THE EFFECTS OF CO₂ ENRICHMENT ON CUCUMBER GROWTH UNDER GREENHOUSE CONDITIONS

The effects of CO₂ enrichment on the bioproductivity and nutrition of a cucumber crop (cv.
Marumba) were studied under greenhouse conditions in two crop cycles.
Enrichment to a CO₂ concentration of 700 µmol mol^-1 when ventilators were closed and 345 µmol mol^-1 with open ventilators was used in a greenhouse, while another similar greenhouse was used as control treatment.
The experiments were conducted during the fall-winter season on perlite bags at a plant density of 1.33 plants m^-2. Plant samples were taken at the vegetative, flowering, fruit development and harvesting stages.
The dry matter contents and the concentrations of total N, P, K, Ca and Mg were analyzed on leaf, stem-petiole, fruits and pruned parts.
Fruits were regularly harvested as they reached commercial ripeness.
The treatment with CO₂ increased yield by 18.4 and 14.2%, and total accumulated dry matter by 14.4 and 13.3% in the first and second crop cycles, respectively.
The nutrient content in aerial organs, expressed in % of dry matter, was also affected by CO₂ enrichment.
The crop grown in a CO₂-enriched atmosphere consumed a greater amount of nutrients, mainly N, K, Ca and Mg

V International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates: Current Trends for Suistainable Technologies

M.L. Segura, J.F. Parra, P. Lorenzo, M.C. Sánchez-Guerrero, E. Medrano

dry matter, nutrient uptake, partitioning, nutrient content

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.559.31