Abstract

Field experiments were conducted at Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, during 2012 to 2013. To find the effect of different levels of nutrients applied through fertigation using water soluble fertilizers along with azophosmet and humic acid on growth, yield and quality of hybrid watermelon ‘Kiran’. Application of 125% of water soluble fertilizers viz.,250125125 kg/ha of NPK, in addition to azophosmet and humic acid showed the best performance in almost all the parameters studied in both seasons as it recorded the highest vine length (379.33 and 437.41cm), higher number of primary branches per plant (4.68 and 4.76).The least days to first flowering (21.67 and 28.72 days), node at which first female flowers produced (8.93 and 5.43), Total no. of female flower(20.82 and 27.65). The highest female and male flower ratio 12. 56 1 and 15.85 1 was recorded in T9 (100% RDF through soil application), single fruit weight (3.45 and 3.99 kg fruit-1) and yield per hectare (45.27 and 46.98 t/ha) was high in T7 (125% - 250125125 NPK kg/ha + Azophosmet (450ml/ha) + humic acid(2ml/lit). Regarding quality characters lycopene (6.07 and 6.38 mg 100g -1), Total Soluble Solids (TSS) (10.94 and 8.12 obrix) and ascorbic acid (8.0 and 8.05 mg 100 g-1 respectively estimated showed no significant difference.

Keywords: Watermelon, Fertigation , Azophosmet, Humic acid.