Early seeding growth of fluted pumpkin as affected by seed and pod sizes under nursery and feld conditions

Inter-relationships among some pod, seed and seedling characters in fluted pumpkin ( Telfairia occidentalis Hook. F .) were studied in the search for criteria for judicious selection of seed(s) for cultivation. Seeds obtained from four pods of various sizes were sorted into five weight classes namely: W 1 (= 11g), W 2 (12-16g), W3 (17-21g), W 4 (22-26g) and (W 5 = 27g). Seedlings were first raised in a nursery and subsequently transplanted into the field. Whole pod weight was positively and significantly correlated with both total weight of seeds and empty pod weight (r 2 = 0.981 and 0.972 respectively) but seed quality could not be ascertained from total seed weight. Number of seeds per pod showed no significant correlations with pod characteristics such as weight, length, circumference and diameter. Seeds in weight class W 1 showed no emergence. Percentage emergence in the other weight classes ranged from 70% (W 5 ) to 97% (W 4 ). There was no significant effect of seed weight on rate of emergence, length and girth of vine and number of leaves per seedling in the nursery. Higher values of length of vine and numbers of nodes and leaves were obtained from W 4 and W 5 compared with W 2 and W 3 on the field after transplanting. Keywords : fluted pumpkin, telfairia occidentalis, pod characteristics, seed quality Nigerian Journal of Horticultural Science Vol. 9 2005: 35-42