Comparative study of cucumber ( Cucumissativus L.) cultivars under organic fertilizer treatments in the Southern Guinea Savanna, Nigeria

Purpose: The study investigated the growth and yield of cucumber cultivars under the influence of the organic fertilizers application.Method: A 4 x 5 factorial combination of four cucumber cultivars (Poinsett, Marketer, Marketmore, and Darina hybrid) and four organic fertilizers (Sunshine, Aleshinloye, Gateway, KWASU organic-based fertilizer-KOBF, and the control) in a completely randomized design at the screen house and a randomized complete block in split-plot fashion in the field were replicated three times.Results: At 8 WAP in the screen house, the leaf areas and vine length at the control were significantly (p< 0.05) lower compared to the treated plots with the application of organic fertilizers. The Darina hybrid had significantly longer fruit (17.8cm), thicker fruits (13.70 cm), and a higher Fruit yield per hectare (10083.23 kg) compared to other cultivars. In the field, regardless of the organic fertilizer applied, leaf area, fruit length, fruit circumference, and fruit yield per hectare produced at the control were significantly lower than where there were soil amendments. The treated plots with the application of KOBF had significantly more leaf area, longer and thicker fruits, and fruit yield per hectare compared to the application of other organic fertilizers. The fruit length (12.74 cm), fruit circumference (12.30 cm), and fruit yield per hectare (4048.29 kg) obtained with the application of Aleshinloye organic fertilizer were significantly (p< 0.05) lower compared to other organic fertilizers.Conclusion: The Darina hybrid was superior to other cultivars with the application of KOBF organic fertilizer.Highlights· The growth and fruit yield of cucumbers were enhanced with the application of organic fertilizers and varied among the fertilizers and cucumber cultivars.· Regardless of cucumber cultivar, KOBF ranked first, followed by Gateway, Sunshine, and Aleshinloye.· Among the four cucumber cultivars, the darina hybrid was found to be the best in both the field and screen house studies.· Application of KOBF fertilizer and Darina cultivars is recommended for organic cucumber production.