Greenhouse Cucumbers

A Guide to Production of Greenhouse Cucumber

This Document outlines one of the practical procedures of producing Greenhouse Cucumber as well as some personal experiences which could be useful for cucumber producers.

a) Background

Generally speaking growing cucumber is economical and important, because this kind of vegetable is used as a great meal throughout the year. Economically cucumber is the fourth most important vegetable after tomatos, onions and cabbages and a lot of benefits are mentioned for it. This vegetable can be used as a basic fruit in all seasons. Also growing greenhouse cucumber in enclosed places enables the farmers to supply the market with fresh fruit in cold seasons.

I started the project near Tehran, i.e. the product can be sold all over the capital quickly, while the capital is a huge insatiable market, especially during Norooz (New Year) Holidays when the consumption of the fruit is doubled. Thus, I started my project while I was almost certain of selling the product.

This project pursued its own purposes among which are:

1. Production of an important product, cucumber, and supplying it in the big market of the capital.

2. Creating job opportunities in an area in which there is a lot of unemployment.

3. Expanding modern methods in production of cucumber, especially modern methods in irrigation in a region with an old layout.

4. Creating an opportunity for gaining experience and promoting my scientific level in both fields of Horticulture and Irrigation.

5. Creating a job position which relates my major and has a fine income.

This project was carried out in a continental area with the average temperature of 15 Celsius, and a humidity of 60%.

b) Personal Workplace Activity

As for the technical details of the work, after reading appropriate books and references, first I prepared the bed soil. The area contains loam-clay soil, which is a suitable kind of soil for growing cucumber. Thus, in mid-October, I just inverted the bed soil with a deep ploughing, and the next day I mixed the soil with 5 kg of fermented manure per square meter. Examining the area's water and soil in my college laboratory about one month ago, I reached the following conclusions about the quality of either case:

· Soil Specifications: EC= 2 mmhos/cm PH= 7

Soil Texture= loam-clay

Pathogenic Factors= zero

· Water Specifications: EC= 3.6 mmhos/cm PH= 6.7

(In 25 Celsius) Mg 2+= 9.75 meq/l Ca 2+= 8.75 meq/l

Cl -= 6.2 meq/l CO3 2-= 0 meq/l

HCO3 -= 9 meq/l

Building the Greenhouses: I started the building of the greenhouses in mid-November. Each greenhouse looks like two connected half cylinders of 52 meters long, 20 meters wide and 3 meters high. The greenhouses have a framework made of galvanized iron pipes and a polyethylene plastic skin of 180 micron, resistant against ultraviolet rays. The greenhouses are built parallel to each other and with a space of 4 meters. Considering the sufficient source of sunlight in the area and the crucial matter of providing the heat, I decided to build the greenhouses in north-south direction; therefore I could reduce the fuel consumption by %20. It should also be mentioned that the heating installations ran with gas oil (2 furnaces for each greenhouse), which were adjusted by a thermostat and the overall consumed gas oil during the growth period was 40,000 liters. The construction of the greenhouses, which was done by a private contractor and under my supervision was over in 7 days.

Delineation and Determining Seeding Distances: after delineation, ten ridges with 2 seeding rows of one meter wide each, and 9 brooks of 90 cm each were made. I set 2 rows of pipes, which had holes with diameters of 0.035 inches, on each ridge, since trickle irrigation was considered to be the main system for irrigation in the greenhouses.

Cultivation Processes: I chose elite variety seeds (Royal), and soaked them in water for ten hours before cultivation. A quite new thing I did in cultivation process was covering the ridges with black polyethylene with a width of 1.5 meter each and I put about 10 cm of the sides of the plastic under the ground. This was done to increase the soil temperature by 4-5 Centigrade; this could increase the development of the roots and improve the plant's yield as a result. Also the black color of the plastic disables the growth of the weeds. It was an absolutely advantageous task. I irrigated the earth thoroughly the day before. In late-Nov., I planted the seeds in two rows on each ridge with a space of 50 cm and in depth of 2 cm. The space between the rows was 80 cm. Besides, I planted 50 other seeds in small vases protected under plastic covers to use them in case the seeds in the main part did not sprout.

Management Process: after planting the seeds, I considered a stable temperature for greenhouses during growth period; 22C at night and 27C in the day. When the plants had 8-10 leaves, i.e. 20 days after seeding, I did not start irrigation yet, and the only thing I did was guiding the bushes upward using hanging strings that were fastened to metal wires fixed in the height of 2.5 meters from the ground. I started Trickled Irrigation in regular intervals and with a very low pressure; irrigation was done 2-3 times a week in average and after the ridges were arid. I also supplied the bushes with fertilizer solutions in each irrigation up to the end of harvest process. The types of fertilizers and the amount used for both greenhouses are as follow: manure 150 kg, ammonium phosphate 30 kg, potassium sulfate 200 kg, magnesium sulfate 70 kg. I mixed the fertilizers with water at a 1 to 100 ratio, and I cut the fertilization in half in cloudy days. Then my workers and I started pruning the bushes until the harvest day.

Harvest Process: after 5-6 weeks the bushes were ready for harvest. Harvesting was done every afternoon by me and the workers using gloves and sharp sheers to prevent damaging the bushes. Approximately 20 tons of cucumber were harvested from each greenhouse. So I sold the fruits after safe packing at the location. Harvesting was over by the end of May next year, and from that date on, I rented out the greenhouses to another person.

Side Activities: to improve the yield of the bushes and precocity of the product in growth period, I burned about 5 liters of pure oil in best conditions using kerosene heaters to provide CO2. Another thing which was done for increasing the amount of the product was stopping the irrigation for 3 days then supplying the bushes with 150 grams of iron fertilizer at the next irrigation which caused an increase of %20-%30 in the yield in the coming days.

Problem Solving: among the problems which I faced during the project was appearance of white spots on older leaves; about 6 weeks after seeding, when the bushes had grown to about 2 meters high, the weather got cloudy, and after some hours it got sunny again in the afternoon. Due to the workers' carelessness, the windows on both ceiling and walls were still shut. Therefore, after I went to the greenhouses the next day, I noticed some white spots on the older leaves of a few plants. Using my information and knowledge I diagnosed the spots to be Cucumber Powdery Mildew, which is a very dangerous fungus in the area. I did not use Benomyl because of its cancerous effect; therefore, I used a kind of fungicide called Mancozeb at a 2 to 1000 ratio. After three days there was no sign of the disease.

It should also be mentioned that all the instruments and tools, as well as workers' clothes were sterilized by special chemicals twice a week. Also I wrote and saved report of events and activities every weekend.

Koorosh Ahmadizadeh - Agricultural Scientist

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