Abstract
Plant population, seedlings per hill, cultivar and plastic mulch were evaluated in five environments for their affect on watermelon yield, size and quality. `Royal Jubilee' outyielded `Prince Charles' in all environments, and the highest yields were associated with low % culls and high fruit numbers per hectare. Highest yields of marketable fruits (>4.5 kg/melon) were obtained using mulch and areas per plant between 0.4–0.9/m. Unless there is a market for small fruits (<4.5 kg), optimum area per plant was 1 m/plant. Results for one plant/hill at one in-row spacing were similar to those for the alternative planting pattern of two plants/hill at half the in-row spacing, thus supporting the feasibility of using the more economical alterative planting pattern.
Published Version
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