Abstract
Effects of the starting time of salinity treatment, planting density and lateral shoot leaves under the truss on yield and quality of double-truss tomato fruits grown in hydroponics were investigated. Salinity treatment starting 20 days after anthesis and continuing onto the end of experiment, increased total soluble solids of the fruit to about 9.0 Brix %, but suppressed the fruit weight about 30% compared to the control. Under high planting density (950 plants•a−1), tomato fruit yield per unit area was increased 34% compared to that under low planting density (670 plants•a−1), without negative effects on fruit quality. By leaving the lateral shoot leaves under each truss, soluble solid content of the fruit increased under salinity treatment. These findings suggest that salinity treatment, leaving lateral shoots having 4 to 6 leaves under the truss and high planting density can be an effective method of producing high quality tomato fruits in hydroponics.
