. 2018 Jan 19;8:2261. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.02261

Table 2.

Average vegetative parameters for cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) subjected to Pepton at different application rates or Acadian compared to a non-biostimulant control.

Parameter	Biostimulant treatment group¹					Pepton application rate²
	Control	Pepton-2	Pepton-3	Pepton-4	Acadian	SEM	Linear (P =)	Quadratic (P =)	Cubic (P =)
Root length (cm)	20.11^c	22.14^b	22.47^b	23.46^a	22.27^b	0.227	<0.001	0.453	0.184
PLANT HEIGHT (m)
Evaluation 1³	1.69^c	1.72^b	1.73^ab	1.75^a	1.74^ab	0.008	<0.001	0.888	0.716
Evaluation 2³	1.76^d	1.79^bc	1.80^ab	1.82^a	1.81^ab	0.007	<0.001	0.811	0.516
STEM DIAMETER (cm)
Evaluation 1	1.13^c	1.25^b	1.32^a	1.34^a	1.33^a	0.020	<0.001	0.314	0.429
Evaluation 2	1.61^d	1.79^c	1.86^bc	2.09^a	1.94^b	0.035	<0.001	0.014	0.068
LEAF LENGTH (cm)
Evaluation 1	38.54^d	40.19^c	41.56^b	42.18^a	41.10^b	0.206	<0.001	0.924	0.115
Evaluation 2	39.93^d	43.81^c	44.13^bc	44.69^a	44.47^ab	0.187	<0.001	0.035	0.035
LEAVES PER PLANT (n)
Evaluation 1	12.70^c	16.00^ab	16.25^ab	17.10^a	15.65^b	0.392	<0.001	0.056	0.285
Evaluation 2	14.45^c	16.60^b	17.55^b	18.95^a	18.65^a	0.241	<0.001	0.552	0.553
HEAD TO BOUQUET FLOWER (cm)
Evaluation 1	24.50^a	22.86^b	22.64^b	22.82^b	22.77^b	0.287	<0.001	0.013	0.996
Evaluation 2	23.95^a	20.34^b	20.73^b	20.49^b	21.36^b	0.367	<0.001	<0.001	0.107
CLUSTER SET (cm)⁴
Evaluation 1	39.15^a	37.95^ab	37.48^b	37.38^b	37.00^b	0.541	0.013	0.563	0.881
Evaluation 2	39.51^a	36.72^b	35.89^c	35.16^d	35.87^c	0.119	<0.001	<0.001	0.544
Fruit diameter (cm)	2.39^c	2.60^b	2.67^b	2.79^a	2.67^b	0.025	<0.001	0.957	0.407
Estimated tomato yield (kg/EU)⁵	85.5^c	103.9^c	106.8^b	109.1^a	106.0^c	2.071	<0.001	<0.001	0.387
Estimated tomato yield (Ton/ha)⁵	28.52^d	34.63^c	35.61^b	36.38^a	35.34^b	0.690	<0.001	<0.001	0.388

Vegetative parameter values are an average of 20 plants from 4 plots (5 plants per plot) for each treatment group. Treatments were: control, no biostimulant; Pepton at 2, 3, or 4 kg/ha (Pepton-2, Pepton-3, and Pepton-4, respectively); and Acadian at 1.5 L/ha. Biostimulant application 1 was provided 15 days after transplant and the remaining applications were provided every 2 weeks thereafter.

Linear, quadratic, and cubic treatment contrasts for the effect of Pepton application rates 2, 3, and 4 kg/ha with control serving as 0 kg Pepton/ha.

First and second evaluations were done 56 and 61 days after the initial application of biostimulant.

⁴

Fruit set distance between the entire cluster and cluster flowering fruit set.

⁵

Values are an average of 4 plots for each treatment group. E.U. = Experimental unit.

^abcd

Treatment means within row with uncommon superscripts differ (P < 0.05) using the Tukey test.