Effects of vermicompost, vermi-tea and chemical fertilizer on morpho-physiological characteristics of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in Suleymanpasa District, Tekirdag of Turkey

Nutrients deficiency is a major threat to tomato growth. The effects of nutrients can be mitigated by vermicompost, vermi-tea and chemical fertilizers. To combat the nutrients deficiency, an experiment was conducted in Riverm Kompost Vermikompost Tarm Hay. Mak. San. ve Ltd. ti. Suleymanpasa, Tekirdag, Turkey under field conditions. In field four different states of fertilizers [F0: Control (No fertilizer application); Fvc: Solid vermicompost @ 6 ton/ha; Fvt: vermi-tea @ 5%; Fc: Chemical fertilizers (N&P) @ 140-120 kg/ha were applied in tomato variety Kuzeyky. The plants were harvested 45 days after sowing and the evaluation was done based on various morphological (leaf length, plant height, leaf breadth, number of leaf, days taken for flowering, primary branches per plant, stem diameter, fruit diameter, number of fruits per plant, petiole length, ) and physiological parameters (relative water contents (RWC), and membrane stability index (MSI)). The obtained results indicated that vermi-fertilizers and chemical fertilizer significantly increased all of the above-said parameters of tomato as compared to control but the foliar application of 5% vermi-tea treatment showed maximum morphological and physiological performance of tomato.