Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, P. M. B. 5029, Ibadan, Nigeria
Two tomato varieties (Ibadan Local and New Yorker) were grown at Ibadan, Nigeria in 1976. Manual removal of flowers for a week immediately after flowering caused assimilates to be diverted into leaves and stems without any change in the rate of total dry matter accumulation. Thus the vegetative parts provided alternate sinks for excess assimilate.
Although flower removal increased average fruit weight, but this was not sufficient to offset the effect on the reduction in number of fruits per plant. Thus fruit yield was reduced by 10 per cent in Ibadan Local and 14 per cent in New Yorker through flower removal.
