Tomato Shading Study- Las Vegas 2018 Results

Cooperative Extension in southern Nevada has been recommending shading tomato plants in the summer to extend the season and help improve production as well as quality. The question remained “Does shading up tomatoes really help in such a harsh desert climate, and if so, how much shade? Do all tomato cultivars benefit equally?” This research aimed to obtain information that could be useful to small growers, including household growers, who must confront the in this region.

We selected four commonly grown tomato cultivars: Celebrity, Early girl, Heat Wave and Red Cherry (a very small-fruited variety). The treatments were, 0%, 30% and 50% shade. We transplanted seedlings into raised beds with organically amended soils. The land where the raised beds were located where plants had not grown previously. Major problems included wind damage, sunscald, herbivory and root knot nematodes.

The project had noticeable results, indicating that 30% shade gave the best yields. In the 50% shade treatment, the plants grew large, but had few blossoms or fruit. The high standard deviation made the 2018 results less than statistically significant. Despite the problems, the data will give guidance to growers.