Effect of Yaramila complex fertilizer on growth and yield of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Yaramila complex fertilizer on the growth and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments (T1-T6) in nine replications. The Yaramila complex fertilizer (12:11:18 NPK + 3MgO + 8S) was applied at different rates as basal (0-4 g per plant) and top dressing (4-8 g per plant), whereas treatments were T1 (0,4), T2 (0,8), T3 (2,4), T4 (2,8), T5 (4,4) and T6 (4,8). The results revealed that the application of Yaramila fertilizer had a significant influence on the vine length, number of leaves, the total number of fruits, and fresh weight of fruits per plant, as well as the dry weight of crop residue among the treatments. At 5% significant level, the vine length in T4 (2 g basal and 8 g top dressing) (37.12 cm) was significantly longer than that (27.75 cm) in T5 (4 g basal and 4 g top dressing), which had a shorter vine length compared to other treatments at 4th WAP. The number of leaves was high (7.3) in T6 (4 g basal and 8 g top dressing), whereas the number of leaves was low (4.9) in T2 (0 g basal and 8 g top dressing) at 2 nd WAP. Yaramila fertilizer application significantly (P=0.0001) influenced the total number of harvested fruits per plant. There were no remarkable differences in fruit diameter and fruit length between the treatments at P=0.05. Fruit length ranged from 14.06 cm (T1 as a control: 0 g basal and 4 g top dressing) to 17.33 cm (T4: 2 g basal and 8 g top dressing). There was a significant difference (P=0.0012) in harvested fruit weight per plant among the treatments. The highest mean value of cumulative fruit yield was obtained in T5 (14,968.89 kg/ha), and the least value was observed in T3 (7,857.78 kg/ha). Yaramila fertilizer 4 g per plant as basal application and 4 g per plant as a top dressing (2 g at 2 weeks and 2 g at 4 weeks) [T5 treatment] could be used in cucumber cultivation to obtain high fruit yield.