Influence of mulching on gherkins at two levels of irrigation

Abstract

The field experiments described here were conducted over a period of three years. The effect of mulching on emergence, phenophase, the weight of single fruits and yield of the ‘Elisabet F1’ and ‘Harriet F1’ cultivars of gherkins were evaluated, using wheat straw, black non-woven fabric and Ekocover paper mats as mulch compared to a non-mulched control variant. A positive effect of mulching on emergence was found using non-woven fabric at a reduced level of irrigation. The use of non-woven fabrics (21.01 t/ha) and wheat straw (22.92 t/ha) as mulch positively affected yield compared with the non-mulched variant (20.97 t/ha). Reduced levels of irrigation positively influenced the representation of market fruit compared to optimum levels of irrigation (about 1.5 to 3.1%), but these fruits were lighter (about 0.5 to 2.0 g). The influence of the cultivar on the evaluated properties of gherkins was insignificant. Higher yield (9%) and a higher percentage of market fruit (about 0.8 to 2.0%) was found for the ‘Harriet F1’ compared to ‘Elisabet F1’.