Organo-mineral fertilizer effect on performance of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in Umudike, southeast Nigeria

Abstract

A two-year field experiment was conducted during the cropping seasons of 2019 and 2020 to examine the influence of different organic  manure sources, N:P:K-(15:15:15) fertilizer and combined application of organic manure and N:P:K-(15:15:15) fertilizer on the growth and  yield of cucumber at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike situated in a rain forest agroecology. The experiment was laid  out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments were sole application of organic manures (poultry  manure, goat manure and rabbit manure at 10 t/ha, N:P:K-(15:15:15) fertilizer at 300 kg/ha and combination of organic manures and  N:P:K fertilizer at 5 t/ha and 150 kg/ha, respectively. The results showed that the application of poultry manure closely followed by a  combined application of poultry manure and N:P:K-(15:15:15) fertilizer significantly (P<0.05) increased the vine length, number of leaves  per plant, leaf area, leaf area index, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, number of fruits and fresh fruit yield compared to the other  treatments investigated. The highest fresh fruit yield per hectare was recorded in year 2019 cropping season, which was higher by 24.56% compared to year 2020 cropping season while the interaction between poultry manure and year 2019 gave the highest fresh fruit yields.  Therefore, poultry manure source or a combination of poultry manure and N:P:K-(15:15:15) fertilizer can be adjudged to be better  sources of high soil nutrients for cucumber production in Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria.