Effect of spacing on growth and yield of watermelon

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during summer season of 2018 – 2019 at Instructional Farm, Department of Vegetable Science, Faculty of horticulture Dr. PDKV, Akola to study the effect of spacing on growth and yield of watermelon. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with four replications and five treatments viz. T1 (0.45 × 2.0 m) T2 (0.60 m × 2.0 m), T3 (0.75 m × 2.0 m), T4 (0.90 m × 2.0 m) and T5 (1.0 m × 2.0 m). In respect of growth parameter closer plant spacing i.e. higher plant density produced maximum length of main stem and internodal distance. Whereas, wider plant spacing was produced maximum number of leaves, number of primary branches and chlorophyll index. Treatment T5 (1.0 m × 2.0 m) was found superior in respect of fruits weight and yield per plant. While treatment T1 (0.45 m × 2.0 m) produced the maximum yield per plot and yield per hectare.