Abstract
Fruit curvature in cucumber was investigated in relation to plant density of 7.3, 5.5 and 2.2 plants per 3.3m2, and shading with 0, 1, 2 and 3 layer(s) of cheesecloth.
1. Curvature angle of the fruit at harvest and duration from flowering to harvest were not affected by plant density, but affected by shading, increasing with the number of layers of cheesecloth.
2. In both experiments, there was no high correlation between the curvature angle of fruit at harvest and the length or curvature angle of the ovary on the flowering day.
3. The value of leaf dry weight times light transmission rate devided by the number of fruit harvested did not vary with planting density, while it decreased with the increasing number of layers of cheesecloth, resulting in the increase of the average curvature angle of the fruit.
4. Assuming that the above-mentioned value corresponds to the rate of photosynthate supply to the individual fruit, though in rough estimation, the occurrence of curvature in cucumber fruit might be considered to be due to insufficient supply of photosynthates to the fruit.
