Abstract

AYALA-TAFOYA, Felipe et al. Growth and Yield of Tomato in Response to Sun Radiation Transmitted by Shade Nets. Terra Latinoam [online]. 2011, vol.29, n.4, pp.403-410. ISSN 2395-8030.

Blacks and aluminated shade nets are widely used in the protected crop of vegetables as a technique of control of light and temperature. Recently appeared in the market colored shade nets with special optical properties to improve the use of the solar radiation. In the present investigation the photoselectivity of blacks, aluminated, gray, blue, red and pearly plastic nets was evaluated, each one with 50 and 30% of shadow, through the total radiation (350 to 1050 nm), photosynthetic active radiation (400 to 700 nm), blue light (400 to 500 nm), red light (600 to 700 nm) and far red light (700 to 800 nm) transmitted; as well as the effect that causes in the growth and production of fruits in plants of tomato cultivated in greenhouse. The results indicate that the colored shade nets altered the quantity and quality of the light transmitted. Nevertheless, none of the photometric properties measured in the plastic nets seemed particularly notable, but possibly was the association of all those properties the one that influenced so that the plants of tomato that grew under the pearly net with 30% of shadow presented thicker and shorter stems, smaller specific leaf area, one of the greater contents of chlorophyll, the larger yield and the best quality of tomato. According to the results obtained, the pearly color net with 30 to 50% of shadow constitute an alternative to improve the greenhouse tomato cultivation, since it increased significantly the total (28.1%) and exportable (48.4%) yield, compared with the respective average yield obtained with the black and aluminated nets with the same percentages of shadow, habitually utilized by the producers of greenhouse tomato.

Keywords : Solanum lycopersicon; colored shade nets; light quantity; light quality; greenhouse.