American International Journal of Agricultural Studies

Vol. 5, No. 1; 2021

ISSN 2641-4155 E-ISSN 2641-418X
Published by American Center of Science and Education, USA

HYDROPONICS SYSTEM AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO SOIL

FARMING OF WATERMELON IN NIGERIA

Ossai, C. O. (Corresponding Author)

Research Supervisor
YIIFSWA Project, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria
E-mail: c.ossai@cgiar.org

Ojobor, S. A.
Senior Lecturer
Department of Agronomy, Delta State University, Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria
E-mail: smartojobor@gmail.com

Akpeji, S. C.
Graduate Student
Microbiology Department, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
E-mail: akpejistephanie@gmail.com

Oroghe, O. E.
Graduate Student
Crop Protection and Environmental Biology Department, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
E-mail: elohooroghe@gmail.com

Ogbole, S.
Graduate Student
Biochemistry Department, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
E-mail: ogbolesamson@gmail.com

Received: July 15, 2021 Accepted: August 29, 2021 Online Published: September 08, 2021

DOI: 10.46545/aijas.v5i1.200 URL: https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v5i1.200

ABSTRACT
Watermelon is an important vegetable consumed worldwide. It is mostly grown in a sandy loam
soil with a pH value ranging from 6.5 to 7.5. However, due to the constraints in land
accessibility coupled to the farmers-herders clashes for limited land resources in Nigeria, it is
important to shift the focus from land extensification to intensification farming. This study
therefore compares the potential of hydroponics system of cultivating watermelon relative to
conventional soil farming system. Three varieties of water melon (Diamond black, Crimson
sweet and Travelers watermelon varieties) were planted in 2 substrate conditions (soil and
cocopeat) 4 kg each. It was a 3x2 factorial experiment arranged in a completely randomized

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design with 3 replicates. Data were collected on the agronomic and yield parameters, and
analysed using ANOVA, and means were separated using LSD at 5% level of significance.
Results obtained showed varied agronomic performances among the genotypes, while the
Crimson sweet watermelon produced significantly heavier fruit size (5.38±0.34) compared to the
rest genotype. However, the highest number of fruits (2.33±0.22) was obtained in the soil, but the
substrate type was insignificant in the average fruit weight. Hence, the hydroponics system is
recommended as a complementary alternative to soil farming.

Keywords: Watermelon, Cocopeat, Soil, Substrates; Agronomic Performance, Yield

Performance.

JEL Classification Codes: Q11.

INTRODUCTION
Fruits like watermelon is a good source of natural essential elements which are consumed by
man to nourish the body and act as a preventive mechanism against several diseases by building
the immune system (Reetu & Maharishi, 2017). Most bye-products of these fruits are also used
in the pharmaceutical companies for the production of supplements (Naz et al., 2013). However,
not only are these fruits useful in drug production, but they can be consumed fresh by humans,
thereby making these essential elements also available to humans.
The pressure on watermelon supply calls for an increased production to meet the
consumer needs, and this makes it important to consider a good edaphic and climatic conditions
to boost its productivity. Watermelon is reportedly grown in a sandy loam soil with a pH value
ranging from 6.5 to 7.5 (Kumar et al., 2013). However, due to the constraints in land
accessibility coupled to the farmers-herders clashes for limited land resources, it is important to
shift the focus from extensification (cultivating large expanse of land) to intensification (the use
of small land area with more inputs) to boost watermelon production (Peter, 2018).
However, for the sustainability of the production in a vertical farming system (soilless
farming), it is important to exploit different varieties of watermelon in order to establish their
stability for production in Nigeria greenhouses by comparing their productivity with the soil
system. Thus the purpose of setting up this study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Three varieties of watermelon (Diamond black, Crimson sweet and Travelers watermelon
varieties) were sourced from the Soilless Farmlab, Abeokuta, Nigeria. The seeds were sown
directly into a 4 kg trough (one part containing buffered and dissolved cocopeat and the second
part contained loamy soil) (4 seeds per trough). 250 g of poultry manure were applied to the 4kg
trough and kept in a screen house were there were been watered thrice a week till harvest and
were twined with thread and stick to avoid intertwining. The experiment was a 2 (substrates) by
3 (varieties) factorial arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The
agronomic data were taken on the plants include the plant height, number leaves and leave area,
days to 50% flowering, days to fruiting, number of fruits produced and the fruit weight were also
taken. Data collected were analysed using ANOVA (SAS 9.0 version) and differences in the
treatment means were separated using Least Significant Differences (LSD) at 5% level of
significance.

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RESULTS
Results obtained showed that at 2 weeks after planting (2WAP), the plant height and number of
leaves produced by the genotypes were insignificant. However, the leaf area of the BD genotype
(10.33±0.57) was significantly higher than the CS (5.50±0.26) and TSO (5.45±0.26) genotypes
(Table 1). At 4 WAP, the number of leaves produced by CS (8.00±0.36) was significantly higher
than the rest genotypes, whereas the leaf area of the BD genotype (14.15±0.62) was significantly
higher than the rest genotypes, while the substrate type was insignificant in the growth
parameters estimated (Table 2).

Table 1. Agronomic performances of three varieties of watermelon grown in soil and soilless
system

Genotypes PH2 NOL2 LA2 PH4 NOL4 LA4

Diamond black 15.08a 4.25a 10.33a 17.08a 6.63b 14.15a
Crimson sweet 15.01a 4.25a 5.50b 17.13a 8.00a 9.69b
Travelers 12.43b 4.75a 5.45b 17.69a 7.00ab 9.88b
watermelon
LSD(0.05) 1.01 0.76 1.69 2.5 1.06 1.83
SE 0.34 0.26 0.57 0.84 0.36 0.62

Means with the same letter down the group are not significantly different from each other
at 5% level of significance. LSD: Least significant difference, SE: Standard error, PH: Plant
height, NOL: Number of leaves, LA: Leaf area.

Table 2. Effect of substrate types (soil and cocopeat) on the agronomic performances of
watermelon

Substrates PH2 NOL2 LA2 PH4 NOL4 LA4

Cocopeat 14.43a 4.42a 6.66a 17.03a 7.50a 10.55a
Soil 13.91a 4.42a 7.53a 17.56a 6.92a 11.93a
LSD(0.05) 0.82 0.62 1.38 2.04 0.86 1.5
SE 0.28 0.21 0.46 0.69 0.29 0.5

Genotypes X Substrates 0.18ns 1.50ns 4.31ns 12.04ns 3.79* 18.17ns

interaction

Means with the same letter down the group are not significantly different from each other
at 5% level of significance. LSD: Least significant difference, SE: Standard error, PH: Plant
height, NOL: Number of leaves, LA: Leaf area.
However, the number of days taken by the TSO genotype (42.25±0.62) was significantly
higher than the BD (39.63±0.62) and CS (38.38±0.62) which took the shortest number of days to
reach 50% flowering. Also the TSO genotype took an average of 62.63±0.69 days to produce
fruits, which was significantly lower than the 59.50±0.69 days taken by the CS genotype which
produced significantly heavier fruits (5.38±0.34) than the rest genotypes (Table 3). However, the
number of days taken by the genotypes to produce fruits in the cocopeat substrate (61.92±0.57)

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was significantly higher than the 59.58±0.69 days spent to produce fruits in the soil, and the
number of fruits produced by the genotypes in the soil system (2.33±0.22) was significantly
higher than the ones produced in the cocopeat substrate (1.50±0.22) (Table 4).

Table 3. Average yield performances of three varieties of watermelon

Genotypes DT50%F DTFruiting NOF FW(kg)

Black diamond 39.63b 60.13b 1.88a 3.50b
watermelon
Crimson sweet 38.38b 59.50b 1.75a 5.38a
watermelon
Traveler watermelon 42.25a 62.63a 2.13a 3.38b
LSD(0.05) 1.83 2.06 0.8 1.02
SE 0.62 0.69 0.27 0.34

Means with the same letter down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5%
level of significance. LSD: Least significant difference, SE: Standard error, DT50%F: Days to
50% flowering, DTFruiting: Days to fruiting, NOF: Number of fruits and FW: Fruit weight.

Table 4. Effect of substrate types (soil and cocopeat) on the yield performances of watermelon

Substrates DT50%F DTFruiting NOF FW(kg)

Cocopeat 40.08a 61.92a 1.50b 4.17a
Soil 40.08a 59.58b 2.33a 4.00a
LSD(0.05) 1.49 1.69 0.66 0.83
SE 0.5 0.57 0.22 0.28

GenotypesXSubstrates 11.38* 8.29ns 0.29ns 0.29ns

interaction

Means with the same letter down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5%
level of significance. LSD: Least significant difference, SE: Standard error, DT50%F: Days to
50% flowering, DTFruiting: Days to fruiting, NOF: Number of fruits and FW: Fruit weight.

DISCUSSION
Ufoegbune et al. (2014) had earlier reported differences in watermelon varietal response to
different climatic conditions as obtained in this study where the BD genotype showed superior
agronomic performance to both CS and TSO genotypes. Although the BD genotype had a better
agronomic performance compared to other genotype, it was the CS genotype that produced
heavier fruits. This could be that the larger leaf area in the CS genotype provided it a larger
photosynthetic surface, thus more photosynthates formed in it were channeled to the fruits
(Richards, 2000).
On the substrate type, the soil usage outperformed the cocopeat substrate in the number
of fruit formed but the fruits in cocopeat substrates were heavier than the ones from soil,
although not significant, the reason the differences in their weight was insignificant despite the

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soil having higher number. The improved performance of the watermelon genotypes in soil could
be a result of the inert organic manure or nutrients present in the soil before the application of
external manure Adediran and Banjoko (2002). Although this findings contradicts the position of
Law-Ogbomo and Ajayi (2009) who had a poor amaranthus performance in soil and
recommended the use of organic manure to augment the soil, a position earlier held by
Egharevba and Ogbe (2002). While it is intrinsic in the fertilization of cocopeat as it does not
contain any inert nutrient. However, the hydroponics system had been reportedly used in the
production of other vegetables (Ossai et al., 2020) as it ensures all year round vegetable
production (Hoang, 2020).

CONCLUSION
The findings of this study had shown that in domesticating exotic watermelon varieties, it is
importance to consider the environmental stability of the variety, as though the DB variety had
better growth performance, it was the CS variety that produced bigger fruits which is the
economic yield of the plant in Nigeria. However, to ensure the all year round performance of
watermelon, the use of cocopeat substrate is important as the fruit weight obtained in it is same
with the soil farming which contained additional inert nutrient to the ones used in fertigating the
plants. Thus the CS variety and cocopeat substrate is recommended for vertical farming in
Nigeria, while further research can be done on the mixture of cocopeat and soil in watermelon
farming to reduce the cost of purchasing the substrate.

REFERENCES
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Egharevba, R. K. A., & Ogbe, F. M. (2002). The effects of different levels of organic and
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Copyrights
Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the
journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative
Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).

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