Diallel analyses for yield and vegetative characteristics in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) under low temperature conditions

Abstract

Diallel analyses was used to evaluate five different inbred lines of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and their F<inf>1</inf> progenies for several characteristics related to vegetative, flowering and yield and it s components under low temperature conditions. Five different inbred lines of cucumber were entered into full diallel crosses. The inbred lines (1-PI 267742, 2-PI 436672, 3-PI 344348, 4-PI 135345, 5-Biet Alpha) were crossed in a full diallel to produce 10 F1 single crosses and 10 reciprocal crosses, in order to evaluate their suitability as parents in hybrid combinations. The crosses were carried out in 1997 and their F<inf>1r</inf> progenies and parents were compared in a randomized complete block design (RCB) with three replications. Characters were evaluated under low temperature conditions in an open field at the El-Bossily farm during winter season of 1998 where the maximum and minimum temperatures were 18C° and 6C°, respectively during the growing season. Analysis of variance was carried out in F1 crosses and reciprocals and was subjected to analysis of variance of randomized complete block to estimate general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining ability effects following Grifting (1956), method 1, model II. The results showed that there were significant difference among parents and crosses for all characters studied. For most characters, the best mean performance of parental lines and GCA were observed in P<inf>1</inf>.