Effects of Organic Manure and Staking Methods on the Growth and Yield of Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis)

An experiment was conducted at the experimental field of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources Management, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki in southeastern zone of Nigeria, to evaluate the effect of organic manure and staking methods on the growth and yield of fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis). Four different rates of organic manure (control, poultry, pig dung and compost) and three staking methods (without staking, raised platform and bamboo tip staking) were used. The experiment was conducted as 4x3 factorial laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. The parameters assessed were vine length, number of leaves, number of vines, fresh weight of leaves and leaf yield. Treatment means were separated using least significant difference (LSD = 0.05). The result showed that organic manure had a significant on the vine length, fresh weight of leaves and leaf yield. Raised platform staking constantly performed better with higher values than the other staking methods except in number of vines. Hence, for maximum production of fluted pumpkin, compost manure and raised platform staking should be adopted.