Morphological Characterization of Melon (Cucumis melo L.) Varieties Meldo UPNVY1 and Meldo UPNVY2 with Substrate Hydroponic System
Bambang Supriyanta, Mangaras Yanu Florestiyanto, Budiarto, Maryana, Ahmad Fadoli, Dian Fashiha

UPN Veteran Yogyakarta

Abstract

Melon (Cucumis melo, L), is a horticultural plant with high economic value and is in demand by the community, has a business prospect that is increasingly in demand along with the increase in fresh fruit consumption, especially premium melons, because they have a relatively higher price level. This makes many farmers, especially millennial farmers interested and take advantage of this opportunity by intensively cultivating melon plants hydroponically. Formation of superior melon varieties can be one solution in an effort to meet consumer tastes. The desired superior characters can be initiated with characterization activities. Characterization aims to describe all plant characters, both qualitative and quantitative characters possessed by melon plants, so that the characteristic characters of a genotype can be identified in the formation of new superior varieties. The purpose of this study was to obtain a brief description of the morphological characters, both qualitative and quantitative, of the Meldo UPNVY1 and UPNVY2 varieties compared to other commercial varieties. The research was conducted at the Green House CV. SG Agroniaga in Dusun Ngasem, Krakitan, Bayat, Klaten in May - July 2024. The study was a field experiment using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of 8 treatments with 3 replications. The treatments consisted of 8 melon genotypes, namely Meldo UPNVY1, Meldo UPNVY2, Dalmation, TajMahal, Alisa, Apollo, Sweet D25, and Honey Globe. Qualitative data were analyzed descriptively based on the description for melon from the Union for The Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), while quantitative characters were analyzed by analysis of variance at the 5% level and continued with the Duncan Multiple Range test. The results showed that there were unique qualitative characters in Melon Meldo UPNVY1, namely having an orange base color with dense dark green spots, greenish white flesh color and a sweetness level reaching 15 brix. Meanwhile, Melon Meldo UPNVY2 has an orange base color with a few dark green dots, the color of the fruit flesh is a white-orange gradation with a fruit weight reaching 2 kg.

Keywords: melon, characterization, hydroponic, breeding

Topic: Agriculture