Green Manure（Sophora alopecuroides）improve Trellised Melon Yield and Quality by regulating Endogenous Hormone

Single-fruit weight was measured using an electronic balance, while fruit length and diameter were determined with a vernier caliper. Crude protein was determined using the Kjeldahl method, vitamin C content was measured by the molybdenum blue colorimetric method, and reducing sugar content was determined using Fehling's titration method. Plant samples were oven-dried, ground, and analyzed for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) contents, from which nutrient accumulation was calculated.Photosynthetic parameters, including net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (Tr), and instantaneous water use efficiency (iWUE), were measured using a LI-6400 portable photosynthesis system (LI-COR Biosciences, Lincoln, NE, USA).

Root samples were carefully washed and scanned using the WinRHIZO Pro (MF 2011a) software in combination with the LA-S plant image analysis system to obtain total root length, root surface area, and root volume. Root endogenous hormones, including indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA₃), and abscisic acid (ABA), were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using the external standard method.Raw experimental data were first organized and processed using Microsoft Excel 2010.

Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 20.0 using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and treatment means were compared by the least significant difference (LSD) test at the P ≤ 0.05 significance level. Figures were generated using Origin 9.0 and Microsoft Excel 2010, and the processed data constituted the final dataset used for subsequent analyses and manuscript preparation.