Effects of paclobutrazol and ethephon on growth, yield and seeds quality of tomato cultivars at different fruit maturity
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Abstract
Breeding of tomatoes takes a long time to obtain new varieties that meet the market need and the breeding process is costly. Crop management and application of growth regulators to reduce the crop cycle and speed up the breeding process can reduce time for tomato breeding and increase the ability for competition in the market. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of paclobutrazol and ethephon on growth, days to harvest, fruit yield, and seed quality of tomatoes. A 3×6 factorial experiment was set up, and the treatment combinations were arranged in a completely randomized design with three replications. Factor A consisted of three tomato varieties, and factor B had six methods of growth regulator application. Tomato varieties were significantly different for growth characters. C103 had the longest days of flowering compared to A101 and B102. Tomato varieties were not significantly different in fruit yield. C103 had the largest fruits and the longest days to maturity compared to A101 and B102. A101 had the highest germination percentage after one month of storage compared to B102 and C103. The application of paclobutrazol alone and the application of paclobutrazol in combination with ethephon resulted in a reduction in growth parameters. Plant height, number of nodes, length of internodes, leaf width, leaf length, and leaf number were reduced, whereas SCMR was increased compared to untreated control. Applications of ethephon alone at 65 and 70 days after sowing were not significantly different from untreated control for growth parameters. Application of paclobutrazol alone, application of ethephon alone, and application of paclobutrazol in combination with ethephon had a tendency to reduce days to powering and days to maturity compared to untreated control, but they had low fruit yield. Application of paclobutrazol at 14 days after sowing in combination with ethephon at 65 days after sowing had the shortest days to flowering and days to maturity. Treatment combinations were not significantly different for germination percentage after one-month storage, but they were significantly different for germination percentage after three-month storage. Applications of growth regulators as a sole application or in combination tended to reduce germination speed compared to untreated control. The interactions between variety and method of growth regulator application were significant for plant height, length of internodes, days to flowering, days to maturity, number of fruits per plant, number of seeds per plant, 1,000-seed weight, and field germination percentage. Paclobutrazol in combination with ethephon can be applied to tomato crops to reduce crop cycle to obtain early seeds.
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References
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