the effect of pruning and spacing on yield related traits of three greenhouse cucumber cultivars

abstract the quantative and qualitative yield comparison of three cucumber f1 cultivars including' sina, amyral, and negin was evaluated using 3×3×3 factorial experimental design with six replication. three types of pruning treatments were applied; cutting down all branches on main stem (b1), leaving one node and the leaf next to it on all branches (b2), leaving two node and the leaf next to them on all branches (b3) and three plant spacing levels (a1: 1.8 plant / m², a2: 2.1 plant / m², a3: 2.4 plant / m²) were studied. the effect of different pruning treatment on yield related traits was highly significant. the average yield with different plant density showed highly significant differences. the interactive effect of pruning and cultivars on yield related traits was also significant. the highest yield per m² and production per plant were found in third pruning treatment (leaving two nodes and the leaf next to them on all branches) with 16.2 kg/m² and 7.75 kg /pl., respectively. on the other hand, spacing of 2.4 plant /m² was the highest yield of 15.6 kg/m². the effect of cultivar on all studied traits in this experiment was significant differences except for number of diformed fruits per plant. the resalt showed that negin cultivar produced the highest yield per m² and production per plant with 15.2 kg/m² and 7.27 kg/pl. respectively. the number of diformed fruits was higher on lateral branches than those on main stems. the fruit on main stems were also found heavier than those on lateral branches.