Abstract
Healthy transplants are critical to productivity in the field. For certified organic production in the United States, seedlings must be grown in media that meet the standards of the US Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program. Many commercial organic media options are available, they vary substantially in composition, and it is unknown to what extent this influences seedling performance. This project compared tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) seedling emergence and growth in seven commercially available media for organic production and evaluated posttransplant performance. Tomato seedlings were grown in greenhouses at Wanatah, West Lafayette, and Vincennes, IN, USA. Chemical characteristics of the media measured in saturated media extract ranged as follows: pH 5.2–7.5; electrical conductivity (EC) 0.79–4.68 dS·m −1 ; 1–332 ppm nitrate-nitrogen, 5–69 ppm phosphorus, 41–451 ppm potassium, 78–714 ppm calcium, and 25–121 ppm magnesium. Higher media EC was associated with slower and less uniform seedling emergence and reduced total emergence. Seedling aboveground dry weights were significantly greater in media that contained compost. Relative performance in media containing compost varied across trials. The aboveground dry weight of tomato seedlings 4 weeks after transplanting did not differ for seedlings started in the five compost-based media, and those plants were significantly larger than plants started in the two media without compost. Larger plants tended to flower and set fruit earlier. Media testing protocols that predict nutrient supply over the production cycle could likely improve management in organic transplant production.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Higher media conductivity was associated with slower and less uniform tomato seedling emergence.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Outcome
- seedling emergencee0
- Direction
- slower and less uniforme0
- Setting
- mediae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Higher media EC was associated with slower and less uniform seedling emergence and reduced total emergence”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Higher media conductivity was associated with reduced total tomato emergence.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- total emergencee0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Setting
- mediae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Higher media EC was associated with slower and less uniform seedling emergence and reduced total emergence”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Compost media produced significantly greater tomato seedling aboveground dry weight.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- media that contained composte0
- Outcome
- Seedling aboveground dry weightse0
- Direction
- greatere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Seedling aboveground dry weights were significantly greater in media that contained compost”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Performance in compost media varied among trials.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- Relative performancee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Relative performance in media containing compost varied across trials”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato aboveground dry weight four weeks after transplant did not differ among five compost media.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- five compost-based mediae0
- Outcome
- aboveground dry weighte0
- Direction
- did not differe0
- Qualifier
- 4 weeks after transplantinge0
- Comparator
- five compost-based mediae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The aboveground dry weight of tomato seedlings 4 weeks after transplanting did not differ for seedlings started in the five compost-based media”
Claim · model-written summary
Four weeks after transplant, plants started in compost media were significantly larger than plants started without compost.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- those plantse0
- Outcome
- largere0
- Direction
- largere0
- Comparator
- two media without composte0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“those plants were significantly larger than plants started in the two media without compost”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Larger tomato plants tended to flower and set fruit earlier.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Material
- Larger plantse0
- Outcome
- flower and set fruite0
- Direction
- earliere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Larger plants tended to flower and set fruit earlier”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Media tests that predict nutrient supply may improve organic transplant management.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- Media testing protocols that predict nutrient supplye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Media testing protocols that predict nutrient supply over the production cycle could likely improve management in organic transplant production”
t0“Tomato”
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See all 668 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.