Cherry tomato production and seed vigor under irrigation with saline effluent from fish farming

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of irrigation with saline effluent from fish farming in different phenological stages on fruit production and seed vigor of cherry tomato. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse in Mossoró, RN, Brazil, using a completely randomized design with 10 treatments, which consisted of the use of fish farming effluent with electrical conductivity (EC) of 4.54 dS m-1 and public-supply water with EC of 0.54 dS m-1, alternated during four phenological stages (growth from 1 to 19 days after transplantation (DAT), flowering from 20 to 31 DAT, fruit filling from 32 to 60 DAT and maturation from 61 to 77 DAT). Application of saline effluent from fish farming throughout a phenological stage of cherry tomato does not reduce fruit production per bunch, but reduces seed production and the vigor of the seeds produced. The use of saline effluent from fish farming in the initial and maturation stages, and the use of effluent with two successive applications, alternated with irrigation with low salinity water, are favorable for the production of cherry tomato seeds with satisfactory vigor. Alternated application of saline effluent from fish farming, with two subsequent successive irrigations with low-salinity water, despite reducing seed production, favors the production of seeds with high vigor. The use of saline effluent from fish farming in the flowering and fruiting stages reduces seed production and the vigor of the seeds produced.