Effect of drip irrigation regime on plant height and stem girth of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill)

Plant height and stem girth are usually a good index of plant vigour, which may contribute towards greater productivity. In this vein, a randomized complete block design (RCBD) experiment was set up to investigate the effect of drip irrigation regime on plant height and stem girth of tomato. In the experimental set-up, irrigation frequency and depth were used as the main and sub-plot respectively in three replicates. Three frequencies (7, 5 and 3 days; designated as F1, F2 and F3, respectively) and three depths (100, 75 and 50% of crop evapotranspiration; designated as D1, D2 and D3, respectively) were used. Plant height and stem girth were recorded weekly. Plant height was measured with the aid of a flexible tape from the base of the plant to the tip while stem girth was measured using a digital Vernier caliper ( model GMC - 190, GTK Taiwan). Analysis of Variance was done to determine the relationship between irrigation interval and depth on one hand and plant height and stem girth on the other. The mean was separated using Fisher's Least Significant Difference (LSD) at 95% confidence level (P<0.05). The results obtained show similar trends for both plant height and stem girth. Higher values were recorded for plant height at F3 and the lowest values observed for F1. Although, higher values were recorded for stem girth at F2, depth of water application at 75% ETc gave better results for both plant height and stem girth.