Cr. Camp et al., IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT FOR DOUBLE-CROPPED FRESH-MARKET TOMATOES ON A HIGH-WATER-TABLE SOIL, Transactions of the ASAE, 34(6), 1991, pp. 2445-2452
Two tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum, Mill.) experiments were conducted
for two years on a southeastern Coastal Plain soil that has a high, f
luctuating water table. In one experiment, two methods for managing mi
croirrigation were compared to a treatment that received only rainfall
by measuring marketable fruit yields for spring and fall cropping sea
sons. Irrigation increased yields for both seasons in the second year
because of low rainfall. Measurements among seven shallow wells on the
site showed no consistent differences for either water table depth or
gradient between adjacent wells. Two cultivars were evaluated in the
second year, primarily because frost severely damaged the tomato plant
s about three weeks after transplanting. In the second experiment, two
excessively irrigated treatments were evaluated in an effort to induc
e a "soft-fruit" storage and shipping problem experienced by many grow
ers in this region. Although extremely large quantities of irrigation
water were applied, these symptoms were not observed in this study. Th
ere were no differences in fruit yield between the two water managemen
t treatments in either spring or fall. Fruit quality measurements show
ed no significant differences. The 'Sunny' cultivar performed better t
han 'Walter' during the fall season for the extremely wet soil conditi
on. A double-crop, microirrigation management system has higher input
costs but provides increased profitability for fresh-market tomato pro
duction, particularly where markets are available for both spring and
fall crops.