Linking 'generativity' to crop properties of indeterminate growing tomatoes by principal component analysis

Summary

'Generativity' and 'strength' are elusive concepts. They are in the daily vocabulary of growers, but objective determination and quantification is hard. Therefore they are avoided in science. The incorporation of 'generativity' and 'strength' into the vocabulary of science will increase the understandability of scientific results to growers, and open possibilities for applied research questions. Here we propose a multivariate approach. A tomato crop was monitored with observations that are common in tomato cultivation. The measurements included stem diameter, leaf length, length growth of the stem, harvested fruit weight and brix. A principal component analysis was performed on the plant observations to find out whether the principal components can be linked to the crop attributes 'generativity' and 'strength'. To create a difference in 'generativity' two different irrigation regimes and two different leaf pruning regimes were applied. This article presents a proof of principle. We demonstrate that a multivariate analysis can be used to visualize the crop condition in a way that is recognizable for growers. This opens the possibility for quantification of 'generativity' and 'strength'.