Abstract
Ethephon (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid) is a widely used ethylene-releasing compound that exerts significant effects on the vegetative and reproductive development of cucurbit crops. Upon foliar application, ethephon decomposes in plant tissues to release ethylene, which inhibits cell elongation in the shoot meristem, promotes lateral branching, and advances the onset of female flowering. A field experiment was conducted at the experimental field of the Department of Agriculture, Khalsa College, Amritsar, India, during the Rabi season of 2018–2019 to investigate the effect of foliar application of ethephon and maleic hydrazide at varying concentrations (50, 100, 150 and 200 mg L⁻¹) on the vegetative growth characteristics of zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) cv. Dark Green. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with nine treatments and three replications. Growth parameters recorded included plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of nodes per plant, and days to first harvest. Results demonstrated that ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ significantly reduced plant height (49.25 cm at 60 days after transplanting, DAT) whilst simultaneously producing the maximum number of leaves (61.16) and nodes (47.36) per plant. The same treatment recorded the minimum days to first harvest (38.39). Maleic hydrazide treatments reduced plant height at all concentrations, with moderate effects on leaf and node development. The untreated control consistently recorded the tallest plants, the fewest leaves and node. These findings indicate that ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ is the most effective treatment for promoting compact plant architecture in zucchini under sub-tropical Indian conditions.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ significantly reduced plant height to 49.25 cm at 60 DAT.
- Taxon
- zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)
Cucurbita pepoe1 - Treatment
- ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹e0
- Outcome
- plant heighte0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Value
- 49.25 cme0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ significantly reduced plant height (49.25 cm at 60 days after transplanting, DAT)”
e1“zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ produced the maximum 61.16 leaves per plant.
- Taxon
- zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)Cucurbita pepoe1
- Treatment
- ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹e0
- Outcome
- number of leavese0
- Direction
- maximume0
- Value
- 61.16e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ significantly reduced plant height (49.25 cm at 60 days after transplanting, DAT) whilst simultaneously producing the maximum number of leaves (61.16) and nodes (47.36) per plant.”
e1“zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ produced the maximum 47.36 nodes per plant.
- Taxon
- zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)Cucurbita pepoe1
- Treatment
- ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹e0
- Outcome
- nodese0
- Direction
- maximume0
- Value
- 47.36e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ significantly reduced plant height (49.25 cm at 60 days after transplanting, DAT) whilst simultaneously producing the maximum number of leaves (61.16) and nodes (47.36) per plant.”
e1“zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹ gave the minimum 38.39 days to first harvest.
- Taxon
- zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)Cucurbita pepoe2
- Treatment
- ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹e1
- Outcome
- days to first harveste0
- Direction
- minimume0
- Value
- 38.39e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The same treatment recorded the minimum days to first harvest (38.39).”
e1“Results demonstrated that ethephon at 200 mg L⁻¹”
e2“zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Maleic hydrazide reduced plant height at all concentrations.
- Taxon
- zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)Cucurbita pepoe1
- Treatment
- Maleic hydrazide treatmentse0
- Outcome
- plant heighte0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Maleic hydrazide treatments reduced plant height at all concentrations, with moderate effects on leaf and node development.”
e1“zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Maleic hydrazide had moderate effects on leaf and node development.
- Taxon
- zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)Cucurbita pepoe1
- Treatment
- Maleic hydrazide treatmentse0
- Outcome
- leaf and node developmente0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Maleic hydrazide treatments reduced plant height at all concentrations, with moderate effects on leaf and node development.”
e1“zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The untreated control had the tallest plants and fewest leaves and nodes.
- Taxon
- zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)Cucurbita pepoe1
- Outcome
- tallest plants, the fewest leaves and nodee0
- Comparator
- untreated controle0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The untreated control consistently recorded the tallest plants, the fewest leaves and node.”
e1“zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)”
The same questions in other papers
(2-chloroethyl)phosphonic acid · growth · Cucurbita pepoPositive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- negative
(2-chloroethyl)phosphonic acid · yield · Cucurbita pepoPositive and negative results
3 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- negative
- positive
- positive
1 paper more in this group
See all 5 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.