EFFECT OF GRAFTING ON THE TOMATO’S YIELD, QUALITY AND MAIN FRUIT COMPONENTS IN SPRING FORCING

Soil-born diseases often cause problems in vegetable forcing; this is because growers use greenhouses for the longest time possible. During the years several solutions have been found to displace chemical control. Grafting is a possible chemical free solution that shows several changes in plants thanks to the vigorous rootstock. In this study we examined the effect of grafting on the yield and fruit characteristics in tomato cultivar. Lemance F1 was used as scion and Beaufort as rootstock. Earliness, total yield, fruit weight and number of each graft combination were recorded. Moreover, the main fruit components such as Brix°, carbohydrate, acid and the carbohydrate/acid ratio were analysed. We harvested more yield from the grafted plants. The increase of yield was mainly caused by higher average fruit weight. Brix ° and carbohydrate content were lower in the fruits on grafted plants than on ungrafted ones but there was no significant difference in acid content