Study On The Key Technologies Of Cherry Tomato Facility Cultivation

Cherry tomato(Solanum lycopersicon var. cerasiforme Aelf.) that can be eaten as fruit or vegetable is a kind of superior vegetable. In recent year, cultivation of facility cherry tomato developed quickly. However, the key technologies about standardized cultivation of facility cherry tomato still waited for exploration. In this paper, the comparative experiment was carried out in two seasons among the varieties which introduced from home and abroad. In addition,’Huangfei" which is a recommended variety in Zhejiang province was selected as the material to study the key technologies of cherry tomato facility cultivation, such as selection of seedling substrate and seedling containers, determination of planting density, screening of fertilizer solution and so on. The study aims to providing the basis for standardized cultivation of facility cherry tomato, and accumulating the data for formulating of cultivation techniques rules of facility cherry tomato. The main results are as follows:Cherry tomato varieties have a significant influence on yield and fruit quality. In our study, plant growth, fruit yield and quality among six cherry tomatoes were compared. The results were shown that the comparative traits of’Zheyingfen No.1’ and ’Xintaiyang’ were better than that of ’Huangfei’. Therefore,’Zheyingfen No.1’ and ’Xintaiyang’ were worth to growing as pink fruit varieties and large red fruit varieties respectively.Nursery substrate has a significant influence on growth and development of cherry tomato seedling and plant. Based on the germination rate, seedling emergence and seedling growth index of cherry tomato, we found "Golden No.3" is the most ideal nursery substrate used in the experiment. Furthermore, the yield per plant (autumn cultivation) for the nurturing seedlings of "Golden No.3" was significantly higher than that "Peilei" and "Fafard" after transplanting.Seedling container (plug size) has a significant influence on growth and development of cherry tomato seedling and plant. Traditional plastic pot as nursery container has the lowest germination rate in both seasons. The seedling’growth index of different container seedlings were shown as plastic pot>50-hole plug>72-hole plug>32-hole plug>21-hole plug>128-hole plug in summer-autumn season. However, in winter-spring season, the seedling growth index of different container seedlings were shown as plastic pot>21-hole plug>32hole plug> 50hole plug>72-hole plug>128-hole plug. The prime cost of nursery substrate and seedling container of plastic pot,21-hole plug,32-hole plug,50-hole plug,72-hole plug, and128-hole plug were0.18,0.08,0.06,0.04,0.02,0.01Yuan per plant respectively. Considering fruit yield, average fruit weight and soluble solid content, the plant seedlings of50-hole plug and72-hole plug were better choices than others in the summer-autumn season. Considering quality of seedlings, seedling cost and fruit yield, quality performance after transplanting,50-hole plug is the most ideal seedling container.Planting density (planting spacing) has a significant influence on plant growth and development, fruit yield and quality. In the condition of fixed row spacing, planting spacing had a remarkable effect on fruit weight, soluble solid content, and yield per plant and per area, which was different obviously between seasons. The fruit weight and soluble solids content of0.50-m and0.40-m planting spacing were better than the others in autumn. However, fruit weight and soluble solids content of0.30-m and0.40-m planting spacing were better in spring. With the plant spacing increased (density decreased), fruit yield per plant has a descending trend in autumn and an increasing trend in spring, respectively. Among the planting spacing from0.30-m to0.60-m, the fruit yield per area increased with the narrowing of planting distance. Considering the per fruit weight, soluble solids content and fruit yield per area, the appropriate planting spacing is0.30-m to0.40-m for cherry tomato variety’Huangfei’.The kind and dosage of water soluble fertilizer have significant influence on fruit quality and yield of cherry tomato. Different fertilizing treatments (including control) have certain differences on the average fruit weight, soluble solids content, etc., thought there was no significant difference among the treatments. The kind and amount of fertilizer have apparent effect on fruit yield. The fruit yields of all different fertilizer treatments were significantly higher than that of control (no fertilizer topdressing). In summer-autumn, water soluble fertilizer "Huiduoli" whose ratio N:P2O5:K2O was1:0.7:1.6had the highest yield, and in winter-spring, water soluble fertilizer "Huiduoli" whose ratio N:P2O5:K2O was1:0.8:1.9was the highest yield. Therefore, water soluble fertilizer "Huiduoli" is suitable topdressing for cherry tomato ’Huangfei’.