Additionally, advances in handheld sensors, and common irrigation technologies used in protected culture production systems, offers new opportunities to improve fertilizer management. A study was conducted in 2020 and 2021 at the Penn State Russel E. Larson Agriculture Research Center, to evaluate 1) the response of grafted and non-grafted fresh-market tomato grown in high tunnel to N inputs and 2) the ability of two simple on-farm in-season soil monitoring methods, and multiple handheld electrodes, to track changes in soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and nitrate levels throughout the tomato crop growing season. The test crop was fertilized via fertigation and received four levels of nitrogen (N): 0 (N0), 84 (N1), 168 (N2) and 336 (N3) kg/ha of N. Every two weeks, soil solution samples of each plot were collected using both suction lysimeters and the Sonneveld 1:2 (v:v) soil-water extraction method. Soil solution samples were collected throughout the season and analyzed using handheld pH, EC, and nitrate-ion selective electrode sensors. Results indicate that grafted plants have a higher N use efficiency and higher yield than non-grafted plants. N rate had no effects on total marketable yield over both growing seasons, which corroborates the limited usefulness of "prescriptive" N rate recommendations. Results from the soil monitoring methods showed a sensitivity to N treatments and suggest soil monitoring could be used by a grower to inform N management plans during the growing season. Finally, under the assumptions made, the economic analysis revealed that grafted tomato plants are more profitable than non-grafted plants in a high tunnel production system even in absence of biotic and abiotic soil-level stressors.

Author : Kathleen Ayers
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Page : pages
File Size : 11,29 MB
Release : 2017
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High tunnels provide growers an affordable and practical means of entry into intensive and higher value fresh market tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) production. Environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, and soil moisture, are more easily manipulated in high tunnels, thus increased tomato fruit quality and yield, and predictable early and late season harvests are commonly observed. Consequently, interest in high tunnels has rapidly grown. Tomatoes are the most commonly produced food crop in high tunnels across the US, though high tunnel specific nitrogen (N) fertilizer recommendations are yet to be developed. Growers currently rely on N recommendations for open-field tomato production, but yield potential and plant vigor are generally increased under high tunnels, and the environment may alter crop N needs.Tomato Scarlet Red was grown under high tunnels in central Pennsylvania (PA) to develop N recommendations. A RCB split-plot design with three replicates was used in 2015 and 2016. Urea was applied pre-plant (0, 37.5, and 75 lbs N per acre, main plot factor) and through weekly fertigation (0, 80, 120, and 200 lbs N per acre, split-plot factor) and the effects on fruit yield, plant biomass, total leaf N and soil nitrate (NO3-N) studied. A secondary objective was to compare the pre-sidedress nitrate test (PSNT) and leaf N sampling standards to determine if PSNT could be used to determine the need for additional N in a system where soil nutrient leaching is limited and N is supplied both pre-plant and through weekly fertigation.In PA, N recommendations for open-field fresh-market tomato production are for a total of 125 lbs N per acre, with 50 lbs N per acre applied pre-plant and 75 lbs N per acre through irrigation (i.e. N fertigation) for cultivation in fine texture soils with high or optimum potassium (K) levels or organic matter (OM) content that exceeds 2%. In this study, the greatest number of fruits were harvested from plants that received 75 lbs N per acre pre-plant and a total of 80-120 lbs N per acre through fertigation. Years differed significantly in fruit marketability, and the total N recommendations for open-field production or 45 lbs N per acre less N was sufficient for marketable yield in 2016 and 2015, respectively. Unmarketable yield was greater in 2016, mostly due to blossom end rot, and was positively correlated with pre-plant N rate during the first 3 harvest weeks. Leaf N content was generally greatest in treatments that received 120 or 200 lbs N per acre through fertigation, and was significant in 2016 during the last 4 of the 6 samples taken 47, 76, 86 and 91 days after planting (DAP), and in only 2 samples (79 and 95 DAP) in 2015. Soil NO3-N results from PNST were varied, and did not strongly correlate with either pre-plant or fertigated N, however elevated soil NO3-N was sampled in 2016 compared to 2015. This study suggested that determinate tomatoes grown in high tunnels can be grown with open-field recommendations or less N, and N requirements are highly dependent on the site conditions and high tunnel management.

Author : Fairuz Ali Buajaila
Publisher :
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 19,20 MB
Release : 2018
Category : Tomatoes
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Growing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a challenge in the short, cool growing season of northwestern Washington. This study investigated two fertilizer sources, conventional and integrated poultry-manure fertilizer, and grafting for effects on growth, N content, yield and fruit quality of tomato grown in a high tunnel in northwestern Washington. Conventional fertilizer was applied at 112N-74P-47K and 356 Ca kg.ha-1 in 2015, and 112N-62P-43K and 288 Ca kg.ha-1 in 2016. Integrated fertilizer was composted poultry manure applied at 2.4 t.ha-1 in both growing seasons (application rates were 12N-58P-26K and 344 Ca kg.ha -1 in 2015, and 17N-61P-43K and 295 Ca kg.ha-1 in 2016), plus urea fertilizer at 90 kg.ha-1 N. Grafting treatments consisted of 'Panzer' tomato grafted on rootstocks 'Estamino', Maxifort', 'DRO138TX', or non-grafted (control). Conventional fertilizer and grafting increased growth of tomato plants compared to the integrated fertilizer, and non-grafted plants. Grafted plants showed higher nitrate-N than non-grafted plants. Total and marketable fruit weight was higher for grafted plants than for non-grafted plants in the second growing season. Total soluble solids (TSS) and lycopene content were higher with integrated fertilizer, and for fruit from grafted plants. The healing process after grafting is a key factor impacting grafted seedling survival. A greenhouse study investigated the effect of different light (0%, 25%, 50%) and relative humidity (RH) (50%, 100%) levels in the healing chamber environment on the grafting success and plant growth of solanaceous vegetable crops. Survival and growth of grafted plants was greatest when the healing chamber environment was 50% light and 100% RH. Tomato and pepper had 14% greater survival rate on average than eggplant. It is not as critical to control light level in a healing chamber, but RH level can have a significant impact on graft survival, and different solanaceous vegetable crops may have different optimal environments for graft healing.

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Page : pages
File Size : 16,68 MB
Release : 2004
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Oâ€"!ONNELL, SUZANNE. Grafted Tomato Performance in Organic Production Systems: Nutrient Uptake, Plant Growth, and Fruit Yield. (Under the direction of Mary M. Peet.) There are many inherent challenges with growing tomatoes in the Southeast which can be intensified under organic production. Cultivating tomatoes under high tunnel systems may offer a number of benefits and opportunities such as season extension, higher fruit quality, less foliar disease pressure, and protection from extreme weather events. Grafted plants may be uniquely suited to production in organic systems and also high tunnel environments due to their higher stress tolerance, increased crop longevity, more efficient fertilizer use, and soil borne disease resistance. The combination of growing high-value grafted crops under high tunnel structures is an innovative systems approach that can offer new economic opportunities, greater production stability, higher fruit quantity and quality. A baseline greenhouse study with conventional inputs was conducted in 2007, to evaluate the grafting effect on tomato plant growth and nutrient accumulation expressed in the leaf tissue. Grafting treatments included two scion-hybrid rootstock combinations Solanum lycopersicum L 'Trust' or 'German Johnson' grafted on Solanum lycopersicum L. xSolanum habrochaites S. Knapp & D.M. Spooner 'Maxifort', two self-grafted controls, and two non-grafted controls. Both shoot and root growth, were significantly higher in grafted treatments compared to non-grafted treatments. The leaf tissue nutrient concentrations were greater in grafted plants for: N, P, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and B compared to non-grafted plants. Self-grafted controls had an intermediate values for selected plant growth and nutrient uptake compared to grafted and non-grafted treatments. Values were not different among scion cultivars. In 2007 and 2008, a systems comparison study was conducted at The Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro, Nor.

Author : David Loewen
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 28,68 MB
Release : 2018
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Tomatoes and peppers are the most popular and profitable high tunnel crops. However, year-round intensive cultivation and extensive monocropping can lead to a loss of soil quality and the buildup of soilborne pathogens. Many growers are considering grafting to help address the drawbacks of covered agriculture and improve yields. Although many trials have been conducted that examine the ability of rootstock to increase yield or reduce disease, the effect of scion cultivar has yet to be tested, and few studies have attempted to quantitatively assess scion compatibility. In 2016 and 2017, we evaluated ten hybrid, determinate, red slicing tomato scion cultivars for compatibility with 'Maxifort' rootstock in a three-season high tunnel in Olathe, KS. While all ten varieties were compatible with 'Maxifort', only 'BHN 589', 'Red Deuce', 'Skyway', and 'Tasti Lee' were "highly compatible" and showed significant improvements in marketable yield when grafted. Additionally, when ranked by yield, differences between grafted and nongrafted populations suggest that relative compatibility may be inconsistent between varieties. However, a significant inverse relationship between the yield of the nongrafted plants and the percent yield benefit from grafting indicates that the effect of a rootstock like 'Maxifort' may not be synergistic, with higher performing nongrafted scion varieties benefitting less from grafting than lower performing varieties. 'Red Deuce' and 'BHN 589' are productive, and highly compatible grafted varieties with potential for commercial high tunnel production. 'Primo Red' benefitted the least from grafting but was the highest performing nongrafted variety (outperforming four of the grafted combinations). Compared to tomatoes, published reports on grafted peppers have been limited and it is unclear whether they provide any advantage in the absence of soilborne disease or environmental stress. Additionally, the use of rootstocks from other solanaceous species outside the Capsicum genus for pepper grafting has not been well explored, though the pool of available rootstock options for peppers would be substantially increased if such graft unions proved to be compatible. The goals of a second project were to identify the utility of grafted pepper (C. annum) plants for commercial high-tunnel production and to explore the potential for graft compatibility between the Capsicum and Solanum genera. We grafted 'Karisma' bell peppers onto two Solanum cultivars ('Maxifort' and 'Sweetie') and three pepper rootstocks ('Scarface', 'Meeting', and 'Yaocali'). Five trials were conducted in 2016-2017 and utilized a randomized complete block design in all locations. Plants grafted onto Solanum rootstocks displayed symptoms of delayed incompatibility, including significant (78%-89%) reductions in yield (by weight), 59%-93% less plant growth, and 58% less marketability, as well as malformations at the graft union and higher in-field mortality rates. These symptoms were likely due to differences in mature stem anatomy. Plants grafted to 'Scarface' produced 32% greater marketable yield, 15%-18% larger fruit, and 9-12% higher marketability than nongrafted 'Karisma'. The results for 'Yaocali' were similar to 'Scarface', though less conclusive. While 'Yaocali' and 'Scarface' rootstocks may be useful for improving yield in low-stress environments, the use of 'Meeting' may be more beneficial for combatting disease.

Author : Desire Djidonou
Publisher :
Page : 259 pages
File Size : 47,93 MB
Release : 2012
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Grafted and non-grafted plants did not demonstrate consistent differences in fruit quality attributes measured in this study although the fruit moisture content was increased due to grafting with interspefic rootstocks as observed in the field experiments. Levels of nitrate reductase activity, nitrate, organic nitrogen, soluble proteins, and amino acids as well as concentrations of auxin, cytokinins, and gibberellic acids in leaf and root tissues measured at three growth stages in the greenhouse experiment did not reveal any major consistent differences between the grafted and non-grafted tomato plants.

Author : Tricia Malynn Jenkins
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Page : 0 pages
File Size : 11,17 MB
Release : 2021
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Vegetable grafting is a unique technology that can be easily adopted by growers to improve pest and disease resistance, provide abiotic stress tolerance, and increase marketable yields. The production of grafted vegetable transplants and their use in different production systems is increasing in North America. Tomatoes (S. lycopersicum L.) are currently the most popular grafted crop. The expansion of this technology relies on the availability of high-quality grafted tomato transplants as well as the ability of grafted plants to improve production and maintain or improve fruit quality for growers. The overall objectives of this dissertation were threefold: (i) to review the literature on tomato rootstock effects on tomato fruit quality (ii) to identify quality and performance impacts of grafted tomato transplants following abiotic stress from the supply chain (iii) investigate how rootstocks can influence the yield performance and fruit quality of a high-lycopene cultivar ('Tasti-Lee') grown in a high tunnel. The literature review found that changes in tomato fruit quality traits from rootstocks are wide-spread and highly subject to rootstock-scion and rootstock-scion-environment interactions. However, there are numerous reports that fruit from plants grafted to vigorous rootstocks have a larger average fruit size, lower soluble solid content (SSC), lower ascorbic acid (AsA) content, and higher titratable acidity (TA). Future investigations should focus on identifying the underlying mechanisms of fruit quality changes from grafting to tomato rootstocks. For the second objective, we found that exogenous ethylene exposure reduced chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) and caused leaf epinasty of grafted seedlings. Yet, damaged plants recovered and had similar growth parameters to the control plants three weeks after transplanting. Non-ideal transportation conditions were also assessed by exposing plants to 35°C for 6 to 48 hours during long-distance (72-hr) transportation. Similarly, the plants experienced physiological stress as measured by Fv/Fm, but all plants survived transplanting and early growth was not impacted. In both of these experiments, grafted plants were able to better maintain Fv/Fm and reduce the severity of symptoms such as epinasty and succulent elongation compared to nongrafted plants. The results from this objective indicate that transplant quality can be negatively affected from the stress conditions tested, but early growth was not inhibited. These results also suggest that grafted plants may be able to better tolerate abiotic stress at the seedling stage compared to nongrafted plants. In regards to the third objective, a three-year high tunnel trial was conducted at the Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center to assess the yield and fruit quality impacts of five rootstocks grafted to the premium cultivar 'Tasti-Lee'. Fruit quality was determined by SSC, TA, antioxidant capacity, AsA content, lycopene content, carotenoid composition, and fruit firmness. Grafting with 'Maxifort', 'Fortamino', 'Estamino', and 'DRO-141-TX' significantly increased marketable yields by 31.5%-47% above non-grafted plants. Conversely, the rootstock 'RST-04-106-T' did not provide any yield benefit. All of the rootstocks increased the average fruit weight by 12%. 'RST-04-106-T' was the only rootstock that altered fruit quality. This rootstock produced fruit with the highest SSC which was significantly higher than fruit from the rootstock 'Maxifort.' Moreover, 'RST-04-106-T' altered the relative composition of carotenoids compared to the nongrafted treatment by limiting [beta]-carotene content in relation to the high lycopene concentrations. These results indicate that, with the proper rootstock selection, the cultivar 'Tasti-Lee' can be successfully integrated into high tunnel grafting systems without compromising its characteristic fruit quality attributes.

Author : Lani Meyer
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Page : pages
File Size : 26,24 MB
Release : 2016
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As populations of cities continue to increases, communities in the United States are implementing urban food systems including locally-cultivated produce. Urban and peri-urban farmers apply intensive production systems, including high tunnels, to better utilize limited space. Grafting tomato with vigorous rootstocks provides the potential for higher yields. Our first objective was to identify tomato rootstocks that improve productivity in high tunnel environments with no soilborne diseases in the Central U.S. Eight replicated high tunnel trials were conducted at four sites in northeastern Kansas in 2013 and 2014. We selected 'BHN 589' scion for all sites and evaluated seven rootstocks. Grafting with 'Maxifort', 'Multifort', 'Arnold', 'DRO 131', and 'Colosus' rootstocks resulted in significant increases in total fruit yield, which ranged from 40% to 73% when compared to nongrafted plants (P

Author : Suzanne O'Connell
Publisher :
Page : 119 pages
File Size : 32,33 MB
Release : 2008
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Keywords: Solanum habrochaites, rootstock, scion, nitrogen, hirsutum, Lycopersicon, Solanum lycopersicum, sustainable, CEFS, high tunnel, heirloom, grafting.

Author : Y. Chen
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 32,77 MB
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9400944268

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The use of organic residues as a means of maintaining and increasing soil fertility is of long-standing. This tradition has been somewhat neglected since the introduc tion of mineral fertilizers at low cost. More and more farmers and scientists are now showing renewed interest in the proper and effective use of org~tnic residues, composts and other recycled organic additives. The role and function of organic amendments in modern agricultural systems have become topics of major interest in the scientific and agricultural communities. Research work on residue disposal has provided new concepts on the interaction between organic components and soils as well as new handling technologies (e. g. pelletizing of organic residues). The trend to conserve energy has led scientists to study the minimal tillage system, to find ways of replacing conventional inorganic fertilizers with natural organic prod ucts or microbial preparations, and to develop new composting methods. The drive to achieve higher yields in commercial greenhouse farming has led to a search for optimum substrates as growth media and for improved management techniques. This has led to the introduction of organic substitutes for peat, nota bly those originating from agricultural wastes. Another important aspect is the current interest in organic farming, where use of synthetic chemicals is avoided or prohibited. An increasing percentage of the population in highly developed countries is willing to pay premium prices for food produced on soils where inorganic fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals have not been used.