An experiment was performed under protected environment from September/2004 to January/2005, to evaluate the effect of plant density and the number of fruits per plant on the growth of melon fruits cultivated in raw rice husk with recirculated nutrient solution. Three planting densities (1,7; 2,4 and 3,0 plants m-2) and two number of fruits/plant (3 and 4) were studied. From the data of dry and fresh matter, 68 days after setting, the biomass production and distribution to the fruits was established. The fruits comprised from 57 to 62% of the total above-ground dry matter production, which demonstrated that they are the strongest sinks for assimilates in melon. At the end of the vegetative period, the melon plant leaf area, when trained vertically and pruned, is relatively low, which in association with a high solar radiation, avoids an excess of mutual shading among the plants, even at higher planting densities. Thus, the increase of planting density does not affect the distribution of dry and fresh matter to the fruits, increasing the absolute plant and fruit biomass production per square meter. The increment of the number of fruits reduced the average dry weight of the fruits, without affecting the production and the distribution of dry matter of the whole plant and fruits. However, the production and the distribution of fresh matter to the fruits take up a different behavior from that of the dry matter, being both benefited with such an increment.
Cucumis melo; dry-matter; soilless cultivation; fruit load; planting density
