EFFECT OF SPACING AND NPK 20:10:10 FERTILIZER ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF WATER MELON (CITRULLUS LANATUS) IN ENUGU, SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA.

• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Enugu, Nigeria. 2016-11-01
• Series: Journal of Experimental Research
• Online Access: http://www.er-journal.com/papers/AWERE_DEC_2014.pdf
• ISSN: 2315-9650; 2502-0524

A field experiment to investigate the effect of spacing and NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer on the growth and yield of watermelon was conducted at the teaching and Research Farm of Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources Management, Enugu State University of Science and Technology. The experiment was carried out in a 2 x 3 factorial in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six (6) treatments replicated three (3) times using and ldquo;crimson sweet and rdquo; as a test crop. Parameters measured were vine length, number of fruits per plant, days to 50% flowering, fruit yield (ton/ha), and number of marketable fruits. 400kg/ha fertilizer in spacing 30cm x 30cm plots recorded the highest vine length of 193.8 cm which significantly deferred from the other treatment means. This was followed by 200kg/ha fertilizer in spacing of 30 cm x 30 cm which recorded vine length of 151.50 cm that significantly deferred from the rest of the treatment means. There were no significant differences between 400kg/ha fertilizer in 15 cm x 15 cm plots and 200kg/ha fertilizer in 15 cm x 15cm plots, O kg/ha fertilizer in 30 cm x 30 cm pots and O kg/ha fertilizer in 15cm x 15 cm plots on vine length. 400kg/ha fertilizer in 30 cm x 30 cm plots recorded the highest mean number of 34.33 fruits per plant which deferred significantly from the rest of the treatment means. The following treatments produced the same effects on the number of fruits per plant and ndash; 200kg/ha fertilizer in 30 cm x 30 cm plots and 400kg/ha fertilizer in 15 cm x 15 cm plots, O kg/ha fertilizer in 30 cm x 30 cm plots and O kg/ha fertilizer in 1 5cm x 15cm plots. On fruit yield (ton/ha) 400kg/ha fertilizer in 30cm x 30cm plots, and 200kg/ha fertilizer in 30 cm x 30 cm plots produced the highest yield of 13.44 ton/ha and 13.22 ton/ha respectively which were not significantly different except the controls and ndash; O kg/ha fertilizer in 15cm x 15cm and O kg/ha fertilizer in 30 cm x 30 cm plots which yielded 3.89 ton/ha and 5.48 ton/ha respectively. 400kg/ha fertilizer in 30cm x 30cm, 400kg/ha fertilizer in 15cm x 15cm, 200kg/ha fertilizer in 30cm x 30cm and 200kg/ha fertilizer in 15cm x 15cm plots recorded mean number of 9.33, 9.00, 7.00 and 8.33 marketable fruits per plant respectively which were significantly the same except the controls. There was no treatment effect on the number of days to 50% flowering. There was no interaction (AB) effect on vine length (cm) between NPK 20:10:10 and spacing. Also, there was no interaction effect between NPK 20:10:10 and spacing on the number of fruits per plant. There was a significant interaction effect between NPK 20:10:10 and spacing on the fruit yield (ton/ha), so also on the number of marketable fruits. There was no interaction effect between NPK 20:10:10 and spacing on the number of days to 50% flowering.