'Plant Breeding: Sustaining the Future' Abstracts of the XVIth EUCARPIA Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland, 10-14 September 2001 FRUIT SET PATTERN AND EFFECT OF APICAL REMOVING ON IRANIAN SAMSOORY CANTALOUP FRUITING S. MASSIHA, K. ARABSALMANI, A. MOTALLEBI Dept of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran

In order to study fruit set pattern and effect of apical meristem removing on the percentage of fruit setting of pistillate flowers, length of fruit setting period, rate of fruit growth and length of growth period of the fruit on samsoory cantaloup, an experiment was carried out in the research station of Varamin, Iran. The results indicated that flowering and growth rate correspond with the proposed pattern of MacGlosson and Harlan. Analysis of Variance showed that the effect of apical meristem removing enhances the beginning of fruit set and shorten the growth period of the Fruit, but has no effect on the length of the fruit setting period and percentage of fruit set of pistillate flowers. The number of fruit bearing branches were significantly different among first to fourth nodes and the second and third nodes showed maximum number of fruit setting branches.