Growth, yield and seed production of three squash cultivars grown under drip and furrow irrigation methods

College of Food and Agricultural science King saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia Telephone: +966-146-796-02 Fax: +966-1467-8467 Email: sokhalil@ksu.edu.saTwo field experiments were conducted to compare the growth, yield and seed production oftbree summer squash cultivars (Cucurbitapepo L.): namely, Scarla, Arab Marrow and Claritta, grown under drip and furrow irrigation. The experimentsw ere carriedo ut during 1993a nd 1994s easonsa t the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station, King Saud University at Deirab near Riyadh. The results showed that cv. Scarla had a significantly higher yield in the second season compated to other cultivars. Fruit number per plant was significantly higher for cv. Scarla comparedt o cv. Arab Manow in both seasonsw, hile no differencesw ere observedb etweenc v. Arab Marrow and cv. Claritta in the second season. The three cultivars tested had similar vegetative growth characters in both seasonsI.n the first seasonc, v. Claritta had higher see4w eightp er fruit, while no differences were found between the tested cultivars in the second season. Drip irrigation resulted in a significantly higher growth, yield and seed production in the first seasonc omparedt o furrow irrigation. In the seconds eason, drip irrigation gave a slightly higher yield, but the differences were not significant