Mycorrhizae and algae extract effects on cucumber growth, yield, and nutraceutical quality of fruits under greenhouse conditions

Description

Microbial and organic plant biostimulants are environmentally friendly options that improve nutrient absorption, plant growth, and productivity in terms of quantity and quality. Thus, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the biostimulants of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-Glomus mosseae (AMF-Gs) and marine algae extract (MAE) at three concentrations (600, 1200, and 1800 g/ha), as well as their integration on the performance of cucumber plants grown under greenhouse conditions. The results demonstrated that soil inoculation with AMF-Gs and soil application of MAE, both solely and simultaneously, improved most of the studied characteristics related to root and shoot growth, yield components, and nutraceutical quality of the fruits. Moreover, the most effective treatment was the combination of AMF-Gs inoculation and soil application of MAE at 600 g/ha (T6: AMF-Gs+MAE 1), which maintained a good balance between the plant yield components and the nutraceutical quality of the fruits. Therefore, farmers can use these biostimulants to reduce dependence on agrochemicals and thus make production more sustainable for the environment and consumers.

Institutions

• University of Sulaimani

Categories

Funders

• Nottingham Trent University

  United Kingdom

Licence