ISHS Acta Horticulturae 523: XXV International Horticultural Congress, Part 13: New and Specialized Crops and Products, Botanic Gardens and Human-Horticulture Relationship
GROWING CYCLES FOR A NEW CROP, THE PEPINO, IN THE SPANISH MEDITERRANEAN |
| Authors: | J. Prohens, J.J. Ruiz, F. Nuez |
| Keywords: | Pepino, Solanum muricatum, Growing cycles, ethephon, parthenocarpy |
| Abstract:
The introduction of the pepino (Solanum muricatum Aiton) as a new crop for horticultural diversification requires cultivation with moderate temperatures during fruit set. Minimum temperatures lower than 10°C or a maximum higher than 30°C have a negative effect on fruit set, restricting the possible growing cycles in the Spanish Mediterranean. In this horticultural area, moderate temperatures are common in early spring and in autumn, leading to the spring-summer and autumn-winter cycles both in the open air and in the greenhouse. In the open air, flowering is delayed and high temperatures during spring and early summer impair fruit set. In the autumn-winter cycle the crop may be lost due to occasional frosts. Also, the extremely long ripening period makes this cycle not recommendable. The best productive results have been obtained under protected cultivation. Cultivation in greenhouse allows the obtention of very high yields in the spring-summer cycle, as flowering may take place in early spring. However, fruit quality is negatively affected by ripening at the high summer temperatures. On the other hand, in the autumn-winter cycle it is possible to obtain acceptable yields with fruit ripening taking place at the moderate temperatures, thus giving high fruit quality. This cycle can be further improved by ethephon applications to shorten the ripening period. We have found that sprayings of 300–1000 mg/l directed at the fruit can advance ripening by 1 month, although cultivars differ in their response. In addition, the utilization of parthenocarpic clones, which do not need to be pollinated to set fruit, may allow the obtention of high yields under suboptimal conditions for fruit set. | |
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