|
|
|
Interpretive Summaries:
2005 - Foliar Applied Potassium to Fall and Spring Grown Muskmelon
2004 - Foliar Applied Potassium to Fall and Spring Grown Muskmelon
Foliar-Applied Potassium to Fall and Spring Grown Muskmelon, 2005
Low sugar accumulation in muskmelon fruits can cause marketing problems for growers in the U.S. Potassium (K) is known to be a regulator of sugar accumulation and to impact concentrations of photosynthesis-derived human-wellness compounds in fruits and vegetables such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C), carotenoids, and folic acid. Thus, K nutrition has the potential to significantly impact muskmelon fruit quality and marketability. Potassium is taken up from soils mainly during the vegetative stage of plant growth. Therefore, during fruit development soil K alone may not be adequate to produce optimal fruit quality. A greenhouse study examining the effect of foliar-applied K on cantaloupe quality was performed in the fall of 2004 and the spring of 2005 at the USDA-ARS facility in Weslaco, Texas.
‘Crusier’ muskmelons were planted and established in pots in the greenhouse in August of 2004 and again in the spring of 2005. Plants throughout the study were fertigated weekly with a 20-20-20 (N-P2O5-K2O) blend, except during flowering, when a 10-30-20 blend was used. Beginning at flowering, plants were sprayed weekly with 24% K, using either muriate of potash (KCl) or potassium metalosate with or without an adjuvant, until fruit abscission (full-slip). Harvested fruit were measured for total sugars, ascorbic acid, beta carotene, K concentration, percent soluble solids (SSC), days to abscission, fresh weight, percent dry matter, and external and internal firmness.
Fruit from plants receiving foliar-applied K from either source with or without the adjuvant had significantly better overall quality than fruit that received no foliar K. Potassium in either form, with or without the adjuvant, significantly increased internal and external firmness. Also, ascorbic acid, betacarotene, relative sweetness, and SSC were all increased with foliar K. The beneficial effects of supplemental foliar K applications on melon fruit quality parameters were consistently positive regardless of growing season...spring or autumn. This was the final season of the greenhouse phase of this study. The investigation continues in the field (see TX-52F). TX-51F
|
|
