ISHS Acta Horticulturae 401: International Symposium on Growing Media & Plant Nutrition in Horticulture
MUSKMELON CULTIVATION ON SUBSTRATES |
| Authors: | M. Schiavi, A. Venezia, D. Casarotti, G. Martignon |
| Abstract:
The main problems of muskmelon in soilless culture are related to the poor market quality of the fruit. For this reason we investigated the influence of substrate, cultivar, K concentration and electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution on the sugar content. Trials were carried out during three years, growing the hybrids Vector and Galia on peat-agriperlite slabs, utilizing an open hydroponic system in which the crop was fertilized only with fresh solution; the solution drained from slabs was not re-used. During the productive phase, the effect on fruit quality of K content of the nutrient solution was studied by comparing a constant concentration (460 ppm) with a progressive increase (up to 666 ppm) of K. The influence of EC on fruit quality was evaluated by comparing normal fertilization during the whole cultural cycle with a nutrient solution at higher EC value (increased from 2.0 to 4.4 mS/cm by adding NaCl and CaCl2) The results obtained showed that the sugar content (°Brix) varied greatly not only between cultivars and substrates, but also between plants of the same cultivar grown on the same substrate. In the different trials an average sugar content below 10 °Brix was obtained. | |
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