Oakes Irrigation Research
Site
Carrington Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 531, Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Voice: (701) 742-2189, FAX: (701)
742-2700, email: rgreenla@ndsuext.nodak.edu
TOMATO HYBRID PERFORMANCE TRIAL, 1996
Richard G Greenland and Leonard Besemann
Tomatoes grow well in southern North Dakota. Yield and quality may be reduced in cool years. In most years, yield and quality compare very favorably with other areas in the United States. This replicated trial had 4 paste tomato hybrids.
Table 52. Yields and characteristics of tomatoes - nondestructive, multiple harvests.
Table 53. Yields and characteristics of tomatoes - destructive, single harvest.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
| Soil: | Hecla sandy loam and Embden sandy loam; pH=6.9; 3.0% organic matter; soil-P was very high; soil-K was high; soil-S was very low. |
| Previous crop: | 1995 - pumpkin; 1994 - edible bean; 1993 - field corn. |
| Seedbed preparation: | Disked on May 22. Multiweeded (field cultivated) twice on May 29 to incorporate herbicide and to smooth seedbed. |
| Planting: | Tomatoes were seeded in the greenhouse on April 15. Plants were hand transplanted on May 29. Rows were spaced 4 feet apart. In-row spacing was 1 ft. As it was planted, each plant received one pint of fertilizer solution (1 gal 10-34-0 in 100 gal of water). Tomatoes were not staked. |
| Plots: | Plots were 17 ft long by 4 ft (one row) wide. |
| Fertilizer: | On April 17, broadcast 14 lbs N/acre and 70 lbs P2O5/acre as 10-50-0, 16 lbs N/acre and 19 lbs S/acre as 21-0-0-24, and 94 lbs K20/acre as 0-0-60. Sprayed 30 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 on May 22. Side dressed 50 lbs N/acre as urea on July 12. |
| Irrigation: | Surface drip irrigation as needed. |
| Pest control: | Weeds were controlled by Treflan and Lexone (1.5 pts and 0.33 lb/acre applied preplant incorporated) and by hand weeding. |
| Harvest: | Harvested 5 times from Aug. 21 to Sept. 16. |
RESULTS
We only tested paste type tomatoes in the performance trial this year. Sheriff was the best and Bellstar was the worst. We harvested the tomatoes either with multiple harvests or with a single destructive harvest. Multiple harvesting of tomatoes produced more red tomatoes but did not increase total (red plus green) harvest yield. Almost all of the tomatoes harvested green in the single harvest were "mature green" and would have ripened in storage. We probably made the single harvest too early. Yields were disappointing. With better plant spacing, fertilizer management, and weed control, tomato yields can be higher.
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Table 52. Yields and characteristics of tomatoes in the Oakes Irrigation Research Station 1996 tomato hybrid performance trial - nondestructive, multiple harvests.
| Hybrid | Seed source1 | Fruit size | Grade A tomatoes | Cumulative grade A tomato yield as of: | ||||
| Aug 12 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 | Sep 3 | Sep 162 | ||||
| oz/fruit | % | -------------------- tons/acre ------------------------- | ||||||
| 1031N | FM | 1.5 | 97 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 5.1 | 12.4 | 21.1 |
| 1047NP | FM | 1.5 | 94 | 1.5 | 6.9 | 13.3 | 17.0 | 20.4 |
| Bellstar | JS | 1.7 | 93 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 8.3 | 15.3 |
| Sheriff | JS | 1.8 | 95 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 7.3 | 14.5 | 29.4 |
| LSD (0.05) | NS | NS | 0.8 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 6.3 | |
| C.V. (%) | 12 | 4 | 126 | 53 | 24 | 13 | 18 | |
1See appendix A for
source codes.
2Sept. 16 was the final harvest date. Values in this column equal
the total yield for 1996.
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Table 53. Yields and characteristics of tomatoes in the Oakes Irrigation Research Station 1996 tomato hybrid performance trial - destructive, single harvest.
| Hybrid | Seed source1 | Days to harvest | Fruit size | Grade A tomatoes | Grade A tomato yield | ||
| red | green | total | |||||
| oz/fruit | % | -------------- tons/acre ------------ | |||||
| 1031N | FM | 103 | 1.3 | 91 | 14.2 | 10.8 | 25.0 |
| 1047NP | FM | 84 | 1.3 | 97 | 10.2 | 9.7 | 19.9 |
| Bellstar | JS | 103 | 1.4 | 87 | 8.7 | 5.6 | 13.6 |
| Sheriff | JS | 103 | 1.4 | 89 | 13.3 | 13.7 | 27.0 |
| LSD (0.05) | 14 | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | |
| C.V. (%) | 9 | 10 | 6 | 43 | 40 | 31 | |
1See appendix A for source codes.
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Go to Oakes Irrigation Research Site Variety Performance Trials
Go to Oakes Irrigation Research Site 1996 annual report