Effect of liquid organic manure and staking methods on the growth and yield of cucumber (<i>Cucumis sativus l.</i>)

Abstract

The study examined the effect of liquid organic manure and staking methods on the growth and yield of cucumber within the farm practical plot of the Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan. The experiment was a 3 x 2 factorial laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), six treatments (two animal manures, two staking methods and two control) namely; Liquid Poultry Manure and Staking (T1S1), Liquid Poultry Manure and Trellis (T1S2), Liquid Cow dung and Staking (T2S1), Liquid Cow dung and Trellis (T2S2), No Fertilizer and Staking (T3S1) and No Fertilizer and Trellis (T3S2) replicated three times all applied at five litres per plot. The results showed that liquid poultry manure and staking (T1S1) had the best performance in number of leaves, vine length stem diameter and yield recording the mean values of 19.33,102.8cm,3.30mm and 1425kg/ha respectively while no fertilizer and trellis (T3S2) performed least with the mean values of 9.33, 65.5cm, 2.73mm and 195kg/ha. The result obtained showed that although there were no significant differences among the treatments, liquid poultry manure and staking (T1S1) had the highest values in all the parameters assessed. It was therefore concluded that farmers should adopt the use of liquid poultry manure in form of foliar application and stake methods on the growth and yield of cucumber.

Keywords: Liquid manure, staking, trellis, growth, yield and cucumber