Effects of Transplanting Stage of Seedling and Planting Depth on Growth and Yield of Tomato cv. Petoearly CH

The transplanting stage of seedling and planting depth، influence growth and yield of vegetable crops. An experiment was conducted to study the effects of these factors on yield of tomato cv. Petoearly CH in West Azarbaijan، Iran for two years. Seed was cultivated in nursery and then seedlings were transplanted to field at three growth stages of four leaves، six leaves and eight leaves. Three planting depths used for seedlings were the rootball، the cotyledon leaves and the first true leaf. The research was carried out as factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with four replications. Results showed that with reduction in the number of leaves from eight to four، percentage of seedlings death after transplanting and vegetative growth decreased، and earliness، first harvest yield and total yield increased. Minimum number of days to flowering and fruit maturity، and maximum number of fruits، first harvest yield and total yield at first true leaf plantings depth were significantly different from other depths.