Effects of initiation system and mulch on the production of melon in the south of Buenos Aires province, Argentine.

The aim of this comunication was to evaluate the weekly and total yield in melon cropping (Cucumis melo L.) initiated by direct sowing and transplanting in bare soil or covered with polyethylene mulch (black or transparent). Assays were carried out during the field seasons 1994/95 and 1995/96, in the south area of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The hybrid Magnum 45 of the netted type was cultivated in ridges to a theoretical density of 6.897 pl.ha-1 and watered by furrows. The assayed initiation systems were: direct sowing and transplanting while the treatments of soil coverage were: bare soil, mulched with 100µ transparent polyethylene or with 50µ black polyethylene. The greatest values of total production were obtained in the polyethylene-mulched treatments (both black and transparent) and initiated by transplanting. The greatest precocity was observed under the treatment with transparent polyethylene mulch and initiated by transplanting, with a peak in the second week of cropping.

Key words: Cucumis melo L., direct sowing, transplanting, transparent polyethylene mulch, black polyethylene mulch.