Sugarcane Filtercake Compost Influence on Tomato Emergence, Seedling Growth, and Yields

Abstract

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)(‘Sunny’) seeds were sown in Speedling trays filled with sugarcane filtercake (a waste byproduct of sugarcane processing), plug-mix, field soil (sandy), compost:soil mixture (1:1, v:v) under greenhouse conditions. Mean days to emergence, final percent emergence, or mean days to fully expanded cotyledons were not different among treatments. In a second study, tomato ‘Sunny’ transplants were placed in 3.7 L pots filled with compost, field soil, or compost:soil mixture (1:1, v:v) under greenhouse conditions. After 25 days, plant grown in compost, or compost:soil mixture had heavier shoots and roots, thicker stems, and taller plants than plants grown in field soil. In a field study, ‘Sunny’ plants were transplanted in plots without and with compost (224 mtha^-1) at 0, 76.5N-67P-140K, or 153N-134P-280K fertilizer rates. Early and total marketable yields, shoot heights, diameters, and weights were higher in plots with compost than without compost, regardless of fertilizer rates. These results suggest that plots with incorporated sugarcane filtercake compost produced higher tomato yields and larger plants than plots without compost.