Effect of inoculation with Trichoderma on vegetative growth of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

Abstract

Introduction. Trichoderma has several mechanisms to help with the promotion of plant growth, these include: synthesis of phytohormones, production of vitamins, improved solubilization of nutrients, increased uptake and translocation of nutrients, better root development and increases in metabolism rate. Objective. To evaluate the growth promotion of tomato plants inoculated with native and imported strains of Trichoderma spp., at greenhouse level and in the field. Materials and methods. The trial was carried out at the greenhouse and field level in September 2018. Strains of Trichoderma spp. isolated from commercial products (THU-01 and THC-02) and 2 native strains (THM-03 and THM-04), treatments with 12 x 109 spores.mL^-1 both at the greenhouse level in pots and in the field, with a control treatment that was without Trichoderma spp. The following variables were evaluated: a) height (cm), b) root length (cm), c) dry biomass (g) and d) number of leaves. Results. Tomato plants inoculated with the different strains of Trichoderma spp., showed a better development, by presenting a greater number of leaves, root length, height and biomass. The T. asperellum and T. asperelloides strains were the ones that presented significantly higher values in most of the variables evaluated. Conclusion. There are native strains of the Trichoderma species that promote plant growth in tomato plants such as leading to greater accumulation of biomass, increased height, longer root length and number of leaves both in the greenhouse and in the field; being the best the species of T. asperrelum (native); however, similar results were obtained with the imported species T. asperelloides.