Screening fresh-market tomatoes for susceptibility to catfacing with GA3 foliar sprays
1994
Wien, H.C. | Turner, A.D.
The blossom-end scarring of tomato fruit caused by exposure of the plant to cool weather during ovary formation, commonly termed catfacing, can also be induced by GA3 foliar sprays. To determine if GA3 treatment could serve as a cultivar screening tool to identify lines susceptible to the disorder, we compared the catfacing incidence in 14 fresh-market tomato cultivars after GA3 sprays and in nontreated controls in two field experiments. In 1 year, removal of the plant's apex was also imposed. GA3 sprays (22 micromolars twice, applied 1 week apart to tomato seedlings approximately 5 weeks old) increased catfacing incidence in both years and accentuated cultivar differences in the disorder. Topping did not increase catfacing significantly. The cultivars Valerie, Sunrise, and Basketvee were least affected by catfacing in the experiments, while 'Starfire', 'New Yorker', and 'Olympic' had the highest percentage of catfaced fruit. The GA3 screening method shows promise for identifying cultivar differences in susceptibility to blossom-end scarring.
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