Plant Growth Bio-stimulants of Seaweed Extract (Sargasum boveanum): Implications Towards Sustainable Production of Cucumber

The purpose of this experiment was to compare the growth and quality of cucumber fruits, in response to different concentrations (C0, C0.75, and C1.5 g L-1) and different application methods (M1: foliar sprays, M2: fertigation, M3: combined foliar sprays and fertigation) of seaweed extract (SwE). The simultaneous use of the method and different concentration of SwE increased the fresh weight of the leaf, fruit weight, yield, number of leaves, evaporation, fruit length, fruit diameter and firmness, stomatal conductance, and nitrate concentration of fruit. On the other hand, the highest amount of fruit firmness (69.25 and 69.27 N) was observed in M2C0.75 and M2C1.5 compared to other treatments, respectively. The M1C0.75 treatment increased the fruit diameter by 26.52% more than the M1C0 treatment. Fruit weight, fruit length, and yield were in the following order in different treatments, M1C1.5˃ M1C0.75 ˃ M3C1.5. So that only in the M1C1.5 treatment, fruit weight, yield, and fruit length were 25, 52.55, and 25.86% higher than the M1C0 treatment, respectively. Generally, the M1 and M3 in concentrations of 0.75 and 1.5 created better plant growth, fruit shape, and quality characteristics compared to the second method (M2) and the C0 treatment. Therefore, the concentration of 1.5 g L-1 and the use of foliar spraying methods, and the combination of foliar spraying and fertigation can be recommended to achieve the maximum yield and quality of cucumber fruits.