Journal of Applied Horticulture. 2005: 7(1): 25-28

Trichoderma harzianum application increases cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) yield in unheated glasshouse

Altintas, S; Bal, U

Department of Horticulture, Tekirdag Faculty of Agriculture, Trakya University, Tekirdag, Turkey.

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of Trichoderma harzianum applications on yield and fruit characteristics of the cucumber cultivars Y-43-F1, Y-44-F1 and Y-135-F1. T. harzianum, obtained as a commercially available product (Trichoflow WP; 108 cfu/g) was applied to the soil root zone at 4, 10 and 24 g/m2. Observations were made on total yield (g/plant), early yield (g/plant), fruit weight (g/fruit), number of fruits per plant, number of early fruits per plant, mean fruit length (cm) and mean fruit diameter (mm). The main effect of dosage was significant only for total yield for which the 4 g/m rate resulted in the highest total yield per plant (2162.44 g) followed by 24 g/m, 10 g/m and control (1931.67, 1859.11 and 1499.67 g/plant, respectively). Early yield was also positively affected by T. harzianum at 10 g/m2, with an early yield of 1130.56 g/plant. The cultivar main effect, except for the mean fruit diameter, was significant. Interaction between application rates and cultivars was non-significant for all the characteristics. However, the application of T. harzianum significantly increased the total yield.