Journal of Agronomy and Field Innovations

Background: Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is known as a very valuable vegetable starting from its cultural point of view, where farming should be practiced in controlled environments and conditions of open fields in accordance with the specific schedules of watering and fertilizing that will be applied. Traditional methods of fertigation applied fixed doses of nutrients in predetermined intervals, irrespective of the growth stage of the cucumbers and moisture in the soil.
Objective: The aim of this particular study was to develop and test the optimized method of fertility scheduling, based on stages of growth, in comparison with the traditional methods of fertilization.
Methods: The experiment was set up as a randomized complete block design under a polyhouse environment with four treatments (T1-T4) and triplicate. The optimized method (T4) included triggered irrigation, as well as stage by stage application of nutrients (N-P-K), therefore showing all advantages of the modern technology. Growth, yield, nutrient uptake and use efficiency of the new technology were tested and analyzed using ANOVA.
Results: The optimized fertigation schedule led to a statistically significant (p<0.05) increase in the fruit yield (22.2%), nitrogen recovery efficiency (20.3 percentage points), phosphorus recovery efficiency (13.3 percentage points), potassium recovery efficiency (19.3 percentage points) in comparison with conventional practice, as well as an improvement in water use efficiency (approximately 41%).
Conclusion: Use of growth stage-based and sensor-enhanced fertigation scheduling improves the nutrient recovery and resource efficiency in cucumber production without extra fertilizer application, which can be successfully utilized in sustainable vegetable farming.