Effect of Soil Textures on Fruit Yield, Nitrogen and Water Use Efficiencies of Cucumber Plant as Affected by Subsurface Drip Fertigation in the Greenhouse

Abstract

Growing crops under different soil textures may affect crop growth and yield because of soil N availability, soil N leaching, and plant N uptake. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of three different soils (sandy loam, loam, and clay loam) on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) yield, nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE), and water use efficiency (WUE) by subsurface drip fertigation in the greenhouse. Three different soil textures are sandy loam, loam, and clay loam with 3 replications. The dimension of each lysimeter was <TEX>$1.0m(W){\times}1.5m(L){\times}1.0m(H)$</TEX>. Cucumber was transplanted on April <TEX>$8^{th}$</TEX> and Aug <TEX>$16^{th}$</TEX> in 2011. The subsurface drip line and tensiometer was installed at 30 and 20 cm soil depth, respectively. An irrigation with <TEX>$100mg\;NL^{-1}$</TEX> concentration was automatically applied when the tensiometer reading was 10 kPa. Volumetric soil water content for cucumber cultivation was the highest in 30 cm soil depth regardless of soil texture and was lowered when soil depth was deeper. The volumetric soil water contents at soil depths of 10, 30, 50, and 70 cm were the highest at clay loam, followed by loam, and sandy loam. The growth of cucumber at the <TEX>$50^{th}$</TEX> day after transplanting was the lowest at sandy loam. Cucumber fruit yields were similar for all three soil textures. The highest amount of water use at sandy loam was observed. Nitrogen and water use efficiencies for cucumber were higher for clay loam, followed by loam and sandy loam, while the amount of N leaching was the greatest under sandy loam, followed by loam, and clay loam. Overall, growing cucumber on either loam or clay loam is better than sandy loam if subsurface drip fertigation is used in the greenhouse.