تاثير الرش بمحلول الاثيفون Ethephonفي السلوك الجنسي لنبات الكوسا Cucurbitaو انتاجيته

The effect of singular or repeated foliar by two concentrations of ethephon solution (250 and 500 mg/l) on sex expression of squash hybrid Mabrouka and its productivity was studied. This study was conducted during the spring season 2006. Results showed that the foliar spray by ethephon solution (500 mg/l) 3 times after the 1st, 3ed, and 5ed leaf formation decreases the sexual ratio (male/female flowers) and the number of non fructifying nodes. In contrast, the number of female flowers, the female flowers/total flowers ratio, the number of fruits / plant, and the plant productivity increased. The results also showed a strong positive correlation between plant productivity and the number of female flowers ( r = 0.98), female/total flowers ratio ( r = 0.91) and the number of fruits/plant ( r = 0.99); whereas there was a strong negative correlation for the male/female flowers ratio ( r = -0.8), the number of non fructifying nodes (r = -0.95), and the number of male flowers /plant ( r = -0.88).