Optimising Planting Date and Pruning Intensity for Enhanced Phenology and Yield of Cherry Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme)

Abstract

Optimising pruning intensity and planting window is important for enhancing growth dynamics, phenological development and productivity of cherry tomato under protected cultivation, particularly under variable microclimatic conditions. Therefore, the present study was conducted to systematically evaluate the influence of pruning intensities and planting windows on the performance of cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme [Dunal] D.M. Spooner, G.J. Anderson & R.K. Jansen) under a low-cost polyhouse. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomised block design consisting of two factors: three pruning intensities, namely no pruning, two-stem pruning and three-stem pruning; and three planting windows, namely 15 October, 30 October and 15 November. The results demonstrated that both factors exerted significant effects on growth, earliness, yield attributes and yield of cherry tomato. Two-stem pruning (P₂) optimised plant architecture, resulting in enhanced plant height, earlier flowering and improved fruit weight, ultimately translating into higher yield per plant (2.68 kg) and per hectare (495.18 q ha⁻¹). Early planting (15 October; D₁) ensured a favourable microclimatic regime that significantly improved growth and yield (3.13 kg per plant; 579.05 q ha⁻¹), whereas delayed planting markedly reduced productivity. However, the interaction effect revealed that three-stem pruning under early planting maximised yield (3.35 kg per plant; 619.75 q ha⁻¹), although it remained statistically comparable with two-stem pruning under the same conditions. Hence, two-stem pruning combined with early planting may be strategically adopted to optimise growth, phenology and productivity of cherry tomato under protected cultivation.