Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on Yield and Quality of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of plant growth regulators (PGRs) on the yield and quality of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) to explore its production potential conducted during the summer season of 2020 at the College farm, College of Horticulture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Jagudan. The experiment followed a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications and ten treatments which including different concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA3), Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and ethrel viz., T1: Control (Water spray), T2: NAA at 50 ppm, T3: NAA at 75 ppm, T4: NAA at 100 ppm, T5: GA3 at 20 ppm, T6: GA3 at 40 ppm, T7: GA3 at 60 ppm, T8: Ethrel at 100 ppm, T9: Ethrel at 200 ppm, and T10: Ethrel at 300 ppm were applied at the 2-4 true leaf stages. Treatment T10 (Ethrel @ 300 ppm) exhibited the highest number of fruits per vine (14.13), while T4 (NAA @ 100 ppm) showed the maximum number of pickings (8.59). GA3 @ 40 ppm (T6) recorded the highest fruit yield per vine (1.87 kg), Fruit yield per plot (28.29 kg) and Fruit yield per hectare (251.50 q). Additionally, Treatment T6 produced fruits with the longest length (30.34 cm) and widest diameter (3.91 cm). These findings demonstrate the potential of plant growth regulators particularly Ethrel and GA3to significantly impact on cucumber yield and quality.