PECULIARITIES OF REALIZING THE PRODUCTIVITY POTENTIAL OF TOIVO F1 TOMATO HYBRID DEPENDING ON THE METHOD OF PLANT FORMATION

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the potential for realizing productivity in spring film greenhouses without heating of the Toivo F1 tomato hybrid, depending on the method of plant formation with an additional stem with pinching of the central stem above the fourth brush and without pinching. Methods. The study was conducted during 2019–2021 on the basis of the farm “Vegetables of Slobozhanshchina” of the Kupyansky district of the Kharkov region. The experimental site is located in the southeastern part of the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. The object of the study was the indeterminate hybrid Toivo F1 of the Dutch company Bejo Zaden. During the growing season of plants, phenological observations, biometric measurements, and yield records were made. Results. The results of the research are averaged over five years. An analysis of phenological observations of the tomato hybrid Toivo F1 showed that a change in the method of formation of their stem had little effect on the timing and rate of passage through the stages of organogenesis in plants. In all variants of the experiment, the phases of development in plants passed fairly evenly. The study of biometric indicators in the fruiting phase showed the best development according to the variant of the experiment with the formation of a plant in two stems with pinching. Plants according to this variant had the largest vegetative weight of the plant – 2860 g, which is 14.5% more than the control and the area of the assimilation surface – 12382 cm2, which is 7.7% more than the control. The highest return of the early harvest was characterized by plants according to the variant of the experiment with the formation of a plant in two stems with pinching – an average of 10.9 kg/m2, 75.8% more than the control. The lowest level of early harvest was noted for the variant of the experiment with the formation of a plant in two stems 5.9 kg/m2, 4.8% less than the control. According to the variant with the formation of a plant in two stems with pinching, a total yield of 18.3 kg/m2 was obtained, which is 4.6% higher compared to the control. Conclusions. Tomato plants respond positively to the formation of a plant in two stems with pinching the main stem over the fourth brush. The study found that tomato plants respond very well to having multiple stems. The conducted studies give grounds to conclude that in the conditions of the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, in order to obtain the maximum possible level of tomato yield in spring film greenhouses without heating, it can be recommended to form a plant in two stems with pinching the main stem over the fourth brush.