S06 - Session P13 - Yield of Paste Tomato Cultivars Using Season Extending High-Tunnel Production Practices in North Dakota's Short Growing Season

Authors: Binu Rana, Andrej Svyantek, Collin P. Auwarter, Harlene Hatterman-Valenti *

Season extension technology, such as high-tunnels, enable farmers in short-season growing environments to expand their production timeline when compared to field production practices. Controlled environment horticulture using high-tunnels also allows for warm-season crops to be grown more effectively where diurnal temperature shifts in field conditions might otherwise delay their development. Growing interest in the Northern Great Plains focused on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) production is based on merging cultivar decisions with production practices that employ controlled environment conditions. To support this regional interest, high-tunnel production capacity for nine paste tomatoes ('Big Mama', 'Blue Beech', 'Cauralina', 'Gladiator', 'Granadero', 'Pozzano', 'San Marzana', 'Tiren', and 'Verona') was evaluated during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. The experiment was conducted as a 9 × 2 factorial using three replicates per season to examine two factors, cultivar and number of tomato plant leaders retained (either one or two leaders per plant). No significant effects for retained leader number were detected throughout the experiment; likewise, no cultivar × leader number interaction was detected. Across the two years, 'Cauralina' produced the largest individual fruit (184.5 g) and 'Verona' produced the smallest individual fruit (44.7 g). 'Cauralina', 'Blue Beech', 'Gladiator', and 'Big Mama' all produced individual tomato fruit averaging more than 100 g per fruit. Throughout the cropping cycle 'Verona' plants yielded the most individual fruit (36.0 fruit per plant). No differences were detected for single plant yield which ranged from 2321.6 g ('Cauralina') down to 1541.2 g ('Granadero'). The different paste tomato cultivars were productive under high-tunnel conditions with a mean fruit yield per plant of 1875.1 g across the two years. Continued work to improve high-tunnel production practices in North Dakota focusing on irrigation and nutrient management for promising paste tomato cultivars should lead to increased yield for local farmers.