Effect of Pollination Timing on Tomato Hybrid Seed Traits of Cross-Pollinated Common and Cherry Tomatoes

The study was conducted during the 2023/24 growing season at the Horticulture Department of the Ministry of Agriculture. It involved crossbreeding three local tomato parents and four cherry tomato mothers using the Line x Tester method. The seeds were sown on 14/12/2023 and then transplanted into the plastic house on 20/1/2024. The parents were arranged in a factorial experiment using a RCBD to conduct the pollination process which was carried out on three different dates: 15/3, 15/4, and 1/5. The seeds from the hybrids for each pollination date were collected separately for testing. The results showed that the second pollination date outperformed in all the studied traits. The P2 X S2 hybrid excelled in fruit number, fruit set percentage, and germination percentage at 10.58 fruits per flower, 53.28%, and 99.11%, respectively. The P2 X S4 hybrid significantly outperformed in terms of seed number, producing 18.97 seeds. The interaction had a significant effect, as the T2- P2 X S2 treatment excelled in number of set fruits, fruit set percentage, and germination percentage, yielding 15.00 fruits, 75%, and 99.69%, respectively. The T2-P1 X S2 treatment outperformed in the number of seeds at 30.33 while T2-P3 X S4 excelled in seed weight and germination vigor at 3.31 g and 25.67%, respectively