Influence of Foliar Application of Boron and Copper on Growth and Yield of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv ‘Thilina’)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Crop farm, Eastern University, Sri Lanka during the period of December 2013 to April 2014 to find out the response of foliar application of H3BO3 and CuSO4 on growth and yield of tomato. Treatments were arranged in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and replicated eight (8) times. There were 10 treatments namely, (T1) H3BO3 =150 ppm; (T2) H3BO3 = 250 ppm; (T3) H3BO3= 350 ppm; (T4) CuSO4= 150 ppm; (T5) CuSO4= 250 ppm; (T6) CuSO4= 350 ppm; (T7) H3BO3 (150 ppm) + CuSO4(150 ppm); (T8) H3BO3 (250 ppm) + CuSO4 (250 ppm); (T9) H3BO3 (350 ppm) + CuSO4(350 ppm); (T10) Control. The foliar applications were done thrice at 10-days intervals starting from 40 days after transplanting. Seedlings were raised in the nursery and transplanted in polybags (30cm x 45cm x 30 cm) 30 days after planting. The seedlings were raised following the recommendations developed by the Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka. Potting media was prepared by mixing sand: top soil: decomposed cow dung at 1:1:1 ratio. The results showed that foliar application of CuSO4 at 150 and 250 ppm increased the plant height, and H3BO3 at 250 ppm and combined application of H3BO3 (250 ppm) + CuSO4 (250 ppm) increased the number of leaves/plant than control, respectively. Application of CuSO4 at 250 and 350 ppm and combined application of H3BO3 (250 ppm) + CuSO4 (250 ppm) produced the highest length of roots than that of control whereas application of H3BO3 at 150 and 250 ppm recorded the highest fruit yield compared to control on a dry basis and H3BO3 at 350 ppm increased the number of fruits. In all parameters tested, the poor performance was recorded in the control treatment.