Abstract
Continued intensive cropping of soils dedicated to vegetables in Puerto Rico reduces organic matter levels which results in increasing dependability on inorganic fertilizers and lowered agricultural sustainability. One alternative for organic matter maintenance in soils is to supplement these with biosolid-yard waste compost. Because we were concerned about possible deleterious salinity effects on field planted tomatoes, pot experiments were conducted for a period of six weeks two examine tomato (Lycopersicon esculenlum Mill, var. Bonanza) response to biosolid yard-waste compost addition in a Fraternidad clay (Typic Haplusterts) soil. Five compost levels (0, 50, 100, 200 and 2000 mt/ha) were added to soil in pots and tomato was grown with soil water at approximately field capacity. Plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, and aboveground biomass all increased with each successive compost level added. SPAD chlorophyll meter readings were significantly higher with the 200 mt/ha compared to other treatments. We observed that leaves at the higher compost treatments appeared curled, with the edges cupped upwards suggestive of water stress. Since the pots were well watered we hypothesized that these were salinity induced effects, although leaf water potentials were not affected by compost levels. The results area encouraging because they demonstrate that plant vigor and biomass are increased with compost addition in the presence of adequate moisture and nutrients (N, P, and K levels) in soil. Soil pH and electrical conductivity were significantly influenced by compost addition due to the apparent inorganic character of the compost material, and the basic cation contribution. These are negative attributes that would limit long term use in neutral to alkaline soils of the semiarid southern coast of Puerto Rico.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato height, stem diameter, leaf area index, and aboveground biomass increased with successive compost levels.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Material
- Bonanzae1
- Treatment
- compost levele0
- Outcome
- Plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, and aboveground biomasse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Comparator
- each successive compost levele0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, and aboveground biomass all increased with each successive compost level added.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculenlum Mill, var. Bonanza) response to biosolid yard-waste compost addition”
Claim · model-written summary
SPAD chlorophyll readings were significantly higher with 200 mt/ha than other treatments.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Material
- Bonanzae1
- Treatment
- 200 mt/hae0
- Outcome
- SPAD chlorophyll meter readingse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- other treatmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“SPAD chlorophyll meter readings were significantly higher with the 200 mt/ha compared to other treatments.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculenlum Mill, var. Bonanza) response”
Claim · model-written summary
Leaves under higher compost treatments curled and cupped upward.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Organ / stage
- leavese0
- Treatment
- higher compost treatmentse0
- Outcome
- appeared curled, with the edges cupped upwardse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“leaves at the higher compost treatments appeared curled, with the edges cupped upwards suggestive of water stress”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculenlum Mill, var. Bonanza) response”
Claim · model-written summary
Leaf water potentials were not affected by compost levels.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- compost levelse0
- Outcome
- leaf water potentialse0
- Direction
- not affectede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“leaf water potentials were not affected by compost levels”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculenlum Mill, var. Bonanza) response”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil pH and electrical conductivity were significantly influenced by compost addition.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- compost additione0
- Outcome
- Soil pH and electrical conductivitye0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Soil pH and electrical conductivity were significantly influenced by compost addition”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculenlum Mill, var. Bonanza) response”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude that soil changes limit long-term compost use in neutral to alkaline soils.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Outcome
- limit long term use in neutral to alkaline soilse0
- Setting
- semiarid southern coast of Puerto Ricoe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“These are negative attributes that would limit long term use in neutral to alkaline soils of the semiarid southern coast of Puerto Rico.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculenlum Mill, var. Bonanza) response”
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