ZUCCHINI (Cucurbita pepo L.) SEED PRODUCTION USING PHOTO-SELECTIVE PLASTIC MULCH

Abstract

In this work the effect of a production system with several photo-selective plastic mulching was evaluated regarding seed yield and seed quality of Cucurbita pepo L. cv. ‘Zucchiny gray’. Planting was done in June 2005, at Saltillo, Coahuila, México. Treatments were six colors of plastic covers used as mulching (transparent, red, green, white, blue and black), plus one control without mulching. The experimental design was a completely randomized block with three replications. Results showed an increase (P ≤ 0.05) in the number of seeds per fruit and seed yield due to plastic mulching, compared to the control without mulch. The transparent and plastic cover induced an increase on seed yield of 60.8 and 67.3 %, respectively. With the black mulch, the highest rate (P ≤ 0.05) of normal seedlings (96.3 %) and the smallest rate of non germinated seeds (2 %) were achieved. The use of photo-selective plastic mulching modified the plant growth of zucchini plants, thus changing the physiological quality of produced seeds.