Since 1968, three spontaneous 4× melons (Cucumis melo L.) plants were discovered in our field or greenhouse plantings. Two were found in the cultivar Planters Jumbo and one in the virescent marker C879-52. Each of these 4× plants had rounded cotyledons, shorter internodes, thicker stems and leaves, more hairs, and smaller fruits, with larger stem and blossom scars, than their 2× counterparts. Also, their flowers, pollen grains, stomates, and seeds were larger. The discovery of a 4× virescent plant in 1987 allows easier germplasm transfer between ploidy levels. Morphological characteristics of 2× and 4× melons will allow identification without need for chromosome counts.
Competition for limited water supplies is increasing world wide. Especially hard hit are the irrigated crop production regions, such as the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the Winter Garden areas of south Texas. To develop production techniques for reducing supplemental water needs of vegetable crops, an ancient water harvesting technique called rainfall capture was adapted to contemporary, large scale irrigated muskmelon (Cucumis melo var. reticulatus L.) production systems. The rainfall capture system developed consisted of plastic mulched miniature water catchments located on raised seed beds. This system was compared with conventional dry land and irrigated melon production. Rainfall capture resulted in 108% average yield increase over the conventional dry land technique. When compared with conventional furrow irrigation, rainfall capture increased marketable muskmelon yield as much as 5355 lb/acre (6000 kg·ha-1). As anticipated,the drip irrigation/plastic mulch system exceeded rainfall capture in total and marketable fruit yield. The results of this study suggest that rainfall capture can reduce total supplemental water use in muskmelon production. The major benefit of the rainfall capture system is believed to be in its ability to eliminate or decrease irrigation water needed to fill the soil profile before planting.
Lettuce infectious yellows virus (LIYV), transmitted by the sweetpotato whitefly, (Bemisia tabaci Genn.), seriously affected melon (Cucumis melo L.) production in the lower desert areas of the southwest United States from 1981 through 1990. Melon plant introduction (PI) 313970 was previously found resistant to LIYV in naturally infected field tests and controlled-inoculation greenhouse tests. Data from F1 and segregating generations from crosses of PI 313970 with LIYV-susceptible lines indicated that resistance in this accession is conditioned by a dominant allele at a single locus designated Lettuce infectious yellows (Liy).
Powdery mildew is a serious disease of melon (Cucumis melo L.) worldwide. Twenty-two melon cultigens have been used to define 22 reported races of the pathogen Podosphaera xanthii (sect. Sphaerotheca) xanthii (Castag.) U. Braun & N. Shish. Comb. nov. [syn. Sphaerotheca fuliginea (Schlecht. ex Fr.) Poll.]. Discrepancies in the reactions of eight cultigens to populations of P. xanthii races 1 and 2 in California, Japan, and Spain revealed genetic differences among them that can be used to differentiate P. xanthii race 1 and 2 populations in these countries. Implicit in these results is the existence of previously unknown virulence factors in these populations of P. xanthii races 1 and 2 that permit designation of new races of P. xanthii on melon. Synthesis of these results with previous reports resulted in the identification of 28 putative races of P. xanthii on melon that include eight variants of race 1 and six variants of race 2. Six of the cultigens exhibited resistant blisters in response to heavy infection by P. xanthii in field and greenhouse tests.
The first objective of this paper is to review and characterize the published research in refereed journals pertaining to the nutritional practices used to grow vegetable transplants. The second objective is to note those studies that indicated a direct relationship between transplant nutritional practices and field performance. The third objective is to suggest some approaches that are needed in future vegetable transplant nutrition research. Even after review of the plethora of available information in journals, it is not possible to summarize the one best way to grow any vegetable transplant simply because of many interacting and confounding factors that moderate the effects of nutritional treatments. It is, however, important to recognize that all these confounding factors must be considered when developing guidelines for producing transplants. After thorough review of this information, it is concluded that transplant nutrition generally has a long term effect on influencing yield potential. Therefore, derivation of a nutritional regime to grow transplants needs to be carefully planned. It is hoped that the information that follows can be used to help guide this process.
Powdery mildew is a major problem in melon (Cucumis melo L.) production worldwide. Three genes for resistance to Sphaerotheca fuliginea (Schlecht. ex Fr.) Poll. race 1 and race 2U.S. were identified in growth chamber and greenhouse tests in the cross of PI 313970 × `Top Mark'. A recessive gene conditioned resistance of true leaves to race 1. A recessive gene appeared to condition resistance of cotyledons to race 2U.S., although a second recessive gene may be involved. A semi-dominant gene conditioned resistance of true leaves to race 2U.S. Limited data suggested linkage of the recessive gene for resistance to race 1 and the semi-dominant gene for resistance to race 2U.S. The resistance reaction of PI 313970 to infection of true leaves by race 2U.S. included water-soaked spots and resistant blisters, but segregation data for the resistant blister reaction were inconclusive. Allelic relationships of these genes with previously reported melon powdery mildew resistance genes remain to be determined.
, the 2011 cantaloupe-related foodborne illness outbreak, the deadliest outbreak in recent U.S. history ( Garner and Kathariou, 2016 ), reduced melon production by 32% during the past decade ( USDA-ESMIS, 2018 ). Since then, the melon industry has worked
., 2010 ). The most commonly cultivated melon type in the United States is cantaloupe (Reticulatus group) ( Sargent and Maynard, 2009 ). In 2011, 72,690 acres of cantaloupe were planted in the United States with a production value of $350 million [ U
parameters of a Cantaloupe- (Charentais) type melon crop ( Cucumis melo L. cv. Gandalf) under greenhouse. Materials and Methods Isolates of T. saturnisporum used in experiments Two isolates of T. saturnisporum (T1 and T2) were selected for their known
Abstract
Growth, respiration, and ethylene production patterns of ‘Crenshaw’ and ‘Persian’ cultivars of muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) were similar to patterns previously established for cantaloupe (‘PMR 45’). From 3 weeks after anthesis the carotenoid content of the pulp of all 3 cultivars steadily increased from the low level characteristic of green tissue. Chlorophyll content decreased throughout the development of the fruits, but in the cantaloupe and ‘Crenshaw’ there was a final loss of chlorophyll during ripening.