How to evaluate ?????

Question

This summer i'm going to do a trial, where i'm going to test synthetic plant hormone on veggies(Tomato, Pepper). its a RCBD (randomized complete block designe) type of trial and i am taking 800 plants.

Can any one tell me how to evaluate fruits(size, weight etc) and yield. How often i will have to pluck the fruits?

i did lots of google search but no results .......see if you guys can help me.

site will also be appretiated.

Answer 1

It looks like you have your experiment set up well.  For evaluating yield and and quality remember that the ultimate judge will be the consumer.  Weight of fruit produced/plant will be your first yield measurement.  Assuming that the plant hormone increases yield, you'll have to determine how.  For example did they make more tomatoes, or larger tomatoes, etc. So you'll need to determine total weight, total number, and average weight of product produced. To harvest, you will need to determine a stage of ripeness and harvest the tomatoes/peppers when they reach that stage.  It will require harvesting every few days until they stop producing.  The effect of the hormones could be that they keep the plants producing longer.  That is something you will need to find out .  Sounds like an interesting experiment.  Hope it works out for you.

Answer 2

Do you have room to do 800 tomato plants and the time? I've done 200 and that was huge. If so, then...

1)Pick a variety and stay with one as they all differ in size, color, and date. Celebrity is mid season bush like tomato.

2)Determine criteria for ripeness.

3)Weight is the best criteria, but volume might work if you submerge them and read cc's. Length won't work with fruit but will for plant height.

4) you should use pots of the same soil for meaningful results as field soil is not the same from place to place.

If I could make a suggestion, pick a smaller plant, like a marigold, or any other small plant with a flower.

Try Basil.

I did a grad study on disease in basil and it's control with fertilizer type. The set up was hydroponic as that system made every plant uniform in the way it grew, took out all environmental factors, and for you it is a nice size to work with.