Microbial inoculation response of greenhouse tomato to fertilization versus no fertilization

Plant growth-promoting bacteria affect plant growth by using different mechanisms. To study the effect of inoculation of Flavobacterium, Herbaspirillum, Pseudomonas (native), Foreign Pseudomonas (non-native), and Azotobacter as alone and combined inoculation on some growth indices of greenhouse tomatoes in under two conditions: i. not fertilized (S1), and ii. fertilized based on the soil test (S2), this study was conducted in the research greenhouses of Soil and Water Research Institute (SWRI), Karaj, Iran in 2022. The results showed that the growth of the plant in the fertilized soil was significantly greater than non-fertilized soil. In the non-fertilized soil, the maximum shoot dry biomass yield, plant height, the number of flowers/pot and leaf chlorophyll content were observed with inoculation with the mixture of the strains (Mixed strain treatment). While in the soil with full nutrition (S2 soil), the maximum growth was obtained using the inoculation with Flavobacterium (Flv + Nutrient). It was, hence concluded that soil inoculation with the PGPBs though improved the growth indices of tomato but soil test -based optimal fertilization improved the microbial efficacy for elevated crop response.