Effect of Gibberellic Acid and Zinc Sulphate on Growth, Yield and Quality of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Horticulture Research Field, Department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute, Faculty of Agriculture, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, during February-May, 2023 on cucumber. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with twenty treatment combinations and was replicated thrice. The experiment consisted of two factors. Factor H: Hybrids (TMCU-1107, TMCU-1125, TMCU-3112 and Saira-934) and Factor T: Different concentrations of GA₃+ZnSO₄ (T0 - Control (water spray), T1 -GA₃ @100ppm+ZnSO₄ @0.25%, T2 - GA₃ @200ppm+ ZnSO₄ @0.50%, T3 - GA₃ @300ppm+ ZnSO₄ @0.75% and T4 - GA₃ @400ppm+ZnSO₄ @1%). TMCU-1125 recorded significantly higher yield attributes of cucumber over other hybrids in parameters like vine length at 80 DAS (102.6 cm), days to 50% flowering (40), days to 1st harvest (46), number of fruits per plant (11), fruit length (18.4 cm), average fruit weight (237.5 g), average fruit yield per plant (2.6 kg) and ascorbic acid content (0.8 mg/100g). Among different treatments, GA₃ @300ppm+ ZnSO₄ @0.75% resulted in significantly longer vine at 80 DAS (98.4 cm), Days to 50% flowering (43), days to 1st harvest (50), number of fruits per plant (9), fruit length (16.6 cm), average fruit weight (232.0 g), average fruit yield per plant (2.0 kg) and ascorbic acid content (0.5 mg/100g). The interaction effect of T8 (TMCU-1125 + GA₃ @300ppm+ ZnSO₄ @0.75% is best suited for getting higher growth, yield, quality of cucumber.