Document Type : Research Paper - Olericulture
Authors
1 Department of Horticultural Sciences, Gorgan University of agricultural sciences and natural resources, Gorgan, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Gorgan University of agricultural sciences and natural resources, Gorgan, Iran.
3 Professor, Dept of Horticulture, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
4 Assistant Professor, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Gorgan University of agricultural sciences and natural resources, Gorgan, Iran.
Abstract
Abstract
Introduction: Cucumber is one of the vegetables that has a large area under greenhouse cultivation in Iran. There are many problems in greenhouse cucumber cultivation, most of which is the reduction of water and food absorption due to various environmental stresses, which has a direct effect on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of cucumber. Meanwhile, salicylic acid acts as a vital regulator as well as a potential tool for product protection and sustainable production. In addition, boron plays a role in the transfer of sugars and hormones, fruit formation, leaf and flower bud formation in plants. Therefore, the main purpose of this experiment is to evaluate the combined effect of salicylic acid and boric acid on Gohar cultivar greenhouse cucumber, which is carried out under soil cultivation conditions on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the plant and fruit.
Materials and methods: The present study was implemented as a factorial arrangement based on a randomized complete block design in three replications. The first factor was spraying salicylic acid in three concentrations (0, 0.5 and 1 mM) and the second factor was spraying boric acid in three concentrations (0, 2 and 4 mM). After the emergence of the second true leaf of cucumber, foliar spraying was done with an interval of 10 days, and four times of foliar spraying were done in total. Morphological traits such as plant length, number of leaves, single leaf area and petiole length were measured. Leaf biochemical traits such as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid, anthocyanin and fruit quality traits such as total sugar, sucrose, glucose and fructose and finally the number of fruit and yield were measured.
Results and Discussion: According to the results, salicylic acid and boric acid had a significant effect on the traits. A higher number of leaves with an average of 47.33 was observed in 0.5 mM salicylic acid and 0 mM boric acid. In 0 mM salicylic acid and 2 mM boric acid, the upper leaf area was recorded as 306.03 cm2. Similarly, the highest amount of total chlorophyll was recorded with 12.11 and 10.8 mgg-1FW, respectively, in 0 and 1 mM salicylic acid along with 2 mM boric acid. The maximum amount of fruit sucrose and fructose was seen with 226.28 and 87.9 mgg-1FW, respectively, in 1 mM salicylic acid and 0 mM boric acid. 1 mM salicylic acid in 2 mM boric acid showed the highest amount of fruit glucose with 368.71 mgg-1FW. The highest number of fruits with 86.33 and the highest total fruit yield with 9.59 kg/plant and 21.10 kg/m2 was obtained corresponding to 0.5 mM salicylic acid in 2 mM boric acid. Likewise, the lowest number of fruits with 44 and the lowest yield with 3.39 kg/plant was recorded in control.
Conclusion: By evaluating the obtained results, salicylic acid had a more noticeable effect than boric acid. However, the combination of salicylic acid and boric acid showed a more optimal result than their single application. In general, 0.5 mM salicylic acid in 2 mM boric acid achieved better results in most quantitative and qualitative traits.
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