Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Volume LXII
Written by Gheorghița HOZA, Maria DINU, Rodica SOARE, Alexandra Dida BECHERESCU, Ionuț Alexandru APAHIDEAN, Dorel HOZA
Tomatoes have a high capacity to form shoots on the stem which is why plants can be managed with multiple stems, thus influencing the increase in production and decrease in the number of plants per hectare. Research was conducted in the teaching field of the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, within a prolonged cycle in solarium, during 2016- 2017. Two varieties were used, Belmonte and Canestrino, and two hybrids, Cinto F1 and Clarabella F1, managed with one and a double stem. Stem management was performed through eliminating the portion of the plant from above the cotyledonal leaves, during the seedling phase, after the formation of the first pair of leaves, the percentage of stem formation being over 90 %. The planting was made at a distance of 0.8 m/0.4 m for the plants with one stem, resulting in 3.1 plants/m2 , and at 1 m/0.4 m for the plants with a double stem, resulting in 2.5 plants/m2 . The reduction in the number of plants was of 20% for the ones with double stem. The largest production of fruit per plant was obtained for the tomatoes with a double stem: 7.2 kg for the Belmonte variety and 7.2 kg for Canestrino, 6.9 kg for the hybrid Clarabella F1 and 6.4 kg for Cinto F1. The plants with one stem recorded a production of 2.6-2.9 kg/plant. The production per square meter was directly influenced by the production obtained per plant; thus, the plants with double stem recorded values of 16-18 kg, while the tomatoes with one stem produced 8.06-8.70 kg.
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