苹果枝条发酵复配基质对番茄生长及果实产量和品质的影响OA

To promote the resource utilization of agricultural waste and reduce cultivation costs,this study investigated the effects of compound substrates formulated by partially substituting peat with fermented apple branches on tomato growth,yield,and fruit quality.The aim was to identify an optimal substrate formulation and elucidate the underlying mechanisms,thereby providing a theoretical basis for high-quality tomato cultivation.Using fermented apple branches,peat,and perlite as raw materials,four treatments were prepared based on volume ratios:T1(2:5:3),T2(3:4:3),T3(4:3:3),and T4(5:2:3),with a commercial substrate as the control(CK).A trough culture system was adopted,and the physicochemical properties of each substrate were systematically determined.Their effects on tomato root morphology,photosynthetic characteristics,yield,and fruit quality were analyzed.The results showed that T3(containing 40％apple branches)exhibited the best overall performance,with total porosity,water-holding porosity,available nitrogen content,pH,and electrical conductivity(EC)all significantly superior to those of CK.This treatment significantly promoted root development,resulting in the largest total root surface area and total root volume.Moreover,it achieved the highest net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance during the full fruiting stage.Tomato yield in T3 was significantly increased by 8.55％compared with CK.The content of soluble solids,total soluble sugar,vitamin C,and soluble protein in fruit were also significantly higher than those in CK.Correlation analysis indicated that substrate EC and pH were key environ-mental factors driving high yield and quality.In conclusion,fermented apple branches can effectively substitute for a por-tion of peat in tomato cultivation substrates.The T3 formulation(apple branches:peat:perlite=4:3:3)enhances root growth and photosynthetic performance by optimizing the physicochemical environment of the rhizosphere,thereby syner-gistically improving both yield and quality.This formulation represents an optimal,environmentally friendly,and efficient solution for high-quality tomato cultivation.