Journal of Bio-Environment Control ISSN:1229-4675(Print) 2765-3641(Online) 생물환경조절학회지

This study was conducted to find out optimum fruiting node order, pinching node order, and harvesting time in hydroponics using coir substrates to produce high quality melon (Cucumis melo L.) fruit. Three plants per coir slab (100 × 20 × 10 cm) were planted for each treatment. Yamazaki standard nutrient solutions for melon were supplied with 1.8, 2.0, and 2.3 dS·m^-1 at the early, middle (fruit enlargement step), and late growth stages, respectively. Two cultivars of 'PMR Dalgona' and 'Earl's Aibi' were used for fruiting node order and pinching node order experiments. Fruiting node treatments were conducted three replications (8-10 ^th, 11-13 ^th, and 14-15 ^th nodes) and pinching node treatments treated with three replications (18 ^th, 21 ^th, and 24 ^th nodes). Two cultivars of ‘PMR Dalgona’ and ‘Earl’s Crown’ were used for fruit harvesting time experiment and treated with in four replications (45, 50, 55, and 60 days after fruiting). In growth characteristics, the leaf width and leaf area of ‘PMR Dalgona’ were the greatest 28.2 cm and 10,845 cm². Respectively, 11-13 ^th fruiting nodes or more. The node length of ‘Earl’s Aibi’ was the longest by 147.6 cm at 11-13 ^th fruiting nodes. For fruit quality characteristics, the fruit weight of ‘Earl’s Aibi’ at 11-13 ^th fruiting node fruiting was the greatest by 2.0 kg. The soluble solids content (SSC) of ‘PMR Dalgona’ was the highest by 14.5 °Brix at 8-10 ^th nodes in fruiting node orders and 14.5 °Brix at the 24 ^th pinching node order, respectively with significant difference. The SSC tends to increase in the same for both cultivars of ‘PMR Dalgona’ and ‘Earl’s Aibi’ as the position of fruiting node was lower. The SSC and fruit weight of melon harvested at 55-60 days after fruiting was the best. From the results of this study, most of SSC tends to increase in the lower position of fruiting node order and the higher pinching node order, whereas the fruit weight shows a tendency of increasing with higher fruiting node. In addition, the SSC of fruit increased as the number of days after fruiting increased, and further research is needed for more various cultivars. In melon hydroponics using coir substrates, it is needed to figure out the characteristics of each cultivar to determine optimum fruiting node order, pinching node order, and fruit harvest time.