The purpose of the research was to improve the technology of drip irrigation for tomatoes in spring plastic high tunnels on light chestnut soils providing the yield of 80-140 t/ha of tomato fruits by maintaining the required water and nutrient mode of soil. One of the tasks of the research is to assess the drip irrigation impact on the main indicators of growth, development and productivity of tomato plants depending on the mode of irrigation and mineral nutrition in spring plastic high tunnels. The article presents the regularities for production processes of the studied crop under the regulated water and nutrient mode of soil, dynamics of growth, and plant development at various combinations of managing ambient factors. Maintaining the pre-irrigation thresholds of soil moisture within 80-70 and 70-80 % of field capacity (FC) in combination with mineral fertilizer by the dose of N85P60K0 or 70-70 % FC at the higher fertilizer dose of N160P120K100 supplies tomato productivity at the level of 80 t/ha. The increase of tomato yield up to 110 t/ha is connected with 1) applied fertilizer dose increase up to N160P120K100 at the irrigation modes of 80-80 and 80-70 % FC or 2) applied fertilizer dose increase up to N230P180K270 maintaining the irrigation mode of 70-70% FC. Tomato yield of 140 t/ha can be reached at the irrigation mode of 80-70 and 80-80 % FC and mineral fertilizer of N230P180K270. Formation of planned tomato yields is characterized by the following indicators of plant growth and development: 80 t/ha – average daily increase of dry biomass 61.9-79.2 kg/ha at the height of main stem 1.433-1.510 m; 110 t/ha – average daily increase of dry biomass 82.3-104.4 kg/ha at the height of main stem 1.547-1.632 m; 140 t/ha – average daily increase of dry biomass 110.0-121.7 kg/ha at the height of main stem 1.672-1.719 m.
