An experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of producing dwarf tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in an indoor vertical system. Cultivars 'Micro Tom', 'Jochalos', and 'Venus' were grown under the three daily light integral (DLI) levels of 16.9, 22.7, and 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1. Cultivar had an effect on height, with Jochalos being the tallest. Plants grown under 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1 were the shortest. The time of first flower was affected by cultivar, appearing earliest in Micro Tom. Regarding DLI, the first flower was earliest in plants under 22.7 and 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1. The time of first harvest was only affected by cultivar, in which Micro Tom was earliest. There was an interaction effect for the total and marketable fruit count harvested. Micro Tom had the highest overall number of fruits harvested amongst cultivars, and Micro Tom grown under 22.7 and 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1 had more total and marketable fruit counts than those grown under 16.9 mol·m-2·day-1. There was no interaction effect for fruit weight harvested. The effect of cultivar differed between the total and marketable fruit weights harvested, but Jochalos produced the highest weights in both. The effect of DLI was the same for total and marketable fruit weights harvested, with plants under 22.7 and 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1 having the highest weights. Cultivar had an effect on fruit Brix, with Micro Tom fruit having the lowest Brix and Jochalos fruit having the highest Brix. The effect of DLI resulted in fruits produced by plants under 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1 having the highest Brix and fruits produced by plants under 16.9 mol·m-2·day-1 having the lowest. Based on these results, there is potential for dwarf tomatoes to be grown in vertical farm systems. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / An experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of producing dwarf tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in an indoor vertical system. Cultivars 'Micro Tom', 'Jochalos', and 'Venus' were grown under the three daily light integral (DLI) levels of 16.9, 22.7, and 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1. Cultivar had an effect on height, with Jochalos being the tallest. For DLI, all plants grown under 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1 were the shortest. The time of first flower was affected by cultivar, appearing earliest in Micro Tom. Regarding DLI, the first flower was earliest in plants under the higher DLIs. The time of first harvest was only affected by cultivar, in which Micro Tom was earliest. There was an interaction effect for the total and marketable fruit count harvested. Micro Tom had the highest overall number of fruits harvested under the highest DLIs. There was no interaction effect for fruit weight harvested. In cultivars, Jochalos produced the highest weights for both total and marketable fruits. Plants under 22.7 and 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1 had the highest weights for total and marketable fruits harvested. Cultivar had an effect on fruit Brix, with Micro Tom fruit having the lowest Brix and Jochalos fruit having the highest. Uninfluenced by cultivar, fruits produced by plants under 27.9 mol·m-2·day-1 had the highest Brix, while those under 16.9 mol·m-2·day-1 had the lowest. Based on these results, there is potential for dwarf tomatoes to be grown in vertical farm systems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/115322 |
| Date | 05 June 2023 |
| Creators | Tharpe, Anna Ekene Davis |
| Contributors | Horticulture, Evans, Michael Robert, South, Kaylee Anne, Lowman, James Scott |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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