Abstract

DIAZ-ALVARADO, JORGE MANUEL  and  MONGE-PEREZ, JOSÉ ELADIO. Effect of pruning and plant density on yield and quality of Cantaloupe melon ( Cucumis melo L.) grown under greenhouse conditions. rev.colomb.cienc.hortic. [online]. 2017, vol.11, n.1, pp.21-29. ISSN 2011-2173.  https://doi.org/10.17584/rcch.2017v11i1.5742.

Because of a lack of information on the effect of pruning and planting density on melon grown under greenhouse conditions in Costa Rica, this study was carried out to determine the effect of three planting densities (1.9, 3.2 and 3.9 plants/m2) and three pruning methods (one secondary shoot, two secondary shoots, and no pruning) on the yield and quality of Cantaloupe melon Torreón F-1. The crop was established with fertigation, using coconut fiber as the substrate. There were no significant differences between the treatments, neither for the days to start the harvest nor for the fruit pulp:cavity ratio. There were significant differences between the treatments, both for yield and for the percentage of total soluble solids. The highest yield was obtained with the highest planting density and no pruning (2.76 and 2.62 kg m-2, total and commercial yield, respectively). For the total soluble solids, 11.02 °Brix were obtained with the highest planting density, whereas 12.88 °Brix were measured with the lowest planting density; for this variable, the highest values were obtained in the unpruned plants, as compared to the pruned plants.

Keywords : fruit weight; total soluble solids; pulp firmness; fruit number; pulp:cavity ratio.

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