The Effects of Ni and Different Forms of N on Growth, Yield and Quality of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) Grown in Hydroponic

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Agriculture education center, Pars Abad, Moghan, Assistant professor

2 The University of Tabriz, Tabriz

3 Assistant professor, The University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

4 Agriculture Research Center of East Azarbyjan.

Abstract

It is well known that Ni is an essential nutrient for the higher plant as it controls the N metabolism. An experiment was conducted to asses the effect of different levels of Ni (0, 0.5, 1 mg L-1) supplied with either urea or NH4NO3 on cucumber (Cucumis sativus) growth, yield and quality of two cultivars namely Sina and Vikima. The experiment was arranged in completely randomized block with four replications. Nickel as NiSO4 was added to the Hoagland's solution. The concentration of N was set to 200 mg L-1 by adding either NH4NO3 or urea. During the experiment period, fruits were harvested twice per week and the total yield was recorded for 4 months. Fruit quality such as TSS, fruit color, EC and pH in the juice were measured. At the end of the experiment, two plants from each plot were removed for detraining leaf number and leaf area. Photosynthesis (Pn) was measured at the young leaves of the plants.The results showed that the treatments had significant effect on yield in Vikima cultivar. At 0.5 mg l-1 Ni concentration, the highest yield, 1.45 and 1.53 kg per plant was obtained in urea and NH4NO3-fed plant in Vikima cultivar, respectively. No significant effect of Ni treatments was observed on the yield of Sina cultivar. The dry weight of urea-fed plant at 0.5 mg l-1 Ni concentration was 16.5% higher than that of 0 mg L-1. However in this cultivar, dry weight of fruits reduced in NH4NO3-fed plant as the result of the increased Ni concentration in the solution. The concentration of Ni in the leaves was increased as the Ni level increased in the nutrient solution. The concentration of Ni varied between cultivars so that Sin cultivar had lower Ni concentration than that of Vikima cultivar. Use of Ni up to 0.5 mg L-1 significantly increased the fruit color in Urea-fed plants, but it reduced when the concentration of Ni in the solution raised to 1 mg L-1. The EC of fruit juice was  also affected by the treatments. It can be concluded that adding 0.5 mg L-1 Ni to the nutrient solution improves cucumber growth in certain cultivars where the plants supplied with urea, but in the others increased Ni in the solution even at 0.5 mg L-1 concentration lead to reduction plant growth and yield. In general, higher concentration (1 mg L-l) of Ni appeared to have the opposing effect on the cucumber growth.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Journal of Soil Research
Volume 20, Issue 2
February 2007
Pages 175-182

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