The effects of plant spacing and number of bunches per stem of tomato plants vertically conducted with polypropylene cord were evaluated on fruit yield and quality. Experiments were carried out during the 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 growing seasons, at Epagri-Caçador Experimental Station, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The treatments consisted of a combination of three plant spacing (30, 45 and 60 cm), four topping heights (no topping, and topped at 5th, 7th and 9th bunch per stem) and the cultivars Débora Max and Nemo Netta in 2006/2007 and the cultivar Takii 92 in 2007/2008. Total, marketable and unmarketable yield, marketable mean weight, and the percentage of marketable and unmarketable fruits were evaluated. There was no significant interaction between cultivars, topping heights and plant spacing. Reduction in row plant spacing from 60 to 45 cm increased the marketable tomatoes from 15.2 to 17.2%, without affecting the fruit quality. The number of bunches per stem did not affect marketable yield.
Solanum lycopersicum L; plant staking; tomato yield
