About Tomatoes Industrial

The planting pattern is determined by the plant’s size, which in turn depends on the commercial variety being grown. The most commonly used spacing is 1.5 meters between rows and 0.5 meters between plants, although for medium-sized plants, it is common to increase the planting density to 2 plants per square meter with a spacing of 1 m x 0.5 m.

It is not only the amount of water that determines yield, but also the optimal timing of application, which is dictated by the crop’s physiology. It is necessary to understand the water requirements at each phenological stage of the crop in order to achieve maximum economic yield.

In protected tomato crops, water and most nutrients are generally supplied through drip irrigation, and this depends on the plant’s phenological stage as well as the environment in which it grows (soil type, climatic conditions, irrigation water quality, etc.).

In soil-based and sand-based cultivation, the timing and volume of irrigation will be determined primarily by the following parameters:

• Soil water tension (matrix tension), which should be determined through proper use of tensiometers; it is advisable to irrigate before the tension reaches 20–30 centibars.
• Soil type (field capacity, saturation percentage).
• Crop evapotranspiration.
• Irrigation efficiency (uniformity of flow rate from the drippers).
• Irrigation water quality (the poorer the quality, the greater the volume of water required, since it is necessary to displace the salt front from the moisture bulb).