Effect of fertigation levels and spacing on growth and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) cv. KPCH-1 grown under polyhouse

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different spacing and fertigation levels on growth and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) cv. KPCH-1 under naturally ventilated polyhouse. The experiment was laid out following Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications.The experiment wascomprised of total nine treatment combinations of two factors, three levels of spacing viz. 60 cm × 35 cm (S1), 60 cm × 35 cm (S2) and 60 cm × 55 cm (S3) with three levels of fertigation viz. 80% RDF (F1), 100% RDF (F2) and 120% RDF (F3). Among the treatment combinations, S3F2treatment (60 cm ×55 cm with 100% RDF) showed the best interaction effect for vine length at 30 DAT (69.47 cm), at 60 DAT (229.40cm), at final harvest (339.73 cm),crop duration (103.93 days)number of fruits per vine (37.67), fruit length (17.13 cm), fruit girth (11.57 cm),average fruit weight (122.33 g), fruit yield per vine (4.20 kg), days to first flower appearance (28.13 days), intermodal length (8.90 cm), nodal position of first flower (2.73) and days to first picking of fruits (35.93 days). The maximum vegetative growth and yield of the cucumber were found in S3F2 treatment. The maximum available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium were found in S3F3 (60 cm ×55 cm with120 % RDF as compared to initial fertilizer in polyhouse. The maximum benefit-cost ratio was found in the treatment S3F2 (2.90) followed by S3F1 (2.67). Based on these findings, it is recommended that spacing of 60 cm × 55 cm and application of fertilizer with 100% RDF under naturally ventilated polyhouse is economical and found suitable for vegetative growth and yield of the cucumber.