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Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important vegetable plant in the world which belongs to the family Solanaceae. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of heat tolerance on specific objective performance of tomato. The study on "effect of nutrients and sowing dates on growth, yield and reproductive heat tolerance of tomato" was conducted at the Research farm, Baluchistan Agriculture College-Quetta, during the year 2024 and 2025. The experiment was laid out in RCBD split plot design with two factors i-e different sowing dates (20 Feb, 6 March and 21 March) which was placed in main plot and various concentrations of nutrients (potassium at the rate of 150 and 300 mg L-1 and boron 20 and 40 mg L-1) were arranged in sub plot. Result revealed that sowing dates and different concentrations of nutrients significantly affected growth and yield of tomato. Regarding sowing dates maximum value for plant height (63.61 cm), number of leaves per plant (73.5), pollen viability (80.66 %), yield (12.90 t ha-1), leaf potassium content (2.57 mg g-1), leaf boron content (2.61 mg g-1), starch content in pollen grains (1.36 mg g-1), sugar content in pollen grains (2.77 mg g-1), DPPH radical scavenging activity (46.78 %) and polyphenol oxidase (41.78 %) were demonstrated on early sowing date (20 Feb). Concerning nutrients foliar application, maximum values for plant height (71.66 cm), number of leaves per plant (83.3), pollen viability (83.04 %), yield (14.67 t ha-1), leaf potassium content (3.15 mg g-1), leaf boron content (3.06 mg g-1), starch content in pollen grains (1.71 mg g-1), sugar content in pollen grains (3.18 mg g-1), DPPH radical scavenging activity (48.33 %) and polyphenol oxidase (43.33 %) were noted in plants treated with 300 mg L-1 K + 40 mg L-1 B application. Moreover, these levels also worked in ameliorating the negative effects of heat stress in late sown plants and helped in inducing thermo tolerance in tomato plants. It was concluded, the tomato crop could be treated with combine application of potassium and boron in early as well as late sowing days to obtain high quality fruit production under the agro-climatic conditions of Baluchistan-Pakistan

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