The Effect of Mulch, Pruning and Plant Density on Some Traits of Related to Production in Pepino

Abstract

Pepino (Solanum muricatum) a new vegetable crops, is from Solanaceae family and cultivated as annual crops. In order to investigate the effects of mulch, pruning and plant density on some traits of related to production in Pepino, an experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete design with five replications at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad greenhouse during 2009-2010. Traits such as leaf area, number of panicles per plant, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight. Treatment included: 3 levels of mulch (rice straw mulch, wood chips mulch and control), 3 levels of prune (two peduncular, 3 peduncular and controls) and 2 levels of plant density (3.3 and 4.3 plants per m2). The results indicated that the effect of mulch in all of the traits was significant (p≤0.01). Wood chips mulch in all of the traits was better than rice straw and control. Pruning was significant in all of the traits. The number of panicles and the number of fruits per plant were higher in tree peduncular but increasing the number of fruits was associated with a reduction in size. Interaction between mulch and pruning was significant in all of the traits. Plant density applied had significant effects on traits related to fruit