The complexities of spacing go well beyond weed competition, weather and nutrition. Spacing needs to be fine-tuned to conditions as well as variety. A s mentioned in a previous article, the plant decides when to start aborting what it perceives as “risky” fruit set. To some extent this can be overcome by breeding and selection, and two virtually identical cultivars can give a different yield. I once told a farmer that cultivar would out-yield cultivar B by 20%. He planted both and countered that was wrong, as he’d counted the same amount of runners on each plant and female flowers on each runner. explained that a plant usually produces a lot more female flowers than fruit, and each cultivar would abort perceived excess at a different point. He later confirmed the 20% increase in cultivar that I’d predicted.
The season also plays a huge role in spacing cucurbits for maximum yield. In another incident, met a Limpopo farmer who’d just delivered a consignment of Boer pumpkins to a processor. Making conversation, asked him when he’d planted his crop, and he mentioned that he planted in winter, but when it came to September planting the plants would grow well but the yield was way down. discussed the spacing aspect with him and he seemed confused for a minute. Suddenly the penny dropped, and he explained that one year he planted fruit trees and, to get some extra return from the area, he’d planted one row of pumpkins down the middle between the rows of trees.
This happened after the perceived cut-off time, when yield would normally drop, but he said that this was his highest yield ever. Because the spacing in this case was much wider than normal, the plants could continue setting fruit confidently as they were still growing into open ground without competition. W hen he planted in winter, the internodes were shorter and the first fruits set closer to the crown. By the time they met in the middle, enough of the crop had already been set.
When he planted later in warmer conditions, with extra-long internodes, much fewer fruit would have been set before the rows met and abortion started. he planted extra wide to fit in with the trees, the plants could again set many more fruit before the gap was closed. The effect of spacing needs to be fully understood to consistently get good yields. – Bill Kerr ((016) 366 0616 or e-mail [email protected]). |fw
