Effects of Composite Inorganic, Organic Fertilizer and Foliar Spray of Multi-nutrients on Growth, Yield and Quality of Cherry Tomato

Evaluating fertilizer quality is important in selecting the appropriate fertilizers for agricultural production. In this experiment, the effectiveness of Composite Inorganic Fertilizer (CIF), Composite Organic Fertilizer (COF) and Foliar Spray of Multi-Nutrients (FSMN) on the growth, yield, and fruit quality of cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were compared. The results showed that the applications of fertilizers enhanced the leaf area, photosynthesis rate, fruit setting rate, and average fruit weight, and yield. The fruit setting rate and average yield in COF treatment increased by, respectively, 25.16% and 81.91% when compared to the control (without fertilization). Also, the contents of reducing saccharide, vitamin C, and lycopene in tomato fruit improved, especially in the COF treatment, in which the contents of saccharide, vitamin C, and lycopene were higher than the control by 40.84%, 28.74% and 13.97%. Treatment CIF had similar effects on growth and yield when compared to COF, but the influence of CIF on the fruit quality was lower than that of COF. Meanwhile, treatment CIF also had the highest contents of nitrate and nitrite in the fruit (2.32 and 1.42 mg kg-1, respectively). In this study, FSMN was ineffective when used separately.