TY  - EJOU
AU  - Li, Fei 
AU  - Ding, Meili 
AU  - Yuan, Hui 
AU  - Wang, Siping 
AU  - Liang, Bin 

TI  - Effects of Chlorine-Based Fertilizers on Tomato Growth under Soilless Culture
T2  - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany

PY  - 2025
VL  - 94
IS  - 1
SN  - 1851-5657

AB  - This study investigated the effects of chlorine-based fertilizers under varying nitrogen solution concentrations in a soilless culture system. The experiment included four nitrogen solution concentration levels, with nitrogen concentrations of 6 mmol/L (C1), 12 mmol/L (C2), 18 mmol/L (C3), and 24 mmol/L (C4). Each nutrient concentration level was further divided into four chloride ion treatments (R1, R2, R3, and R4), where 100%, 60%, 33%, and 0% of the NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> and K<sup>+</sup> ions were derived from NH<sub>4</sub>Cl and KCl, respectively. The length, surface area and volume of root were significantly higher by 25.3%~136.9%, 40.1%~173.1%, 27.9%~178.0%, respectively, in the R4 treatment than in the R1 and R2 treatments at flowering stage. The aboveground biomass and yield in the R4 treatment were significantly higher, by approximately 15.6%~43.5% and 16.6%~28.6%, respectively, than in the R1, R2, and R3 treatments at the picking stage. The C3 and C4 treatments significantly decreased biomass and yield by 31.9%~50.2% and 20.7%~50.5%, respectively, compared to the C1 and C2 treatments at the picking stage. Besides, the higher nutrient solution increased the incidence of blossom-end rot. In conclusion, high concentrations of chloride ions in nutrient solutions, especially when the Cl<sup>−</sup> concentration exceeded 10 mmol/L, have been shown to inhibit tomato growth in soilless culture systems. Therefore, replacing sulfur-based fertilizers by chlorine-based fertilizers is not recommended for tomato production under the studied conditions.
KW  - Sand culture; chloride ion; nitrogen solution concentration; tomato yield; blossom-end rot

DO  - 10.32604/phyton.2025.059499