New cultural practices increase heat-tolerant tomato yields

摘要

The desire to extend the normal tomato growing season into the hot summer months by breeding heat tolerant tomatoes has received considerable attention in the past several years. As a result, several heat-tolerant cultivars and inbred lines were developed for the production of tomatoes under above-optimal temperature conditions. Although these cultivars and inbred lines are genetically adapted to produce under high temperatures using normal cultural practices, little is known concerning whether alternate cultural practices, such as planting depth, the time of day irrigation is applied, or polyethylene mulch color, might enhance dieir environmental adaptation and yield.