Department of Horticulture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Mode of inheritance of fruit maturity was studied in three crosses of watermelon in 1972 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Earliness was dominant over lateness in one cross, over dominant in. the second and partially dominant in the third. Dominance gene effects was significant in all the crosses while the additive effect in only one. There was no interaction of genes in two crosses but all the interactions were highly significant in the cross between Sweet Princess and Special No. 1. Heritability in narrow sense varied from cross to cross and ranged between 32.89 and 71.08. The number of effective factors varied from 2.15 in the cross Special No. 1 x Charleston Grey to 3.20 in the cross Sweet Princess x Special No. 1.
