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Phenological growth stages of Gaúcho tomato based on the BBCH scale

Article  in  Comunicata Scientiae · October 2021

DOI: 10.14295/CS.v12.3490

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 ORIGINAL ARTICLE
published: 14 October 2021
https://doi.org/10.14295/CS.v12.3490

Phenological growth stages of Gaúcho tomato

based on the BBCH scale

Eliane Fonseca Cardoso¹ , Allan Remor Lopes2* , Marcelo Dotto¹ ,

Kelli Pirola3 , Camila Moreno Giarola4

1
University Center UNISEP, Dois Vizinhos, Brazil
State University of Western Paraná, Cascavél, Brazil
2

3
Federal Technological University of Paraná, Pato Branco, Brazil
4
Paraná University, Umuarama, Brazil
*Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The phenological growth stages of Gaúcho tomato were firstly described here using the BBCH scale. Based on
this general scale, tomato gaúcho phenology showed 8 of 10 principal stages: germination, leaf development,
formation of side shoots, inflorescence emergency, flowering, fruit development, maturity of fruit and senescence.
A practical use of the scale is proposed, with particular reference to harvest time and management treatments.
This scale aims to support farmers and researchers to efficiently plan management practices and experimental
treatments.

Keywords: Phenology, BBCH growth stages, Morphology, Lycopersicum esculentum

Introduction knowledge of crop phenology is crucial for timing

Tomato cultivation stands out an important proper management practices such as plant watering
economic and social activity, and its the second most and fertilization, pest and weed control, among others
produced vegetable in the world (Nasir et al., 2015; (Martínez-Nicolás et al., 2016). Many efforts have been
Stajcic et al., 2015). Tomato is an important edible plant made to observe and document plant phenological
cultivated in Brazil (Sari et al., 2017). In 2019, 58.166 phenomena (Zhao et al., 2019).
hectares of tomato plants were cultivated in Brazil, Despite the availability of these morphological
resulting in a production of 4.075.890 tons of fruit (IBGE, descriptors, no internationally standardized tools
2019). exist in Gaúcho tomato for precisely determining the

Tomato has numerous cultivars, with several phenological stage, which is of great relevance for
particular characteristics, which are chosen according to agronomic and botanical studies.
the needs of the farmers. Gaúcho tomato, also known
The BBCH (Biologische Bundesantalt,
Caqui, has as its characteristic larger fruits, with greater Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie) numerical
consistency and more acid. However, its phenological scale, a system for uniform coding of growth stages, has
description is stil unknown. been widely used for describing phenological stages of
The study of periodic biological events such as plants. The BBCH scale has been used to describe the
budbreak, flushing, flowering and fruit development is phenological growth stages of numerous horticulturally
called phenology. From na agronomic point of view, important plant and tree species (Ramírez et al., 2013;

www.comunicatascientiae.com.br Received: 11 September 2020

2021 │Comunicata Scientiae │ e-ISSN: 2177-5133 │ Bom Jesus 1 Accepted: 22 March 2021
Cardoso et al. (2021) Phenological growth stages of Gaúcho tomato...

Ramírez & Davenport, 2016; Acosta-Quezada et al., through photographs, and the observations were made
2016; Fadón et al., 2015), and crops (Martínez-Núnez et every day.
al., 2019; ). This scale is organized into 10 principal growth After the end of its phenological development
stages, which in turn are further subdivided into secondary cycle, the photographs obtained through the
growth stages. The scale describes plant development observations were used, making a photographic
from germination to senescence. memorial to characterize each stage of development
However, up to now the BBCH scale has not been and the codifications of the stages of germination,
applied to the tomato Gaúcho. The purpose of this work growth, flowering and fruiting.
is to establish a standardized BBCH phenological scale for
After coding the main and secondary
Gaúcho tomato. development phases, an illustrative development scale
was set up, based on the photographic memorial. Thus,
Material and Methods the photographs obtained through the observations
Study area
served to illustrate some of the codes of the descriptive
The study area was located in Marmeleiro, state
phenological scale, making it easier to understand,
of Paraná, Brazil (26º 08’ 56” S and 53º 1’ 36” O, 654 m
to verify how the crop is at that particular stage of its
a.s.l.), the experiment was carried out from January 23,
development.
2017 to June 8, 2017. The soil is classified as an Latossolo
In this study, eight of tem principal growth stages
Roxo (EMBRAPA, 2018) and the climate in this site is Cfa,
based on the existing BBCH scale were used to describing
humid subtropical (Aparecido et al., 2016).
tomato Gaúcho, starting with germination (stage 0), leaf
Firstly, the site was prepared, fertilizing the soil
development (stage 1), formation of side shoots (stage
with 60 kg ha-1 N; 350 kg ha-1 P and 250 kg ha-1 K. After
2), inflorescence emergency (stage 5), flowering (stage
fertilization, four Gáucho tomato seeds were sown. The
6), fruit development (stage 7), maturity of fruit (stage 8)
spacing used was 0.5 m between plants and 1 m between
and senescence (stage 9). The main secondary growth
lines.
stages were also described (Muhamed & Kurien, 2017).

The first germinations started 5 days after the
beginning of the experiment. After germination, the Results
seedlings were thinned, leaving one plant per hole. From The phenological growth stages according to
germination, observations and records of each stage of the BBCH scale for Gaúcho tomato are depicted in Table
development of the plant began, which were recorded 1 and Figures 1-7 as follows:

Table 1. Phenological growth stages of tomato according to the BBCH scale.

BBCH code Description
Principal growth stage 0: Germination
00 Dry seed
01 Initiation of seed imbibition
03 Seed imbibition completed
05 Radícle emergence from seed
07 Emergence of hypocotyl with cotyledons from the seed (Fig. 1A)
09 Emergence of cotyledons through soil surface (Fig. 1B)
Principal growth stage 1: Leaf development
10 Cotyledons fully unfolded (Fig. 2A)
11 First elliptic leaf visible (Fig. 2B)
12 First pair of true leaves visible (Fig. 2C)
14 Fourth pair of true leaves visible (Fig. 2D)
19 Ninth pair of true leaves visible
27 Side shoots above 70% formed (Fig. 3A)
Principal growth stage 5: Inflorescence emergency
51 First inflorence visible, visible closed flower bud (Fig. 4A)
59 9 or more inflorescences visible
Principal growth stage 6: Flowering
60 First flowers open (Fig. 5A)
61 Beginning of flowering, about 10% of flowers open (Fig. 5B)
65 Full flowering, at least 50% of flowers open, first petals falling
69 End of flowering (Fig. 5C)
Principal growth stage 7: Fruit development
70 Fruits at the main stem or branches visibles (Fig. 6A)

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Continue…

72 20% of final fruit size (Fig. 6B)

77 70% of final fruit size (Fig. 6C)
79 90% or final fruit size (Fig. 6D)
Principal growth stage 8: Maturity of fruit
81 10% of fruits show typical fully ripe color (Fig. 7A)
82 20% of fruits show typical fully ripe color
83 30% of fruits show typical fully ripe color (Fig. 7B)
89 Fruit fully ripe for consumption (Fig. 7C)
Principal growth stage 9: Senescence
97 All leaves fallen
99 Post harvest or storage treatments

Figure 1. Principal growth stage 0: Germination

according to the BBCH scale. (A) Stage 07, (B)
Stage 09

Figure 2. Principal growth stage 1: Leaf development according to the BBCH scale. (A) Stage
10, (B) Stage 11, (C) Stage 12, (D) Stage 14.

Figure 3. Principal growth stage 2:

Formation of side shoots according to
the BBCH scale. Stage 27.

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Cardoso et al. (2021) Phenological growth stages of Gaúcho tomato...

Figure 4. Principal growth stage 5:

Inflorescence emergency according
to the BBCH scale. Stage 51

Figure 5. Principal growth stage 6: Flowering according to the BBCH scale. (A)
Stage 60, (B) Stage 61, (C) Stage 69

Figure 6. Principal growth stage 7: Fruit development according to the BBCH scale. (A) Stage 70, (B)
Stage 72, (C) Stage 77, (D) Stage 79

Figure 7. Principal growth stage 8: Maturity of fruit according to

the BBCH scale. (A) Stage 81, (B) Stage 83, (C) Stage 89

Discussion secondary stages from dry seeds to cotyledons

Germination emergence. Althrough tomato can be propagated
This stage is relevant in crop establishment as any vegetatively, the most common and routine propagation
environmental adversity (waterlogging or soil caking) system is by seeds (Prohens and Nuez, 2000). Seeds are
could generate a low plant stand (Awadhwal & Thierstein, flattened and reniform in outline, densely pubescente,
1985; Setter & Waters, 2003). Thus, soil tillage should be and the color is of different brown hues (Bohs, 1994).
done with extreme care. The germination stage begins with the dry seeds (stage
The germination principal stage incorporates 0), and continues with the complete seed inbibition

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Cardoso et al. (2021) Phenological growth stages of Gaúcho tomato...

takes place in the 3rd or 4th day (stage 3), the radicle climatic conditions, but typically lasts four to five months
emergence from the seed (stage 5), the hypocotyl with after anthesis (Heatherbell et al., 1982; Pringle & Murray,
cotyledons breaking through seed coat (stage 7, Figure 1991).
1A) and ends with the emergence of cotyledons through
soil surface (stage 9, Figure 1B). Maturity of fruit
The maturation stage of the fruit defines the
Leaf development moment of harvest, which is defined by the color. The
This stage begins when cotyledons are already change in the color of the tomato is due to chlorophyll
full unfolded (stage 10, Figure 2A), and it is determined by and carotenoids. The green color of immature fruits is
the number of visible basal leaves. The number of leaves attributed to chlorophyll. At maximum size, an immediate
per plant determines the current principal growth stage color change follows, beginning of maturation, reflecting
(Table 1). The formation of the first pair of true leaves, that the degradation of chlorophyll, which remains in a
develop concomitantly, is coded as stage 11 (Figure 2B). small amount in the fruit's tissues (Medina & Medina,
These first 2 leaves have to be scored when longer than 1981; Zambon, 1984; Zambrano et al., 1995). The main
1 cm. On the contrary, leaves of subsequent stages can components of caretoids in tomatoes are carotene
be considered visible when longer than 2 cm (Martinelli et (yellow) and lycopene (red), whose synthesis and
al., 2014). decomposition are accentuated in the transition phase
between fruit ripening and senescence (Zambon, 1984;
Formation of side shoots Zambrano et al., 1995). In tomatoes there is intense
This growth stage concerns the formation of chlorophyll degradation during ripening, with gradual
side shoots derived from apical buds of the main stem, synthesis of lycopene (Chitarra & Chitarra, 1990). The red
and which form the crown. This principal growth stage is color of the fruits is considered to be an accumulation
caracterized by a development of two to three primary of lycopene. The mature green stage (beginning of the
apical side shoots in the shape of a jorquette, and the color change) is considered the first visual symptom for
respective secondary, tertiary and higher order apical the maturation index (Zambon, 1984). The tomato has
side shoots (Acosta-Quezada et al., 2016). round, globose or flat fruits and are typically plurilocular
(Ferreira et al., 2004).
Flowering
The stage 6 is determined by the opening of the Senescence
first flower of each inflorescence (Table 1). Stage 60 is The fenology of a fruit tree is studied so that the
reached when the first blooming flower on the head is periodicity of its life-cycle can be determined and used in
visible outside the bracts (Figure 5A). In this respect, this agronomical management. The BBCH scale can provide
stage begins with the opening of the first flower in the a more detailed and accurate description of the main
first inflorescence (stage 61, Figure 6A) and continues phenological events than any of the other coding systems
with the opening of the first flower of subsequente for tomato Gaúcho. When using the BBCH scale, tomato
inflorescences (Table 1). Flowering involves a sequence Gaúcho life-cycle can be divided into eight main growth
of steps with profound changes, being highly influenced stages: Germination, leaf development, formation of
by environmental conditions, and plants have the ability side shoots, inflorescence emergency, flowering, fruit
to detect variations in the environment allowing the development, maturity of fruit and senescence.
determination of the event to happen within favorable With the BBCH scale the absence of the
conditions (Schmidt et al., 2017). principal growth stages 3 (shoot development) and
4 (development of harvestable vegetative plant
Fruit development parts). Shoot development proceeds in parallel with
Fruit development occurs as the first fruit begins leaf developement before inflorescence and flower
to enlarge (Ramírez & Davenport, 2019). Gaúcho tomato development (Muhamed & Kurien, 2018).
fruit is a flesh berry with elipsoidal or ovoid shape having Tomato is almost always cultivated for its
two locules, the development of fruit is accompanied harvestable fruits, although rarely plants may be grown
by a color change from green to red (Pringle & Murray, as ornamental. In consequence this main growth stage,
1991). which is included in the BBCH scale, is not applicable to
The time required for reaching the final size after the tomato. The absence of principal growth stage 4 has
fruit set is variable and depends on the cultivar and already been observed by Acosta-Quezada et al. (2016)

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Cardoso et al. (2021) Phenological growth stages of Gaúcho tomato...

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Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that the research was
conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships
that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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