Development and evaluation of nutrient reuse system in soilless media grown cucumber under protected cultivation

Abstract

Cucumber was grown in soilless media under protected cultivation by reusing the drained nutrient solution. The experiment was laid in a completely randomized design with a total of 9 treatments. Fertigation management included three levels of fertigation with F1 = 80% fresh nutrient solution with 20% leachate, F2 = 90% fresh nutrient solution with 10% leachate and F3 = 100% of complete nutrient solution required under optimal microclimatic conditions. Three cultivars of cucumber namely, V1 (Kafka), V2 (Multistar) and V3 (Punjab Kheera-1) were planted in three replicates. The slow sand filtration was used to remove the pathogenic organisms before reusing the drained nutrient solution. The yield per plant was found to be statistically similar in all the three fertigation levels. It means 100% of the leachate can be reused. However, the highest yield of 2.89 kg/plant was found in treatment F3 (100% Fresh nutrient solution), followed by 2.83 kg/plant in treatment F2 (90% Fresh nutrient solution with 10% leachate) and 2.76 kg/plant in treatment F1 (80% Fresh nutrient solution with 20% leachate) showing almost no significant difference in the yield between the treatments. Thus, the study showed that the cucumber crop can be successfully grown in closed soilless system by applying 80% of fresh nutrient solution and 20% leachate solution (i.e., 100% of the drained nutrient solution as 20-25% nutrient solution applied to the crop is drained out).