The most popular and efficient growing medium in the soilless crop are rockwool slabs. Nowadays researchers aim at introducing to horticultural practice other growing media, more environmentally friendly. The aim of this work was to estimate the effect of growth media, and grafting on the yield and fruit quality of tomato in greenhouse cultivation. The  tomato cultivar Admiro F1 was used in the study. Half of the plants were grafted on the rootstock ‘Maxifort‘. Tomatoes were cultivated on organic medium coconut fiber slabs, and rockwool slabs, commonly used as the standard growing medium for tomato. Total yield and distribution of fruit weight classes in the total yield were investigated. The chemical quality attributes of tomato fruit, vitamin C, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, total sugars, dry matter, nitrates, phosphorus, potassium and calcium were determined. The total yield of tomato fruits was higher from plants cultivated on rockwool slabs than on coconut fiber slabs, which showed that at present a better substratum for tomato cultivated all year round is rockwool. Fruit weight distribution depended on the substratum used. Plants cultivated on rockwool slabs were characterized by a higher fruit weight while those cultivated on coconut fiber slabs showed a tendency for becoming smaller. There were no significant differences in the distribution of weights between fruits obtained from grafted and non grafted plants. Chemical composition and sensory quality were mainly affected by the fruit harvest date and to a lesser degree by the substratum used and grafting.

20.1.2015