Effect of different plant spacing and staking on growth and yield of tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum L.)

Abstract

The study investigates the performance of staked and non-staked on Shasta tomato at different plant spacing. The experimental design used for the study was 2 x 3 factorial arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatment was up of three spacing; 50cm x 40 cm ,60 cm x 40 cm and 70 cm x 40 cm and two factors, staked and non-staked. There were six experimental plots with varying plot length of which each block contained six plots. The result shows that there was a significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference between staking and No staking in yield per hectare. Staking produced significantly higher (1996kg/ha) yield per plant than No staking treatment with the least recorded (1801.0 kg/ha) in yield per plant.There was also significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference betweenplant spacing of 50 cm x 40 cm, 60 cm x 40 cm and 70 cm x 40 cm in yield per hectare. Spacing 50 cm x 40 cm produced the highest yield per hectare while 70 cm x 40 cm produced the least mean of (1318.0kg/ha). The study further recommends that farmer should plant tomato No staking x 50 cm × 40 cm for potential yield 3352 kg/ha.