Weed competetive ability of some tomato cultivars

Weeds ware among the most important factors that decrease the yield because these not only directly reduce the tomato yield but also host the disease pathogens and insect pests. Growing weed-tolerant cultivars is among the important methods to suppress weeds naturally. Keeping in regard the situation, in this study, six tomato cultivars (Rio Grande F1, Spartacus F1, Babur F1, Bumin F1, Kamenta F1 ve Standart Yerli Sofralık) were evaluated for their weed tolerance. These cultivars were evaluated by growing under weedy and weed – free environment using there replications. The most important weed spiecies in the experimental area were Amaranthus retroflexus (red rooted foxtail) and Portulaca oleracea (common purslane). Result showed that the tomato cultivars did not differ for their weed tolerance. Generally a similar weed infestation was noted for all the cultivars. However, growth and yield of tomato cultivars were decreased when these were grown under weedy conditions. Future work should contain a large number of tomato genotypes, and should be done in diverse enviroments. Keywords: Tomato varieties, Weed, Competition, Tolerance