![]() | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Effect of nutrient solution strength on growth and yield of grafted and non-grafted cucumber grown hydroponically in greenhouse The experiment was carried out on grafted and non-grafted cucumbers in the winter and spring of 2018 and 2019 in a polyethylene greenhouse of 240m2 (6m x 40m) located in the experimental farm at the Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. The plants grow under the temperatures and natural light in a greenhouse. The option cultivar used in this experiment was Barracuda F1 on commercial gourd root grafts of 6001 origin Ready seedlings were purchased from the SEKEM company for the production of seedlings in Belbeis, Sharkia Governorate. The experiment consisted of 240 containers filled with 10 kg of well-washed sand ponic and planted with one planting, and the vessels were arranged in 5 rows, and each row contains 3 replicates and each replicate contains 16 pots (8 pots had grafted and 8 pots had non-grafted transplants). Every row was irrigated with a drip irrigation line using one nutrient solution strength of 70% (700 mL of nutrient solution / 100 L water), 80%, 90% 100% and 110% along its life. The nutrient solution Cooper was purchased from the Arid Land Center of the Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University. The distance between the pots inside the row was 0.5 meters and the distance between the centers of every two adjacent rows was 1.2 meters. All agricultural practices (trimming, removing extra branches and treating pests and diseases) were implemented as recommended by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture for the production of greenhouse cucumbers, and the statistical design used was to design whole sectors. Fresh leaf weight - dry leaf weight - stem length - stem diameter and number of leaves - chlorophyll - marketable yield - N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn nutrients were analyzed. Results obtained in response to vegetative growth factors (Fresh leaf weight, dry leaf weight, stem length, stem diameter and number of leaves) for both grafted and non-grafted cucumber plants for the strength of the nutrient solution. As all treatments increased as the strength of the nutrient solution increased from 70% to 110%. The concentration of nutrients in the leaves of the cucumber plant increased with the increase in the strength of the nutrient solution to 100%, then it did not increase, but it decreased in some cases with the concentration of the nutrient solution by 110%. It also gave the highest value for the length of the stem and the number of leaves that reflect the number of nodes per stem of the plant in plants. |