337807

Plant population density affect on muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) growth and yield

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Improvements in crop growth and productivity have been partly ascribed to the effect of plant population on spacing and the number of plants stand-1 in a field. In a field experiment conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Ekiti State University in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, the growth and yield of muskmelon were determined using four different spacings (1×1, 1×1.33, 1×2, and 2×2 m), and 1 or 2 plants stand-1 to attain 2,500 - 20,000 plants ha-1 population. Using a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates, the experiment's 4×2 factorial was established. The number of leaves, leaf area, vine length, branches, branch length, flowering, number of fruits hectare-1, fruit weight, fruit yield, and fruit pulp width were all measured. The 2,500 plants ha-1 produced the longest vine (131.50 cm) and branches (111.78 cm), while the 5,000 plants ha-1 (2 plants stand-1) generated the most significant number of leaves (81.83) and largest leaf area (156.33 cm2). The 1 plant stand-1 group produced more leaves, more significant leaf areas, and longer vines and branches. At larger plant densities, fruit yield and number per hectare per year increased. However, fruit size decreased. 20,000 plants ha-1 (2 plants stand-1) of muskmelons produced the most significant number of fruits (20,803.30) and fruit output (10.29 t ha-1); hence it is recommended that this setting be utilized for muskmelons production.

DOI

10.21608/ejar.2024.183814.1322

Keywords

Muskmelon, plant density, and plant stand-1

Authors

First Name

Matthew

Last Name

Aluko

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Crop, Horticulture and Landscape Design, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, P.M.B.5363, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Email

matthew.aluko@eksu.edu.ng

City

Ado-Ekiti

Orcid

0000-0002-5535-3407

Volume

102

Article Issue

3

Related Issue

48985

Issue Date

2024-09-01

Receive Date

2023-01-12

Publish Date

2024-09-01

Page Start

425

Page End

434

Print ISSN

1110-6336

Online ISSN

2812-4936

Link

https://ejar.journals.ekb.eg/article_337807.html

Detail API

https://ejar.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=337807

Order

9

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,041

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research

Publication Link

https://ejar.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Plant population density affect on muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) growth and yield

Details

Type

Article

Created At

24 Dec 2024