Development of tomatoes in substrates of vermicompost/sand under greenhouse conditions

The development of tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cv. Flora-Dade, was evaluated, under greenhouse conditions, using different mixtures of vermicompost/sand, at Comarca Lagunera (101°40' W long; 25°05' N lat), in northern México. Four types of vermicomposts were studied, generated by the decomposing action of earthworms (Eisenia foetida Sav.), on the following materials: a) horse manure; b) horse manure + goat manure with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) straw (1:1, v:v); c) goat manure with alfalfa straw; and d) goat manure with alfalfa straw + garden residues (mainly grass and leaves) (1:1 v:v)). The composition of mixtures of vermicompost/sand evaluated, based on a weight of 15 kg, was 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 and 100:0 (%). A total of 17 treatments were evaluated (four vermicomposts x four levels each plus a control) with four replicates each. A completely randomized design was used and averages were compared by the LSD test (5%). It was established that three of the variables evaluated in tomatoes had significant differences: soluble solids (°Brix), number of clusters (P ≤ 0.01) and number of fruit per plant (P ≤ 0.05), for treatments with mixtures of vermicompost/sand 25:75 and 50:50 (%), while fruit diameter, plant height and yield did not show any statistical differences between treatments evaluated