ISHS Acta Horticulturae 278: Symposium on Scheduling of Irrigation for Vegetable Crops under Field Condition
EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT IRRIGATION SYSTEMS ON ROOT GROWTH AND YIELD OF GREENHOUSE CUCUMBER |
| Authors: | K. Chartzoulakis, N. Michelakis |
| Abstract:
The effect of different irrigation systems on greenhouse cucumber, hyb. Pepinex, was investigated. Five systems were compared: Furrow, microtubes, drip, porous clay tubes and porous plastic tubes. The amount of irrigation water and the frequency of irrigation were controlled by tensiometers, so that soil water potential was kept above - 10 KPa in all treatments. The total amount of water applied for 3.5 months period was 507, 383, 366, 342 and 292 mm with furrows, microtubes, porous plastic tubes, porous clay tubes, and drippers respectively. The root system developed mainly in the 0 – 30 cm soil layer and root density was highest at 15 cm depth. Salinity of the soil saturation extract decreased with depth, and it was highest in the case of porous clay tubes (2.7 dS/m). Fruit yield per plant, which was 4.5, 4.4, 5.1, 3.7 and 4.3 Kg for the above mentioned systems respectively, was significantly higher (P=0.05) with porous plastic tubes. The number of fruits per plant was also significantly higher with porous plastic tubes while fruit size was not affected by the irrigation system. The water utilization efficiency for harvested yield (Ey) was highest with drippers (27.7 Kg.m-3 water) and lowest with furrows (16.8 Kg.m-3). | |
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