Effect of selenium and silicon foliar applications on cucumber growing

In the present study, foliar applications of selenium (Se) and silicon (Si) on the open field grown cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) were studied. Treatments were performed by four ways; 1) Selenium, 2) Silicon, 3) Control, 4) Se + Si together. The effects of Se and Si on plant growth, yield, fruit properties, leaf mineral concentrations and fruit Se, Si contents have been investigated. The concentration of 50 ppm Se from Na2SeO4 and 300 ppm Si from K2SiO3 were applied to the leaves three times by 15 days interval during the growing period. In order to investigate the effects of the Se and Si on plant growth and fruit properties following parameters were investigated: plant height, leaf number, fruit weight, fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit volume, pH, and EC and total soluble solids of fruit juice. The fruit harvests were performed every 2-3 days and total yield was collected. The effects of the Se and Si on the leaf mineral concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Se and Si were investigated. Fruit Se and Si contents were also analyzed. As results, the effects of foliar applications of Se and Si on total yield were significant and increasingly affected the yield. Se, Si and Se+Si have increased the yield by 11 %, 8 % and 25 % respectively. The most remarkable effect on yield was together using of Se+Si. Fruit Se and Si contents also increased by the foliar applications.