High Tunnel Production of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) as Influenced by Apical Clipping in Iwollo, South Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Research and Demonstration farm of Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo to study the influence of apical clipping on growth and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) grown under high tunnel. Completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications was used for the experiment. Pointsett-76 cucumber variety was planted and clipped at the apical bud at a certain stage. The treatments were; apical clipping at 2 weeks after sowing (AC2WAS); apical clipping at 3 weeks after sowing (AC3WAS); and apical clipping at 4 weeks after sowing (AC4WAS). The control treatment was left non-clipped. Growth and yield parameters were evaluated. Data collected on growth and yield parameters were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for completely randomized design. The treatment means with significant difference were compared using least significant difference (LSD) at 0.05 probability level. The results showed that there was significant (p<0.05) difference among the treatments with regard to vine length, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, number of fruits per plant, weight of a fresh fruit, and weight of fresh fruit per plant. All the apical clipped plants performed better than the non-clipped plants with clipping at 3 weeks after sowing showing superior performance. It can be concluded that apical clipping has a positive influence on growth and yield of cucumber crop. Base on the findings, apical clipping at 3 weeks after sowing could be recommended for improved high tunnel production of cucumber.