EFFECT OF LEAF PRUNING AND GA ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF SQUASH (Cucurbita pepo)

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted at the Horticulture Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, during the period from November 2017 to February 2018. The seed of Sunny House-F hybrid squash was used as planting materials. Three levels of pruning as P 1 0 = No pruning (control), P pruning at 20 DAT (days after transplanting) (1 st and 2 nd leaves) and P 2 1 = 1 = 2 pruning at 30 DAT (3 rd and 4 th leaves) and four levels GA 3 application as G

(control), G 1 = 100 ppm GA 3 , G 2 = 200 ppm GA 3 and G 3 nd 0 st = No GA = 300 ppm GA were considered as treatments for the present study. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. In case of pruning, the highest yield (21.14 t/ha) was found from P treatment, whereas the lowest yield (16.05 t/ha) from P 0 treatment. For GA 3 1 treatments, maximum yield (24.51 t/ha) was recorded from G treatment, while the minimum yield (14.41 t/ha) from G 0 1 treatment. Due to combined effect the highest yield (29.14 t/ha) was observed from P 1 G treatment combination, while the lowest yield (11.30 t/ha) from P 0 G 0 1 treatment combination. So, it revealed that the P

treatment combination appeared to be the best for achieving the higher growth and yield of squash cultivation.

3 1 G 3 1