A. Mineroamador et Ka. Stewart, SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT AND SUBSEQUENT GROWTH OF FLUID DRILLED TOMATOES AS INFLUENCED BY CARRIER GEL AND INCORPORATION OF A SEAWEED EXTRACT, Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 74(3), 1994, pp. 589-594
A series of experiments (controlled environment and field) were conduc
ted with pregerminated tomato seeds (cv. Early red) incorporating a se
aweed extract (Cytex) at 0, 1, 2 and 3% (vol/vol) into four carrier ge
ls. The carrier gels were: magnesium silicate (Laponite), starch acryl
ate polymer (Liquagel), potassium copolymer (Viterra Agrigel), and a s
tarch (Water lock B100). Percent and rate of emergence were significan
tly affected by the choice of gel with Liquagel producing better resul
ts than Agrigel, Water lock and Laponite. The incorporation of Cytex d
ecreased percent emergence for all gels. In the field trial, treatment
with Laponite gel with Cytex inclusion resulted in lower plant stand
and lower total and marketable fruit yield. Plants sown in Liquagel, A
grigel and Water lock were less affected by Cytex addition than those
sown in Laponite, probably due to additive leaching or gel permeation
in. the Laponite.