Effects of Ethephon and Pruning Practices on Sex Expression and Yield of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in Rupandehi, Nepal

Abstract

Enhancing crop productivity is essential for increasing farmer incomes, and application of ethephon along with proper pruning practices could provide effective approaches for improving yield of cucurbit crops. A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of ethephon and pruning practices on sex expression and yield of cucumber cv long green at Rupandehi, Nepal from April to July 2022. The experiment used a two-factor factorial RCBD, with 2 doses of ethephon (300 ppm & control spray) as one factor and pruning practices (3G, 2G & no pruning) as the other, resulting six treatments which were replicated four times. Morphological and phenological parameters such as plant height, days to flowering, number of male and female flowers per plant, M: F ratio, fruit length, fruit weight, fruit number per plant, and yield were recorded. It was observed that ethephon @ 300 ppm produced the highest yield (65.59 t/ha) with increased fruits per plant (13.19) and individual fruit weight (497.31 g). Highest fruit yield (66.97 t/ha), fruit number (13.47 per plant), and individual fruit weight (497.20 g) was observed with 3G pruning. Ethephon @ 300 ppm delayed male flowers, but female flowers were observed significantly earlier (34.21 DAT), with a similar effect observed in 3G pruning. Both ethephon @ 300 ppm (39.89) and 3G pruning (41.99) significantly increased the total number of female flowers in comparison with other treatments. Control spray of ethephon resulted in highest fruit length and application of ethephon @ 300 ppm resulted to highest fruit width. Pruning did not significantly influence fruit length but increased fruit width. The study revealed that a spray of 300 ppm ethephon and 3G pruning can enhance femaleness and productivity of cucumber.