An organic and environmentally friendly growing system for greenhouse tomatoes

Summary

Tomato plants were grown in open beds, confined beds, or combined beds with compost based on clover grass hay, deep litter and peat. Plants grown in the confined and the combined beds produced the earliest tomatoes. During the first five weeks of harvest, approximately 18% of the fruits produced in confined beds developed blossom end rot. This disorder was hardly developed in the other growing systems. After five weeks of harvest, these differences in fruit production were unchanged or even increased. Plants grown in the confined beds produced significantly less fruit load compared with the other bed types, especially in 2003. Application of supplemental fertilizer did not significantly increase the fruit production in any year.