Effect of Humic Acid and Organic Manure Tea on Plant Physiology and Fruit Characteristics of Pepino

Introduction Pepino (SolanummuricatumAit.), a Solanaceous vegetable fruit has been recently introduced to Iran markets. Organic farming is currently the fastest growing agricultural sector worldwide. Although several investigations are available on chemical fertilization of pepino, the knowledge of organic fertilization ismostly lacking. Therefore, at the beginning of introducing pepino plant to Iranian farmers it worth to evaluate the impact of organic fertilization on the productivity, profitability, acceptability and sustainability of farming systemsto this plant. High chemical fertilization of pepinoincreases the vegetative growth over the generative and fruit production. The aim of this investigation was to introduce the possibility of organic production of pepino. Materials and Methods.A two-year experiment was carried out to assess the possibility of organic production of pepino using organic fertilizers. Humistar® organic fertilizer (containing 8.6% humic acid) at 50 L/ha and sheep or cow manure teas at 1:10 and 1:5 ratios were used for production of pepino cv. Kanseola to evaluate their effects on the physiology of reproductive stage and some fruit quality characteristics. The experiments were arranged as factorial in a randomized complete block design comprised of 3 replications, each of which 10 plants. Mother plants were obtained from Mashhad Ferdowsi University and incubated in a greenhouse (mean temperature of 25 °C and 60-70% relative humidity) for 1 month to proliferate. Cuttings with 2-3 leaves at the top, 3-5 healthy buds and 20 cm length were rooted for 14 days in a rooting media, ( 1:1:2 of field soil, composted leaf and perlite), respectively. Plants were transplanted into the field in 100 × 75 cm spacing after the danger of frost was over. Treatments consisted of two levels of 1:5 and 1:10 (w:w) cow or sheep manure teas in combination with two levels of Humistar® organic fertilizer as 0 and 50L/ha levels. Control plants received no manure teas and organic fertilizer. Treatments were applied as drenching2 weeks after transplantation in a weekly manner for 10 weeks. Plant characteristics including number of days from transplanting to first flowering, flower number in truss, fruit set percentage, number of days from transplanting to the first harvestable fruit were recorded. Fruit quality indices including fruit fresh weight, fruit dry matter percentage, total soluble solids (TSS), fruit total phenolic contents and ascorbic acid content