Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of SeabioSOIL® as a biostimulant in greenhouse-grown tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.) under protective cultivation conditions in Quillota area, Valparaiso Region

Trial period: April-November 2025
Location: Valle del Rio Aconcagua, Quillota. Valparaiso Region

Tomato Variety:
Alamina RZ (Rijk Zwaan)

  • Intermediate indeterminate variety: Medium plant vigor with an open habit.
  • High fruit-setting performance under low light and winter temperature conditions.
  • Premium-quality fruits: Uniform shape, bright red color, excellent firmness, and high postharvest quality.
  • Recommended for winter, early- season, post tomato, and autumn production cycles.

Treatments

Treatments Product Origin Dosage Application(*) Number of applications Application Timing
T1 Untreated control – 0 – – 0 – – 0 – – 0 –
T2 Commercial Standard 1 Ecklonia maxima seaweed extract 4,0 L/ha 4 Transplanting
Applied at 1st, 3rd and 5th cluster (anthesis)
T3 Commercial Standard 2 Amino Acid formulation 2,0 L/ha 4 Transplanting
Applied at 1st, 3rd and 5th cluster (anthesis)
T4 SeabioSOIL® Pure extract of Lessonia spp 5 L/ha 4 Transplanting
Applied at 1st, 3rd and 5th cluster (anthesis)
Date Activity
01/04/25 Transplanting
01/04/25 First product application according to experimental treatments
02/05/25 Leaf Nitrate Measurement
07/05/25 2nd Application (Treatments T2, T3 and T4)
05/06/25 3rd Application (Treatments T2, T3 and T4)
06/06/25 Leaf Nitrate Measurement
27/06/25 4th Application (Treatments T2, T3 and T4)
11/07/25 Leaf Nitrate Measurement
24/07/25 Beginning of Harvest of the First Trusses
13/10/25 End of Harvest of the Final Trusses
05/11/25 Evaluation of Root Density in Each Treatment

*Soil drench application.

Agronomic Evaluations

Vegetative Measurements: 5 Stems were evaluated per replicate.

  • Leaf size: Assessment performed at each truss (1 leaf below the truss).

Yield Evaluations: Five stems were evaluated per replicate.

  • Full harvest: Each truss was harvested individually
  • Fruit weight and size (equatorial diameter ) were measured for each fruit of the harvested truss.
  • Yield (Kg/stem) and average fruit weight
  • Harvest distribution curve
  • Defect and/or physiological disorder evaluations
  • Leaf nitrate measurement
  • Root evaluation (root density)
Ensayo de bioestimulación con SeabioSOIL® en cultivo de tomate bajo invernadero

Leaf Area Assessment

Average area (m²) of the leaf located below the truss. Quillota, 2025

Treatment Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 Cluster 6 Averange
Untreated control 0,097 0,157 0,167 0,129 0,114 0,093 b 0,126
E-maxima Extract 0,09 0,145 0,159 0,127 0,112 0,099 ab 0,122
Amino Acid product 0,089 0,14 0,167 0,14 0,12 0,097 ab 0,126
SeabioSOIL® 0,092 0,142 0,155 0,13 0,125 0,109 a 0,125
  • Regarding the leaf area, no significant differences among treatments were observed in the first five trusses (95% confidence level).
  • In truss 6, treatment T4 ( SeabioSOIL®) showed a statistically significant difference from T1 (95% confidence level), with a greater leaf area.

Average Fruit Weight

Average weight (grams ) for each treatment, Quillota, 2025

Treatment Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 Cluster 6 Average
Untreated control 190,6 ab 161,0 b 142,7 134,5 126,7 145,7 150,2
E-maxima Extract 191,2 ab 162,8 ab 151,6 136,5 130,2 139,5 152
Amino Acid product 202,3 ab 171,8 ab 148 137,6 137,3 131,7 154,8
SeabioSOIL® 204,7 a 182,6 a 159 134 130,7 135 157,7
  • At cluster 2, treatment T4 showed a statistically significant difference compared to T1 (95% confidence level), with a higher average fruit weight.
  • Treatments showed no significant differences in clusters 3,4,5, and 6 (95% confidence level).
  • No significant differences among treatments were observed for overall average fruit weight (95% confidence level).

Fruit size distribution (%) at harvest

Treatment Extra First Second Third Fourth
Untreated control 7,2 26,5 43,8 12,8 9,8
Ecklonia maxima Extract 5,8 26,6 48,8 10,9 8,0
Amino Acid formulation 7,8 32,4 42,4 10,2 7,2
SeabioSOIL® 9,5 31,5 40,9 9,5 8,6
  • Treatments T3 and T4 showed the highest percentages of Extra and First-class fruits sizes with 40,3% and 40,9% respectively.
  • Among them, treatment T4 showed the highest percentage of Extra class fruits reaching 9.5%

Root density

Root density (1-7 scale) for each treatment, Quillota, 2025.

Treatment Densidad de raíz
Untreated control 3,15 b
Extracto E. maxima 4,15 a
Ecklonia maxima Extract 4,60 a
SeabioSOIL® 4,50 a

All treatment showed statistically significant differences and exhibited greater root density compared to the Untreated Control (95% confidence level).

TRIAL CONCLUSIONS

The soil application of SeabioSOIL® in greenhouse tomato production (“early-season crop”) at a dosage of 5 L/ha applied four times ( equivalent to a total of 20 L/ha):

  • Stimulated plant vigor throughout the crop growth
  • And vegetative development cycle.
  • Improved harvested fruit quality (average fruit weight and fruit size distribution).
  • Promoted greater root growth and development.
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