Use of Coco peat for soilless cultivation of tomato

Abstract

Soilless cultivation of tomato has been attempted with different growing media in a hydroponic system as roof-top gardening which is very important component of increasing peri urban agriculture. Tomato seedlings were grown under soilless culture supported with various growing media namely- Soil, Vermiculite, Vermicompost, Coco-peat, Perlite, Peat and Compost where as nutrients were supplied through hydroponic system using Hoa-gland solution. The experiment was carried out in pot culture following com-plete randomized design with eight treatments and four replications. The study revealed that use of coco-peat may be good for improvement of vege-tative growth (27.50 maximum branches per plant), fruit yield (1.28 kg per plant) and quality (TSS 5.15oB, total sugars 3.97%, Vitamin C 26.07 mg/100 g fruit, though it was at par with vermiculite 26.52 mg/100 g) followed by peat and compost. It is also evident by good root growth under Hoagland solu-tion. It is clear that among the various media under study coco-peat can be used as a supportive growing media for soilless cultivation of tomato.