Plant density and container cell volume on solanaceous seedling growth

The experiments were aimed at determining the characteristics of tomato, eggplant and pepper seedlings in relation to plant density and to the volume of the container cells. Plant density (PD) ranged between 94 and 1125 plant/m 2; cell volume (CV) between 15.6 and 99.2 cm3. The experiments were carried out twice with sowing in September (SS) and December (DS) in a typical nursery greenhouse equipped with heating system running at temperature level below 10°C. Both cell volume and plant density affected the growth and the plant characteristics of the considered species. Apart from the differences among the species, container cell volume exerted more relevant effects than plant density and significantly modified dry weight, stem diameter, leaf number and area.