Growth, yield, fruit quality and nutrient uptake of hydroponically cultivated zucchini squash as affected by irrigation systems and growing seasons

Abstract

Zucchini plants ( Cucurbita pepo L.) were grown in closed soilless systems to analyze the effects of two of the most promising and used irrigation systems (drip and subirrigation) and two cropping seasons (spring-summer and summer-fall) in terms of substrate EC, growth, yield, fruit quality (dry matter, carbohydrates, protein, Vitamin C, nitrates and mineral composition), total nutrient uptake, mineral solution composition and water use efficiency (WUE). Plants grown with subirrigation had a high electrical conductivity in the upper and lower layers of the pots in both growing seasons, especially in the spring-summer season. In the spring-summer season, zucchini yield (total and marketable) was 18% lower with the subirrigation than with the drip-irrigation system, but the fruit quality was higher (dry matter, glucose and fructose concentrations), while no significant difference of total and marketable yield were recorded between irrigation systems during summer-fall season. In both growing seasons, and after 76 days of solution recycling, the variation of nutrients (N, P, K, Mg and Na) in the solution composition at the end of the experiment was lower with the subirrigation than with the drip-irrigation systems. Compared with the spring-summer season, plants grown in the summer-fall season exhibited a 35 and 33% lower total and marketable yield, respectively, but offer several benefits: earlier production (10 days), and higher fruit quality (higher concentration of glucose, fructose, sucrose, starch, P, K, and Mg), and water use efficiency. To produce 1 kg of marketable fruits 29 L of nutrient solution were necessary in the summer-fall season and 42 L in the spring-summer season. From an environmental point of view, growing zucchini during the summer-fall season represents an important practice to improve WUE especially in areas where water conservation is a concern.