Influence of excess soil‐water and n rates on leaf diffusive resistance and storage quality of tomato fruit

Tomatoes (Lycoperscion esculentum Mill.) were grown in the greenhouse to determine if excess water and/or N rates are involved with a nonbacterial “soft‐fruit”; problem which has been encountered in the Southeastern Coastal Plain. The treatments included flooding for 0, 5, or 8 days and three rates of N (245, 346, or 627 kg/ha). Flooding induced stomatal closure, hastened fruit maturation, and significantly reduced internal fruit firmness after 8 days of storage at 20°C, but N had no significant effect. Stomata closed approximately 3 days after plants were flooded and were permanently impaired in plants flooded for 8 days. These results suggest that for tomatoes grown on the Norfolk soil association (Typic Paleudults) irrigation applied during fruiting must be carefully managed to prevent excess soil‐water in the root zone which can cause stomatal closure and subsequently influence the storage quality of the fruit.