Influence of Nutrients Dose, Source and Method of Application on Growth and Yield of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Studies were conducted at Ludhiana method of application of fertilizers for the efficient production of tomato. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design comprised of ten treatments replicated thrice. Treatments involved two types of fertilizers (Solid and Liquid) which were applied at different doses from the different source combinations. Solid fertilizers (Urea, DAP and MOP) were applied at two levels of N:P:K (140:60:60 and 70:30:30 Kg/ha) where nitrogen in four equal splits, while phosphorus and potash were applied as basal dose. Liquid fertilizers were applied near the root zone of plants as nutrient solution in five equal splits from two source combinations (NPK (19:19:19)+Urea and MAP (12:61)+Urea+MOP) at three different concentrations i.e. N:P:K @ 70:30:30 Kg/ha, N:P:K @ 55:24:24 Kg/ha and N:P:K @ 42:18:18 Kg/ha along with N:P:K @ 70:30:30 Kg/ha as solid fertilizers. The results revealed that application of nutrient solution along with solid fertilizers improved the plant height as well as number of branches per plant. Application of nutrient solution of N:P:K @ 70:30:30 Kg/ha along with solid fertilizers resulted in maximum number of branches per plant. Solid fertilizer application of N:P:K @ 140:60:60 Kg/ha recorded higher fruit weight (83 g), where as maximum number of fruits per plant (39.91 fruits/plant), total yield (596.48 q/ha) and marketable yield (477.03 q/ha) were observed with nutrient solution of N:P:K @ 42:18:18 Kg/ha from MAP, Urea and MOP source along with solid fertilizers.