Production and quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) in response to the type of fertilization and coverage with shade nets.
The similarity in the number of fruits obtained by each plant (Table 6), could be attributed to the fact that the meshes were installed on the crop once the flowering and fruit set had finished, so this variable would not have been affected. by the environment generated by the meshes. The results obtained in the present study for the remaining variables agree with those obtained by Oliveira et al. (2013), who reported substantial differences in fruit growth under different types of fertilization in the northeastern district of Brazil. The mass and size of the fruits recorded by these authors was approximately 40% higher in fruits developed with fertilization conventional. As mentioned by Mitchell et al. (2007), conventional fertilizers contain soluble inorganic N and other nutrients more directly available to the root. In the present study, a limitation of nitrogen availability in organically fertilized plants may have been responsible for the development of tomatoes with lower weight and size (Dumas et al., 2003). Nutrients have essential and specific functions in the metabolism of plants, activate enzymatic reactions, function as osmoregulators and constitute different organic structures (Schwambach et al., 2005, Bustos et al., 2008). In relation to this, nitrogen (N) is the mineral element that plants require in greater quantity and the one that probably most limits the gain of carbon (C) (Chapin et al., 1987). This element is a constituent of various components in plant cells, including amino acids, nucleic acids, amides, proteins, nucleotides and coenzymes involved in growth (Taiz and Zeiger, 2010). The results obtained in the present study could be attributed to the low availability of nitrogen and other essential nutrients for growth in the roots of organically fertilized plants.
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