ABSCISIC ACID AND ESTROGEN EFFECTS ON FLOWERING AND PHENOTYPIC TRAITS IN MELON (CUCUMIS MELO CV. ‘EARLIGOLD’) AND PUMPKIN (CUCURBITA PEP CV. ‘BABY BEAR’)

While research on abscisic acid (ABA) and flowering was initiated in the 1970’s, relatively few papers are available on this topic compared to other plant hormones.
In addition, little work has been published on estrogen and flowering with no previous reports on cucurbits.
The flowering response of Cucumis melo cv. ‘Earligold’ plants to estradiol was not consistent with a previous preliminary test using ‘Gallia’ melon where total flower numbers were increased by 260%. Nevertheless, estradiol induced a significant response in sex expression (reduced female flower number) and altered number of branches.
Abscisic acid increased the total number of flowers which was a result of an increase in the number of male flowers.
Altered sex expression was most pronounced at the end of the test period.
Abscisic acid also significantly increased number of lateral branches.
Both estrogen and ABA effects on flowering should be examined in more depth on a greater range of crop species in the future.

II International Symposium on Cucurbits

K.K. Tanino, L. Matthews, E. Wasif, A. Shenouda, B. Gilliland, M.P.M. Nair

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2002.588.14