Effect of Calcium, Boron and Zinc Foliar Application on Growth and Fruit Production of Tomato

Effect of calcium, boron, and zinc foliar application on growth and fruit production of tomato was investigated during the year 2013 at ARI Tarnab, Peshawar to optimize calcium, boron and zinc concentration for enhancing the growth and fruit related attributes of tomato. The experiment was conducted using Randomized Complete Block (RCB) Design with 3 factors, replicated 3 times. Calcium (0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9%), Boron (0, 0.25, 0.5%) and Zinc (0, 0.25, 0.5%) were applied as foliar spray three times. Calcium application at 0.6% increased plant height (88.04 cm), number of primary (2.63) and secondary (7.15) branches, leaves plant-1 (182), leaf area (65.52 cm2), and fruit per plant (66.15). In case of B levels, more plant height (88.14 cm), number of primary (2.61) and secondary (7.44) branches, number of leaves plant-1 (177), number fruits plant-1 (67.78) were recorded with foliar spray of B at 0.25%, while maximum leaf area was found at 0.5% B. Comparing the means for Zn concentrations, maximum plant height (86.53 cm), number of primary (2.53) and secondary (6.42) branches, leaves plant-1 (167), leaf area (63.33 cm2), and fruit per plant (63.78) were higher with 0.5% foliar Zn application. The interaction between Ca, B and Zn also showed significant results for most of the attributes. Therefore, application of Ca (0.6%), B (0.25%), and Zn (0.5%) as a foliar spray can be used alone or in combination to improve growth and fruit production of tomato.