Juvenile Morphological Markers for Maleness in Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia Occidentalis Hook F.)

Abstract:

Six hundred seeds extracted from nine pods of fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook F.) were sown in the field in 2004 and 2005 to determine the juvenile morphological markers for maleness. The results showed a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the male and female fluted pumpkin with respect to days to tendril emergence. The mean number of days to tendril emergence for the males was 19 (in 2004) and 20 (in 2005) days after planting while that of the females was 47 (in 2004) and 43 (in 2005) days after planting, respectively. The tendrils produced by the male fluted pumpkin were 5.7 and 5.0 while those produced by the female counterpart were 2.0 and 2.2 at 2 weeks after planting in 2004 and 2005, respectively. The difference in these values were also significant suggesting that the females had fewer tendrils while the males were more prolific in tendril production. The distribution of the male and female plants with respect to number of leaves from emergence to 12 weeks after planting appears to suggest that the female plants produced leaves more profusely than the male plants. The frequency distribution with respect to the length of main vine showed skewness to right in favour of the females indicating that the females grew faster thereby producing longer vine than the males. The early and profuse production of tendrils are phenotypic markers that distinguish the male from the female plants at the early growth stages of fluted pumpkin. These indicators can therefore be used to identify and possibly cull male plants at the early growth stage by fluted pumpkin growers