Effects of foliar fertilizer on growth, flowering, fruiting and postharvest quality of tomato on improved bris soil

Abstract

Tomato is a climacteric fruit with have a very short life span. Tomato is suitable for planting at highland (above 1 OOm). Nevertheless, some tomato cultivars can be planted in lowland. Rate of fertilization of tomato are different depends on soil type. Bris soil has lower in fertility or less suitable planting tomato and it needs higher fertilizer rate compared with mineral soil. Foliar fertilizers are widely used in vegetable and fruit crops, that contain various macro and micronutrients, which are essential for the proper growth and yield. This study was conducted to determine the effect of foliar fertilizer (Nutri Multi Liquid and Vita Grow Plus) on growth, flowering, fruiting and post harvest quality of tomato on improved bris soil. Physical characteristics were determined by quantitative measurements of plant height, stem diameter, number of flower and number of fruit. Chemical evaluation involved TSS and pH. The results obtained from these studies indicated that there were significant differences (P<0.05) in TSS between the application of foliar fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer (NPK Green and NPK Blue). Generally, plant height and stem diameter increased during plant growth but decreased during flowering and fruiting. Foliar fertilizers were found to improve the overall plant growth. However, inorganic fertilizer (NPK Blue) application affected the flowering, fruiting, TSS and fruit pH.