Quality of cucumber seedlings grown in different substrate volumes

Abstract

The production of vegetable seedlings is a part of horticultural production that is very intensive and requires a number of horticultural practices and measures. The standards of quality seedlings are not well defined, but mostly refer to the following facts: without infections of diseases or pests, ability to survive in unfavorable environments after transplanting, well developed root system, adequate root:shoot ratio, and well developed leaf area without visible physiological defects of leaves. In this study cucumber seedlings (Cucumis sativus L.) were grown in five different substrate volumes (100, 200, 300, 500 and 1000 cm³) with aim to determine which substrate volume ensured production of seedlings with the highest quality in the shortest time. Research was conducted in controlled conditions (growing chambers) at the Faculty of Agriculture in Belgrade. The quality of the seedlings was monitored through the following growth parameters: plant height (cm), stem height (cm), stem diameter (cm), number of leaves, plant fresh weight (g), and leaf area per plant (cm²). The results obtained show that the increase in substrate volume resulted in a linear increase in the values of all measured quality parameters of the seedlings. However, the seedlings grown in a smaller substrate volume (especially 200 and 300 cm³) also had growth parameters that met the standards for high-quality seedlings, which is economically justified from several aspects: lower substrate consumption, greater number of pots per unit.