Effect of fertigation and foliar application of boron on uptake and nutrient use efficiency and B:C ratio by cucumber

The effect of fertigation and foliar application of boron on yield, uptake of nutrients by cucumber Cv. Himangi was studied during two consecutive years 2018-19 and 2019-20. An experiment was carried out in open field conditions with five fertigation levels viz., 100 % RDF through soil, 120 %, 100 %, 80 % and 60 % RDF through fertigation in ten equal splits at 10 days interval along with three levels of foliar application of boron viz. 0.0, 0.1, and 0.2 per cent concentration at 30, 45 and 60 DAS to determine suitable fertigation and foliar spray of boron dose for cucumber cultivation. The experiment was consisting of fifteen treatment combinations of recommended doses of water-soluble fertilizers, comprising of five levels of fertigation. The results indicated that, yield, nutrient uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium under study were significantly influenced by various fertigation and boron levels. On the basis of pooled data, it was observed that, among various treatment combinations, the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium by cucumber shoot and fruit was increased significantly with the application of 120 % RDF through fertigation. The B:C ratio and GMR are highest with the application of 120 % RDF through fertigation. The use efficiency of N, P and K was higher with the optimum level of NPK i.e. 60 % RDF through fertigation. The foliar application of boron at 0.2 % concentration resulted improvement in uptake of N, P and K and use efficiency of nutrients.