The effect of plant staking and training methods was studied on fruit yield and quality of four tomato cultivars. Two experiments were carried out in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006, in Caçador, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The treatments were a combination of two cultivars (Carmen and Débora Max, in 2004/05, and Nemo Netta and San Vito, in 2005/06), four staking methods (crossed fence, Mexican, vertical staking with bamboo and vertical staking with polypropylene cord) and two training methods (one and two stems per plant keeping the same number of stems per area), using the sub subplots experimental design. There was no statistical interaction between cultivars, training methods and among staking methods. The vertical staking with bamboo increased the production of fruits, when compared with other staking methods, and all vertical-staking methods increased the production of fruits, when compared to the crossed fence method. The training method with one stem per plant increased the production of fruits, when compared to the training method with two stems per plant.
Lycopersicum esculentum; staking; training methods
