Abstract
To clarify the influence of different levels of greenhouse ventilation on cucumber growth and yield under forcing culture, we grew ‘Natsunokaori’ cucumber plants grafted onto ‘Yuyu Ikki (Black)’ squash rootstock under two culture conditions in which the air temperatures in the greenhouses between 8:00 and 13:00 were adjusted to 25°C (L treatment) and 30°C (H treatment) by varying the amount of ventilation. Four training methods were used. As a result, fruit growth was suppressed and leaf development was promoted at 25°C (L treatment), but there was no difference in the total number of lateral branches, harvested fruits and marketable fruits between the two culture conditions. As for training methods, wire-training and leaving three second-lateral branches unpinched yielded a greater number of harvested fruits and higher marketable yields than the other training methods. Furthermore, training work was simplified. Therefore, these training methods appeared suitable for forcing cucumber culture.
