Effect of pollination time and proportion of females flowers to males flowers in yield and seed quality of melon (Cucumis melo L.)

Melon seed production is influenced by time maturity of male flowers and female flowers. Availability of male flowers and female flowers also affect the results of melon seeds. This study aimed to determine the effect of pollination time and the proportion of male flowers to the female flowers on the yield and quality of melon seeds. The research was conducted in the Jatimulyo village, District Lowokwaru, Malang from February to May 2017. The plant was randomly arranged. The treatment were the pollination time and proportion of flowers. Pollination time consisted of three levels, namely (W1) at 6:00 to 7:00 a.m., (W2) at 08:00 to 09:00 a.m., and (W3) at 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. (Indonesian time). Proportion of male to female flowers consisted of three levels, namely P1 = 1 : 1 , P2 = 2 : 1 , and P3 = 3 : 1 . The result showed that pollination time gave significant difference on weight of fruit, length of fruit, number of seed per fruit, weight of seed, percentage of filled seed, weight of 100 seeds, synchronization of germination, and percentage of germination. The proportion of male to female flowers showed the significant effect of the weight of fruit, length of fruit, number of seeds, weight of seed per plant, percentage of filled seed, weight of 100 seeds, synchronization of germination and percentage of germination. There was an interaction between the proportion of female flowers with male flowers and pollination time on number of seed per plant.