1. Tomato Solutions, Chatham
Use of Topaz (propiconazole) for transplant size control and early maturity of processing tomato
John Lang
Kraft Canada, Dresden
Jim Dick
Tomato Solutions, Chatham
John Zandstra
Ridgetown College

2. Background managing transplant height can be challenging at times
techniques to help manage height would be useful
- transplants which establish and grow quickly are desired

3. Paclobutrazol (Bonzi)
- application to processing tomato seedlings as a soil 5 ppm at the 2 leaf stage required up to 5 times the fertilizer rate to achieve the desired plant height
- resulted in increased vigor in the field and advanced maturity

4. Propiconazole (Topaz, Tilt)
presently registered as a fungicide on several food crops in Ontario:
sweet corn - apricot
rutabaga - cherry
asparagus - peach and nectarine

5. Methods
- Transplants produced in the research greenhouse at Kraft, Dresden
Used 2 commercial varieties
TSH 04 (early hybrid)
CC337 (late inbreed)

6. Methods Treatments included: 1. Control 2. 5 ppm Paclobutrazol
3. 25 ppm Propiconazole
4. 25 ppm propiconazole (2 applications)
ppm propiconazole
6. 50 ppm propiconazole
- All treatments were applied at the 2nd true leaf stage at a volume of 100 ml per tray

7. Greenhouse Fertilizer Regime
- used Plant Products and fertilizer
Control: fertilizer solution at all times
Paclobutrazol: for 5 days per week;
the rest of the time
Propiconazole: once per week the rest of the time

8. Plant Height (mm) - 42 daysc b a ab a ab

9. Plant Weights (g) 42 days c b d b b b c a b b b a c b b b b a

11. Plant Weights – Field (Ridgetown) TSH04 and CC337b a a a a a b a a a a a

12. Flower Counts – Ridgetown TSH04 and CC337b b a a a a a a a a a a

14. Yield (tons/acre) – Ridgetown TSH04 and CC337

15. Yield (percentage) – Ridgetown TSH04 and CC337bc bc bc b a d cd bc
abc ab a

16. Methods – Trial 2 Treatments included: 1. Control
ppm paclobutrazol
3. 50 ppm propiconazole
ppm propiconazole
ppm propiconazole
ppm propiconazole
- All treatments were applied at the 2nd true leaf stage at a volume of 100 ml per tray
Propiconazole treatments were made by applying 50 ppm solution at 5 day intervals

17. Plant Weight (g) – 36 Days c c c bc b c bc c c a b a b b b b ab a

19. Plant Weights – Field d c b b b a d cd b bc bc a

20. Flower Counts c c bc ab ab a c c bc bc ab cd a d bc cd a a

21. Uniconazole
- presently registered for growth regulation in greenhouse bedding plants
previous work demonstrated similar growth response of beans to paclobutrazol and uniconazole
minor use request for use on tomato and pepper transplants in US

22. Plant Height a b b c c c a