Production and quality of Cantaloupe melon grown in protected cultivation temporarily with row cover in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil

Row cover has been used as protection against pests in Mossoró/Assu agriculture center in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, since 2001. The objective of this experiment was to analyze the yield and quality of two 'Cantaloupe' melon hybrids grown temporarily with row cover in a greenhouse. This study was carried out in the Garden of the Semi-Arid Rural Federal University (Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido - UFERSA) in Mossoró, State of Rio Grande do Norte, from July to October 2010. The experimental design was a complete randomized block with four replications arranged in a split plot in space design. The plots were the number of days after transplant (DAT) when plants remained under row cover protection (0; 18; 21; 24, 27 and 30 DAT) and the sub plots were two F1 "Cantaloupe" melonhybrids, "Acclaim" and "Caribbean Gold RZ". Yield and quality characteristics were evaluated. The treatments with temporary row cover protection did not affect the total yield of the two hybrids; however, pulp firmness continuously increased whereas total titratable acidity, total soluble sugar, total soluble solids and pH reduced as permanence time of row cover on the plants increased. "Caribbean Gold RZ" yield presented higher commercial productivity for export, higher average fruit weight, higher pulp firmness, higher total titratable acidity and higher content of soluble solids and lower pH than "Acclaim" melons.