The pruning of fruits of net melon cultivars was evaluated in this study. The cultivars Maxim, Louis, Fantasy, Shinju 200 and Bônus nº2 were evaluated in plants bearing two and three fruits. The experimental design was of randomized blocks in factorial scheme 5 x 2, with four replications and the plants arranged in the spacing of 1.0 m between lines and 0.5 m between plants. The experiment was conducted in greenhouse, using fertirrigation and plastic pots of 13 L, filled with coconut fiber Golden Mix® Misto 98. The seedlings were grown in expanded polystyrene trays of 128 cells and transplanted to pots when the first definitive leaf was completely developed. We evaluated the roughness of the rind, the longitudinal and transversal diameters of fruits, the fruit shape index, the longitudinal and transversal diameters of the locule, the locule shape index, the thickness of the mesocarp, the average weight of fruits and the production per plant. No interaction between the studied factors was detected. For the conditions of this experiment, the conduction of two fruits per plant generated greater transverse diameter of fruit, greater longitudinal diameter of the locule, greater roundness of the rind and greater average weight of fruits. However, the greatest productions per plant was observed in plants bearing three fruits. The hybrids Fantasy and Shinju 200 presented the best fruit characteristics and greater production.
Cucumis melo; coconut fiber; pruning fruit; soilless culture
