Effects of Irrigation Interval and Irrigation Level on Growth, Photosynthesis, Fruit Yield, Quality, and Water-Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Drip-Fertigated Greenhouse Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Summary

The inefficient irrigation strategy is an important factor affecting the yield and water productivity of tomatoes in greenhouses, seriously hindering the development of the cultivation industry. While the impact of irrigation level on tomato growth and yield has been extensively studied, irrigation interval, another crucial component of irrigation schedule, as well as their interaction, remain poorly explored. There were four irrigation levels (W1: 125% ETc, W2: 100% ETc, W3: 75% ETc, and W4: 50% ETc; ETc represented crop evapotranspiration) and three irrigation intervals (D1: 4-day interval, D2: 7-day interval, and D3: 10-day interval), aiming to explore the effects of different irrigation intervals and levels on the performance of tomatoes. Here, we showed that the moderate increases in