Field performance of tomato cultivars for cool-season production

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted during winter 1982 on the northern coast of New South Wales to assess earliness of fruit set, yield and quality of seven indeterminate, three semi-determinate and six determinate tomato cultivars producing smooth, globular fruit. Rouge de Marmande, the most cold-tolerant commercial cultivar, and Flora-Dade, the most widely grown commercial cultivar, were included as controls. Several cultivars had good cold tolerance, producing marketable yields similar to or higher than that of Rouge de Marmande. Precodor was the most consistent, outyielding Rouge de Marmande in two experiments and producing similar yields in the other two. Sunny's yield was similar to that of Precodor in the March transplantings. Flora-Dade had very poor cold tolerance and produced less than 2 kg/plant of marketable fruit in all experiments. Most cold-tolerant cultivars had unacceptably soft fruit. Rouge de Marmande was one of the softest cultivars, with a shelf life of 2 d from the March transplanting. Sunny and Flora-Dade had respective shelf lives of 24 and 25 d. Soluble solids levels for all cultivars were low, ranging from 3.7 to 4.6%. Sunny, with smooth, globular, medium-large fruit with acceptable firmness and shelf life, would be suitable for an early-autumn transplanting on the northern coast of New South Wales. Precodor could replace Rouge de Marmande for late-autumn and winter transplantings. However, soft fruit would restrict market acceptance.