Foliar nutrition of muskmelon II. Field experiments

Abstract

Abstract Three field experiments were conducted at the Newe Ya'ar Experiment Station (northern Israel) in the summer season of 1981 and the spring seasons of 1982 and 1984. Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) cv. Galia plants were subjected to early and late foliar applications containing various proportions of N‐P or N‐P‐K with or without a pre‐spraying of CaCl?. Foliar application of nutrient solutions did not affect the yield or the yield components. On the other hand, some of these treatments had positive, but not consistent, effects on several parameters which contributed to higher quality yields. Yield and fruit number were higher in the spring‐seeded experiments than the summer‐seeded one, but the effects of foliar applications were smaller in the former. Overall, there were no signficant differences in plant response to foliar applications applied at the vegetative or reproductive stages of growth. It seems that unfavorable field conditions may result in a more positive ixpression of the foliar nutrition ...