Department of Vegetable Science, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263 145, Uttaranchal, India.
Key words: branches, crop yield, direct sowing, earliness, emergence, flowering, flowering date, flowers, fruits, harvesting date, internodes, planting date, seed germination, seeds, shoots, transplanting, yield components
Journal of Applied Horticulture, 2002, volume 4, issue 2, pages 90-92.
Abstract: The performance of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia cv. Jaunpuri Local) grown by direct sowing or transplanting at 15 January, 29 January, 12 February, 26 February or 12 March was evaluated in Pantnagar, Uttaranchal, India during the spring-summer season of 2000. Seeds sown directly in the open field on 15 and 29 January failed to germinate. For the other dates, seed germination was observed at 15.0 to 19.3 days after sowing. Main shoot length, number of branches arising from the main shoot, and internode length increased with the delay in transplanting. Greater shoot length was obtained under transplanting. The diameter of the main shoot decreased with the delay in direct sowing or transplanting. Flower emergence was earliest with transplanting on 26 February. In general, pistillate flowers emerged at 5-15 days after the emergence of staminate flowers. The formation of flowers on the lower nodes was more pronounced under transplanting. The lowest male flower position was obtained with transplanting on 12 Ma
