Effect of fertilizer type and nodal pinching on growth, flowering pattern and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

Two field trials were conducted during the wet and dry seasons to study the effect of fertilizer type and pinching on the growth, flowering pattern and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) at the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) from May to August 2009 (Wet season) and from October to February 2010 (Dry season). The experiment was a 3 x 3 factorial in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications. Fertilizer type, as the first factor, comprised poultry manure, NPK (15-15-15) and no fertilizer. Pinching out of terminal bud which represented the second factor was made up of no pinching, pinching on 6th node and pinching on 10th node. Poultry manured treatments were fertilized with 1000kg ha-1 of the manure while NPK (15-15-15) treatments received 100kg ha-1 of the fertilizer. At the vegetative stage, with respect to the fertilizer types, plants fertilized with NPK (15-15-15) and poultry manure produced significantly more (P < 0.05) leaves, branches and taller plants than the control 21 days after germination for the two seasons. However, NPK (15-15-15) and poultry manured plants indicated comparable values for the number of leaves, branches and plants’ height during that period. Poultry manured plants produced significantly greater number of branches (P < 0.05) compared to plants fertilized with NPK (15-15-15) and the unfertilized plants 28 days after germination in the wet season. Plants pinched at the 6th node without fertilizer also produced significantly more (P < 0.05) branches than 10th node pinched plants and un-pinched plants (control) 28 days after germination for the two seasons. However, the interactions of the two factors could not produce significant differences with respect to the parameters taken at the vegetative stage. At the reproductive stage, NPK (15-15-15) plants produced significantly greater number of female flowers (P < 0.05) than the poultry manured plants and the control plants. The number of female flowers produced by the 6th node pinched plants also showed significant differences (P < 0.05) in comparison to those produced by the 10th node pinched plants and the control in wet season. Increase in number of branches by either fertilizer type or pinching treatments resulted in increase in flower production, fruits set and consequently increase in harvested fruits. However, adverse weather in both seasons resulted in fruit abortion which reduced the fruit yields in the NPK (15-15-15) treatments. Nutrient deficiency was also a contributing factor. With regard to marketable yields in the wet season, plants that received poultry manure produced the greater number of marketable fruits than the control (P < 0.05). In the dry season, significantly (P < 0.05) greater number of marketable fruits were produced by the two fertilizer treatments over the control. The highest number of marketable fruits for the wet and dry seasons (53,300 and 29,200 fruits ha-1 respectively) were produced by plants that received poultry manure and were pinched at the 6th node. In economic terms, application of 1000kg ha-1 of poultry manure and pinching at the 6th node resulted in the highest net profit for both wet (GH¢4,292.56) and dry (GH¢4,755.21) seasons. In conclusion, application of 1000kg ha-1 poultry manure and pinching at 6th node is recommended for adoption by farmers for high profit.

Source: KNUST