1 / 49

Cucurbit Crops

Cucurbit Crops. Family: Cucurbitaceae Vine Crops (Although some have extremely shortened internodes) Warm Season Annuals Naturally outcrossing Cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ) Melon – Cantaloupe & Honeydew ( Cucumis melo ) Watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus )

salena
Download Presentation

Cucurbit Crops

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Cucurbit Crops • Family: Cucurbitaceae • Vine Crops (Although some have extremely shortened internodes) • Warm Season Annuals • Naturally outcrossing • Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) • Melon – Cantaloupe & Honeydew (Cucumis melo) • Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) • Squash & Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo, C. maxima & C. moschata)

  2. Cucumber • Cucumis sativus • Center of Origin: India • Types: • American Slicer • American Pickle • European Pickle • European Greenhouse • Beit Alpha • Armenian • Asian/Japanese/Burpless • Lemon • Gherkin

  3. American Slicer

  4. European Pickle

  5. Dutch Cuke English Cuke European Greenhouse

  6. Armenian Cucumber Snake Cucumber Asian Cucumber Burpless Cucumber Lemon Cucumber

  7. Flower Development • Monoecious - Typical • Gynoecious - Advantages • Parthenocarpic – Needed for Gy • Andromonoecious – Specialty Types

  8. Mechanized harvest for processing types

  9. Cucumis anguria

  10. Cucumis metuliferus

  11. Post Harvest - Cucumbers • Immature Fruit • Cool as soon as possible after harvest • Fruits continue to ripen at temperatures >50oF • Optimum Temperature: 50 to 55oF • Optimum Relative Humidity: 95% • Shelf-life: 10 to 14 days • Chilling injury at temperatures <50oF

  12. Melon • Cucumis melo • Center of Origin: Western Africa or Middle East? • Reticulatus group: all types with netting, fruit “slips” off the vine, musky aroma • “cantaloupe”, muskmelon, western shipper • Inodorus group: smooth skin, does not slip • Honeydew, casaba, crenshaw, winter melon • Cantalupensis group: rough skin, no net, slips off the vine • Not typically grown in the US

  13. Flower Development • Andromonoecious - Typical • Monoecious • Gynoecious – Breeders currently working to make Gy cultivars • No Parthenocarpy currently available

  14. Post Harvest - Melon • Mature Fruit • Cool as soon as possible after harvest • Optimum cooling temperature = 40oF • Optimum Temperature: 36 to 45oF • Optimum Relative Humidity: 90 to 95% • Shelf-life: 2 to 3 weeks • Chilling injury at temperatures <50oF for prolonged periods (2 to 3 weeks) • Ethylene sensitive

  15. Watermelon • Citrullus lanatus • Center of Origin: Tropical Africa

  16. Flower Development • Monoecious – Typical • Andromonoecious • No Gynoecious currently available • No Parthenocarpy currently available • Seedless Watermelon from triploids

  17. Creating Seedless Watermelon Diploid Watermelon (AA) 2x = 22 High Fertility ↓ Tetraploid Watermelon (AAAA) 4x = 44 Low Fertility Chromosome Doubling Diploid Watermelon (AA) 2x = 22 High Fertility X ↓ Tetraploid Watermelon (AAAA) 4x = 44 Very Low Fertility ↓ ↓ ↓ Lots of selection for seed set Triploid Watermelon (AAA) 3x = 33 Very Low Fertility (Seedless)

  18. Post Harvest - Watermelon • Mature Fruit • Cool as soon as possible after harvest • Optimum cooling temperature = 40oF • Optimum Temperature: 50 to 60oF • Optimum Relative Humidity: 90 to 95% • Shelf-life: 2 to 3 weeks • Chilling injury at temperatures <50oF for longer than a few days • Considered Ethylene insensitive

  19. Squash & Pumpkin • Cucurbita pepo • Summer squash (Yellow, zucchini & scallop) • Winter squash (Acorn) • Small pumpkins (pie/miniatures) • Cucurbita maxima • Large pumpkins (decorative & jumbo’s) • Winter squash (Hubbard, Delicious, etc…) • Cucurbita moschata • Large pumpkins (cheese & crookneck) • Winter squash (Butternut)

  20. Vine Types

  21. Cucurbita pepo Yellow Straight Neck Summer Squash Acorn Squash Winter Squash

  22. Cucurbita pepo – Zucchini Summer Squash

  23. Cucurbita pepo – Summer Squash

  24. Cucurbita pepo – Spoon Gourd

  25. Cucurbita moschata Cheese Pumpkin

  26. Cucurbita maxima

  27. Post Harvest – Squash & Pumpkin • Mature Fruit • No cooling required • Optimum Temperature: >50oF • Optimum Relative Humidity: 50 to 75% • Shelf-life: 6 to 8 weeks to 6 months (type) • Immature Fruit • Benefit from cooling • Optimum Temperature: 41 to 50oF • Optimum Relative Humidity: 95% • Shelf-life: 1 to 2 weeks

More Related