Effect of differences in substrate formulations on cucumber growth under soilless bag culture in greenhouse

Abstract

Five formulations of substrates designated as SF-1, SF-2, SF-3, SF-4, and SF-5, which were composed of perlite, peat, cinder, and organic fertilizer, were used to examine their effect on the growth of cucumber under soilless culture in planting bags. The proportion of perlite and peat in every substrate was set at 16.7 and 41.7%, while that of cinder and organic fertilizer was changed from 33.3 to 12.5 and 8.3 to 29.1%, respectively. The chemical properties of the substrates and the nutrient content and growth of the plants were evaluated during the experiment. The results showed that SF-3 with 20.8% cinder and 20.8 % organic fertilizer led to optimum crop performance and highest yield. Although SF-5 with the highest rate of organic fertilizer showed the highest nutrient content, the growth of the plants was not optimum among all the substrates. Incorporation of organic fertilizer into these substrates contributed to the maintenance of nutrient availability during the growth period, while the excessive use of organic fertilizer did not enable to increase the yield.