Influence of Compost, Boron and Potassium on some Traits in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Grown in Alluvial Soil

Abstract

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is among the most important vegetable crops grown in Egypt for local consumption and exportation. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of two compost types (plant residues and animal residues) with foliar spraying of potassium and boron elements on improving the fruit yield and quality of the cucumber plants grown in an alluvial soil during the two successive summer seasons of 2015 and 2016. The experimental design was a split plot design with three replicates for each treatment. The compost treatments were (C1): Animal compost was applied at rate of 0.2 m3 plot-1 and (C2): compost of rice straw (CRS) was applied at rate of 0.2 m3 plot-1 .While the foliar treatments were (T1): B was foliar applied as boric acid at rate of 0.44 mg L-1, (T2): K was foliar applied as potassium acetate at rate of 200 mg L-1 and (T3): combination of B and K was foliar applied at the same rates as mentioned above. The results showed that, the highest values of all studied vegetative growth parameter such as fresh and dry weights (g plant-1), stem length and diameter(cm) of cucumber plant in both studied seasons were achieved at (C2 (Plant compost) × T3 (B+K)) treatment, while the lowest values were obtained at control treatment (without compost or foliar application).Also, fruit characteristics such as [average fruit weight (g), fruit diameter and length (cm), fruit shape index (LD-1)] and yield [early, total yield (kg plot-1) and total yield (ton fed-1)] gave the same trend in both studied seasons. Also, the values of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and boron contents in leaves of cucumber plant were evaluated under the effect of different types of compost and foliar application of B and K at the same time.