Department of Vegetable Crops, Landscaping & Floriculture Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
The vegetative and reproductive behaviour of three varieties of muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) namely Earligold, Planter's Jumbo and Hara Madhu was studied under screenhouse and field conditions during the year 1972 and 1973. The vine length was comparatively higher in screenhouse than in the field. Differences among the varieties for number of days taken for anthesis to both male and female flowers, vine length and sex ratio were significant. Earligold was the earliest in flowering, had the shortest vine length and the narrow sex ratio (male: female). Sex ratio was found to be positively correlated with temperature in the screenhouse and negatively with the relative humidity in the field in variety Earligold. In variety Planter's Jumbo, sex ratio had a negative correlation with the minimum temperature. Earligold was the only variety which exhibited the potential of bearing fruits under screenhouse conditions.
