Morphological and productivity evaluation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) accessions for vertical gardening
2024
Antesco, D.K.S.
Growing tomatoes in hanging basket containers is an ideal way to utilize vertical space. A type of production system that could be utilized in areas with limited space such as urban settings. Ten different accessions of tomato were assessed of its qualitative morphological traits while grown in hanging basket containers. One accession from Tainan, Taiwan (PHL 4875) had the highest accumulated yield of 17.3 kg from several harvests producing 1,130 medium sized rounded fruits. This accession also has significantly low mean dried roots (3.03g) and total root length (123373.56px), with drooping plant from which is ideal for hanging basket containers. Another accession from AVRDC (PHL 358819) has been observed to produce the largest fruits with a total accumulated yield of 15.3kg from a total of 505 pieces of marketable fruits. The accession also exhibited drooping plant form but was sensitive to Ca deficiency as seen on the production of several fruits with blossom end rot. A local accession from Iloilo, Philippines (PHL 4338) despite minimal yield it showed that it can flower early, within two weeks after transplanting and is resistant to fruit cracking. To further improve the plant form and increase the yield, selected accessions together with a check variety were tested to twice manual pinching to identify those with ideal response. However, results suggest that manual pinching is not effective in improving the plant form and architecture of the tomato nor in increasing yield. Further studies are needed to refine and fine tune the methods of production to successfully develop tomato cultivation in hanging basket containers.
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