Abstract
The present experiment was aimed to study the effect of imposing modulated temperature treatments 14°C and 18°C, around the fruiting region of watermelon plants, and to estimate the economic feasibility of the temperature treatments based on energy consumption for heating. Watermelon cultivar 'Sambok-gul' was selected and sown on perlite beds in a plastic house under controlled conditions at Watermelon Farm, Jeongeup-Jeonbuk, longitude 35° 31' 47.51N, 126° 48'48.84E, altitude 37m during the early spring season (2010-2011). The findings revealed that the temperature treatment at 18°C caused significant increase in weight (2.0kg plant(-1)), fruit weight (8.3kg plant(-1)), soluble solid content (11.5%), and fruit set rate (96.5%) at harvest stage. Higher contents of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) ions were observed in the 1st upper leaf of the fruit set node (79.3mg L(-1)) and the 1st lower leaf of the fruit set node (12.0mg L(-1)), respectively at 14°C. The power consumption and extra costs of the temperature treatment 18°C were suggested as affordable and in range of a farmer's budget (41.14 USD/22days). Hence, it was concluded that modulating temperature treatments could be utilized successfully to optimize the temperature range for enhancing the fruit yield and quality in the winter watermelon crops.
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