Tomato nutrition with the application of Trichoderma spp. on different soils

E.D. Conte¹, D. Fiorini¹², N.M.B. Vargas³, L.F.B. Bertoni², L.N.T. Santos², T.D. Magro²2, W.P. Silvestre³*, C. Cocco⁴ and J. Schwambach¹⁴⁵

¹University of Caxias do Sul, Institute of Biotechnology, Laboratory of Biological Control of Plant Disease and Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, Street Francisco Getúlio Vargas, 1130, Petrópolis, ZIP Code 95070-560, Caxias do Sul, Brazil
²University of Caxias do Sul, Vacaria Campus, Course of Agronomy, Street Dom Frei Cândido Maria Bampi, 2800, Barcellos, ZIP Code 95206-364, Vacaria, Brazil
³University of Caxias do Sul, Postgraduate Program in Process Engineering and Technologies and Course of Agronomy, Street Francisco Getúlio Vargas, 1130, Petrópolis, ZIP Code 95070-560, Caxias do Sul, Brazil
⁴University of Caxias do Sul, Course of Agronomy, Street Francisco Getúlio Vargas, 1130, Petrópolis, ZIP Code 95070-560, Caxias do Sul, Brazil
⁵University of Caxias do Sul, Postgraduate Program in Biotechnology, Street Francisco Getúlio Vargas, 1130, Petrópolis, ZIP Code 95070-560, Caxias do Sul, Brazil
*Correspondence: wpsilvestre@ucs.br

Abstract:

The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of Trichoderma spp. on the nutrition and development of tomato plants in three soil types under protected environments. One experiment was conducted with ferralsol and acrisol soil (conducted in pots in a greenhouse), and another used cambisol soil (conducted in beds in a commercial greenhouse). The experiments were carried out in a randomized block design with twelve replications. The treatments consisted of a control (no application of Trichoderma spp.), an application of Trichoderma spp. before seedling transplantation, and monthly Trichoderma spp. applications in tomato plants cv. Itaipava^®. The evaluations included plant nutrition at full flowering, development (height and fresh and dry mass of shoots), crop yield components of number, weight, and diameter of fruits, and average yield per plant. A second nutritional evaluation was repeated in the cambisol. The application of Trichoderma spp. in the soil did not modify the nutrition parameters of plants until flowering. However, at the end of the cycle in cambisol, the treatment increased the available contents of N, P, Cu, and Mn. The application of Trichoderma spp. did not affect the development and yield of tomato plants in the conditions tested.

Key words:

acrisol, bioinputs, cambisol, ferralsol, Solanum lycopersicum