Growth and Yield of Gherkin (Cucumis Sativus) Under Different Agronomic Practices: A Sustainable Approach

Resource use efficiency and food safety are key features of agricultural sustainability. In this study, two sets of experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of, 1. amending potting media and 2. adding different fertilizers on the growth and yield of gherkin. Two potting media were considered (conventional potting media: M1, field soil: M2) in experiment 1. The corncob (CC); 5%,10%,15% and corncob biochar (CCBC); 5%, 10% were mixed with potting media. Experiment 2 was conducted by incorporating a homemade organic fertilizer (T1), market-available organic fertilizer (T2), and conventional inorganic fertilizer (T3). The experiments were conducted in a controlled environment. In experiment 1, the days taken to first flowering, days taken to first fruit settling, the weight of the harvest, the number of fruits in both media and relative growth rate were comparatively high in 5% CCBC amended potting media. In experiment 2, the best vegetative growth rate was observed in T3and T2 (mean plant height of the last week 148.8 and 147.9 cm, mean leaf growth 4.9 and 5.6 cm, and mean node growth 16 and 15 respectively), whereas the lowest was reported in T1 (97.1, 5.1, 10.5). However, the highest average yields were recorded in T3 and T1 without showing a significant difference. T1; the homemade organic fertilizer resulted in a substantial yield at a low cost.