Salt Tolerance of Two Muskmelon Cultivars under Two Radiation Levels1

The salt tolerance of cultivars of muskmelon ( Cucumis melo , L.) was established under 2 levels of radiation in a glasshouse experiment. ‘Galia’ and ‘Top Mark’ muskmelon differed very little in salt tolerance at either radiation level. The maximum electrical conductivity of a saturated soil extract without yield reduction, the salt tolerance threshold, was 2.0 dS m −1 . Beyond the threshold, yield was reduced at a rate of 14.3% per unit increase in soil salinity. Both cultivars were more salt-tolerant at the higher level of solar radiation.