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Effect of Nutrient Solution Concentration on Growth, Yield, and Fruit Quality of Tomato Grown Hydroponically in Single-Truss Production System

Nawab Nasir
Nawab Nasir
 and 
Tatsuo Sato
Tatsuo Sato
   | Dec 27, 2023
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Published Online: Dec 27, 2023
Page range: 141 - 158
Received: Apr 01, 2023
Accepted: Oct 01, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/johr-2023-0034
Keywords
© 2023 Nawab Nasir et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1.

Daily mean temperatures of plant canopy and medium during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production tomato cycles
Daily mean temperatures of plant canopy and medium during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production tomato cycles

Figure 2.

The time course of nutrient solution concentrations expressed as EC in the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cycles
The time course of nutrient solution concentrations expressed as EC in the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cycles

Figure 3.

Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on plant height during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error
Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on plant height during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error

Figure 4.

Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on stem diameter during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error
Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on stem diameter during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error

Figure 5.

Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on the leaf number per plant during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each represent the standard error
Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on the leaf number per plant during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each represent the standard error

Figure 6.

Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on intensity of leaf color during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error
Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on intensity of leaf color during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error

Figure 7.

Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on nitrate concentration in petiole sap during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error
Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on nitrate concentration in petiole sap during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 10, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error

Figure 8.

Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on leaf area during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 4, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error
Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on leaf area during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 4, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error

Figure 9.

Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on the dry weight of whole plant (stem + leaves + flowers and fruit) during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 4, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error
Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on the dry weight of whole plant (stem + leaves + flowers and fruit) during the spring (A), summer (B), and winter (C) production cyclesThe same letters indicate nonsignificant differences as determined by multiple comparisons using the Tukey's HSD test. n = 4, p = 0.05. Vertical bars on each data point represent the standard error

Effect of nutrient solution concentration expressed as EC on yield of marketable tomato fruit and their appearance in the spring, summer, and winter production cycles

Production cycle Treatment Fine fruit (number per plant) Fine fruit (g per plant) Mean fruit weight (g) Cracked fruit (number per plant)
Spring EC 1.4 3.8 ± 0.06 723.8 ± 4.0 a 186 ± 3.7 a 0.07 ± 0.01
EC 1.2 3.7 ± 0.07 706.7 ± 11.2 a 191 ± 4.7 a 0.04 ± 0.01
EC 1.0 3.7 ± 0.07 625.8 ± 20.8 b 172 ± 6.51ab 0.08 ± 0.02
EC 0.8 3.8 ± 0.08 573.1 ± 20.5 b 150 ± 7.3 b 0.06 ± 0.01
Summer EC 1.4 0.5 ± 0.11 b 62.8 ± 18 b 118.4 ± 9.9 0.06 ± 0.01 b
EC 1.2 1.2 ± 0.11 a 173.7 ± 22 a 141.1 ± 7.5 0.13 ± 0.03 ab
EC 1.0 1.1 ± 0.15 a 155.0 ± 15.8 a 132.9 ± 8.2 0.19 ± 0.04 a
EC 0.8 0.6 ± 0.09 b 68.3 ± 8.2 b 115.8 ± 8.9 0.1 ± 0.01 ab
Winter EC 1.6 2.1 ± 0.04 220.6 ± 0.21d 104.4 ± 2.1b 0.7 ± 0.09
EC 1.4 2.2 ± 0.08 270.1 ± 0.41a 119.7 ± 4.9a 0.6 ± 0.09
EC 1.2 2.2 ± 0.04 267.0 ± 0.40b 121.3 ± 2.3a 0.9 ± 0.09
EC 1.0 2.3 ± 0.04 259.0 ± 0.40c 113.1 ± 1.9ab 0.7 ± 0.09

Effect of nutrient solution concentrations expressed as EC on soluble solid concentration and acidity of tomato fruit in the spring, summer, and winter production cycles

Production cycle Treatment SSC (%) Acidity (%) SSC to acidity ratio
Spring EC 1.4 5.4 ± 0.12 a 0.75 ± 0.02 7.4 ± 0.4
EC 1.2 4.8 ± 0.15b 0.75 ± 0.02 6.5 ± 0.3
EC 1.0 4.7 ± 0.13b 0.69 ± 0.01 6.8 ± 0.3
EC 0.8 4.7 ± 0.18b 0.66 ± 0.03 7.4 ± 0.4
Summer EC 1.4 5.4 ± 0.08 a 0.95 ± 0.04 a 5.8 ± 0.3 b
EC 1.2 4.9 ± 0.15 b 0.69 ± 0.02 b 7.2 ± 0.2 a
EC 1.0 4.8 ± 0.13 b 0.73 ± 0.03 b 6.7 ± 0.2 ab
EC 0.8 4.7 ± 0.11 b 0.71 ± 0.03 b 6.8 ± 0.3 ab
Winter EC 1.6 6.1 ± 0.13 0.78 ± 0.04 9.3 ± 1.9
EC 1.4 5.7 ± 0.15 0.71 ± 0.03 8.1 ± 0.2
EC 1.2 5.9 ± 0.17 0.74 ± 0.04 8.1 ± 0.3
EC 1.0 6.1 ± 0.06 0.71 ± 0.03 8.9 ± 0.5

Daily uptake of macronutrients by tomato plants during the spring, summer, and winter production cycles

Treatment N (mg per plant) P2O5 (mg per plant) K2O (mg per plant) MgO (mg per plant) CaO (mg per plant)
EC 1.4 26.22 ± 3.30a 12.90 ± 1.69a 56.05 ± 7.34a 10.12 ± 1.32a 27.64 ± 3.62a
EC 1.2 18.10 ± 2.43ab 8.74 ± 1.20ab 37.96 ± 5.21ab 6.85 ± 0.94ab 18.72 ± 2.57ab
EC 1.0 13.84 ± 1.68b 6.73 ± 0.78b 29.24 ± 3.39b 5.27 ± 0.61b 14.41 ± 1.67b
EC 0.8 9.39 ± 1.14b 4.50 ± 0.54b 19.58 ± 2.34b 3.53 ± 0.42b 9.65 ± 1.15b
EC 1.4 14.51 ± 2.17a 6.77 ± 0.89a 29.44 ± 3.87a 5.31 ± 0.70a 14.52 ± 1.91a
EC 1.2 19.06 ± 1.62a 9.08 ± 0.74a 39.47 ± 3.24a 7.12 ± 0.58a 19.46 ± 1.59a
EC 1.0 13.92 ± 0.94ab 6.74 ± 0.54a 29.28 ± 2.38a 5.28 ± 0.43a 14.44 ± 1.17a
EC 0.8 8.46 ± 0.57b 4.09 ± 0.29b 17.79 ± 1.27b 3.21 ± 0.23b 8.77 ± 0.62b
EC 1.6 10.10 ± 3.17 3.52 ± 0.87 14.05 ± 3.49 2.98 ± 0.74 8.14 ± 2.02
EC 1.4 15.00 ± 3.26 5.63 ± 1.16 22.47 ± 4.63 4.76 ± 0.98 13.02 ± 2.68
EC 1.2 13.80 ± 3.42 5.31 ± 1.22 21.18 ± 4.86 4.49 ± 1.03 12.27 ± 2.81
EC 1.0 10.01 ± 2.48 3.96 ± 0.97 15.80 ± 3.89 3.35 ± 0.82 9.15 ± 2.25
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