COMPOSICIÓN MINERAL, BIOMASA Y RENDIMIENTO EN TOMATE (Solanum lycopersicum L.) INJERTADO

The grafting technique in tomato production has become popular in many countries in recent years as an alternative to control soil diseases and nematodes, as well as inducing tolerance to stress due to abiotic factors. An experiment was carried out in greenhouse conditions, where the effect of the use of grafted plants in tomato fSolanum lycopersicum L.), was evaluated by measuring biomass, fruit yield and content of N, P, K, Ca and Mg. The commercial hybrid Multifort fSolanum lycopersicum × S. habrochaites) was used as root-stock and as scion El Cid, a saladette type fruit hybrid was used. Grafted and ungrafted plants were established, directed to one and two stems. They were arranged using an experimental design of randomized complete blocks. Results indicate an increase in biomass in grafted plants, up to 36% in grafted plants directed to two stems. A larger accumulation of N, K and Ca was detected in grafted plants; in plants with two stems the significant increase was 46, 59.4 and 65.5% of N, K, Ca, respectively, compared with plants that were not grafted at two stems. Fruit yield was significantly improved in grafted plants directed to one and two stems, up to 0.93 and O.79kg/plant, which represented increases of 12.9 and 6.6%, respectively. It is concluded that tomato grafted with Multifort/El Cid modifies its mineral composition and improves yield and biomass accumulation.