ROOTING METHODS FOR CUTTINGS IN THE PRODUCTION OF HYDROPONIC TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Abstract

Technology has been developed for the production of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) hybrids in greenhouse and hydroponics, which consists of high density in the population and trimmings to leave one to three fruit clusters per plant; however, the main inconvenience is the cost of seed. One option is propagation through rooted cuttings, so the effect on growth, precociousness and yield of five methods used to root tomato cuttings was evaluated. Direct rooting was applied on the production beds, and four with transplant after rooting the cuttings on trays or tubes of 10, 15 and 20 cm of depth. The cuttings were covered with polyethylene micro tunnel of opaque white color, with micro spraying irrigation system to provide favorable conditions for their rooting. A complete random block design was used, with four repetitions, experimental unit of 3.24 m2, and plant density of 12 plants m^-2, trimming the plants to leave three clusters. The direct rooting of the cuttings produced greater plant height, stem diameter, precociousness and yield. Differences were not found among the treatments that involved transplanting.