The influence of solar radiation and boron-calcium fruit application on cuticle cracking of a winter tomato crop grown under supplemental lighting

摘要

In order to compare the influence of solar radiation on tomato cuticle cracking (CC) of a winter (seedling in June/July, supplemental lighting) and spring (seedling in November/December) tomato crops, experiments were conducted at three commercial greenhouses located in the province of Quebec, Canada (lat. 47(0)N, long. 71(0)W). Experiments were also conducted during the summer of 1999 and 2000 to evaluate the effect of boron (B) and/or calcium (Ca) spray treatments on CC. We observed a positive correlation between solar radiation and CC severity for a winter tomato crop production suggesting that fruit produced under a winter schedule are more susceptible to severe CC at summer time than tomato grown under a spring schedule. Boron (3.33 g L-1 Borax, 15% B) and Ca (CaCl2 6.66 g L-1, 27% Ca) application on tomato fruit led to a significant 11% to 15% decrease in CC incidence and to a 47% decrease in severity in 1999 (P less than or equal to0.05) and 66% (P less than or equal to0.05) in 2000. Our results suggest that CC severity is related to solar radiation and can be greatly reduced by weekly B+Ca application on leaves and tomato fruits older than 40 days.