Growth, nutrient concentration, nutrient accumulation and visual symptoms of nutrient deficiencies in cherry tomato plants

Abstract

Tomato is one of the most popular vegetables, with high nutrient demand. The nutrient concentration can vary depending on the development phase, cultivation system, temperature, soil conditions, luminosity, relative humidity and management practices. The aim of this work was to characterize cherry tomato visual symptoms of deficiency, as well as the effect of nutritional restriction on the development and nutrient concentration of plants cultivated in nutrient solution. Plants of the cherry tomato, cultivar Sindy, were grown in green house. We have used eleven treatments, one control with complete nutrient solution and the other ten omitting respectively the nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, copper, zinc and iron. The experiment was performed in randomized design with three repetitions. After 60 days, the plants were removed from the solutions and their main symptoms were photographed and described. The traits evaluated were: total dry matter yield, dry matter of leaves, dry matter of stems and dry matter of roots; number of leaves, number of inflorescences; number of fruits and root volume. The concentration and accumulation of nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, copper, zinc and iron in leaves, stems and roots were evaluated. Nutrient concentration and accumulation were influenced by the deficiencies imposed. The visual symptoms of deficiency that had appeared firstly were those of phosphorus, boron and iron, respectively. The omissions of the nutrients nitrogen, magnesium and boron were the ones that most compromised the dry matter production of the cherry tomato plants.