Effect of Different Staking Methods on the Growth and yield of Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) in the Rainforest Agro-ecological Zone

Abstract

The study was conducted at he teaching and research farm of , Imo State University, Owerri to evaluate the effect of different staking methods on the growth and yield of Roma VF. Tomato. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design and replicated four times. The treatments were unstaked, single, vertical and platform stakings. A total of 64 stands of tomato were used, 16 tomato stands per treatment. A blanket application of decomposed pig dung was used. Data were collected based on growth and yield. Results showed that treatments had significant (P<0.05) effect for all the parameters measured. Vertical and platform staking had the best performance in terms of fruit weight, number of fruits, plant height, and number of diseased fruits. Control recorded the highest mean number of days to flowering (59) while platform and vertical staking recorded highest mean number of fruits per stand of 68.50 and 61.50 respectively. Therefore, tomato staking should be adopted by tomato farmers mainly vertical and platform staking methods.