Evaluación del comportamiento agronómico de tres híbridos de sandía (Citrullus lanatus) con tres distancias de siembra en el cantón Joya de Los Sachas, provincia de Orellana.

Abstract

The agronomic performance of three watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) hybrids with three planting distances was evaluated in Joya de Los Sachas canton. The study was carried out 8 km from the canton, in 3 de Noviembre parish, where two study factors were evaluated, factor A were the hybrids Esmeralda, Royal Charleston and Santa Amelia and the second factor belongs to the planting distance 0.60, 0.80 and 1.00 meters. Four replications were used for each treatment with 10 units and a completely randomized block design with a bifactorial arrangement was applied, the study variables were subjected to an analysis of variance and for its analysis of Tukey means at 95% confidence. Parameters such as number of guides per plant, guide length, flowering initiation, number of flowers and fruits per plant, polar and equatorial diameter of the fruit, yield, soluble solids, and profit/cost were evaluated. The results reported that the Esmeralda hybrid presented better botanical, productive and quality characteristics when planted at a distance of 1.00 meter between plants, achieved significant differences between treatments, reached a guide length of 390.42 cm, flowered at 34.33 days with 6.55 flowers per plant, and at harvest obtained 1.58 fruits with large polar diameter (38.35 centimeters) and equatorial diameter (28.29 centimeters), which allowed obtaining 17.03 tons per hectare with an average of 11.01 brix degrees. In economic terms, in this treatment, 1.95 US dollars were obtained for each dollar invested, being this value profitable. This affirms that the genetics of the hybrid and the planting distance influence the productivity and quality of the watermelon. It is recommended to carry out studies in longer planting distances to know its behavior.