IDENTIFICATION OF SUITABLE GROWTH MEDIA FOR TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.) CULTIVATION IN PROTECTED AGRICULTURE

Abstract

A study was investigated to identify the most suitable growth media for growing ‘Bathiya’ tomato variety under polytunnel conditions. Six different media combinations: Sand + soil + coir dust (T1), Sand + PBRH + soil (T2), Sand + PBRH + soil + coir dust (T3), Sand + PBRH + soil + coir dust + compost (T4), Sand only (T5- Control), Coir dust only (T6) were evaluated in a pot experiment using completely randomized design with four replicates. Data on key growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves per plant, and number of branches per plant were measured biweekly while root length, shoot length, fresh shoot weight, and fresh root weight were recorded at harvest. The number of fruits per plant and total yield were recorded as yield parameters. Results revealed that there was no significant difference among T4, T3, and T2 in plant height (P < 0.0047) and the number of branches (P < 0.0005). T6 exhibited significantly lowest plant height of 79.1cm while significantly fewer branches of 14.2 and 3.5 were recorded in T5 and T6 respectively. In shoot length, except T6 (64.0 cm), all other treatments were not significantly different. Significantly higher fresh shoot and root weights were recorded in T3, T4, and T2. Conversely, T6 consistently produced the lowest values across all growth parameters. T4 exhibited the highest fruit production per plant (51.5) followed by T2 (39.5) and T3 (30.5) whereas, significantly lower fruit numbers were recorded in T6 (P < 0.001). When considering the total yield, except T6 (10.2 kg/plant), all other treatments were in a homogeneous group (P < 0.036). Treatment T4 followed by T3 and T2 showed promising growth and yield performances in this study. In contrast, single-component media sand and coir dust alone were performed poorly. Results suggest that incorporating organic components together with aeration-enhancing materials enhances growth and yield of tomato under protected environments.