Two experiments were carried out in Jaboticabal, São Paulo State, Brazil, to evaluate the interaction between lettuce and tomato, in intercropping, in a protected cultivation. Lettuce plants were transplanted into a tomato field at 0; 10; 20, and 30 days after tomato transplantation. These evaluations were performed from April to September 2003 and from January to June 2004. Both, lettuce and tomato crops, were also cultivated in monoculture in order to compare this system and the intercropping one. Each experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with nine treatments. Both tomato yield and fruit classification into grades were not influenced by lettuce crop independently of the transplantation time. On the other hand, lettuce, when intercropped, yielded lesser than when cultivated in sole crop and the yield decreased with the delaying transplanting date.
Lactuca sativa; Lycopersicon esculentum; cropping systems; intercropped cultures
