Soilless cucumber response to mulching in an unheated Mediterranean greenhouse

Canopy intercepted radiation is one of the main inputs for bioproductivity and a limiting factor for greenhouse production in the Mediterranean area. Mulching with white polyethylene (PE) film is widely used in sophisticated greenhouses to increase the available radiation for plants in northern European countries, but there are few studies on its use in unheated Mediterranean greenhouses. This paper presents information about the responses of a soilless autumn-winter grown cucumber crop to white film mulching in an unheated plastichouse in Almeria (Spain). Mulching with white PE film induced a significantly lower yield than with conventional soilless culture, by giving lower air and substrate temperatures in the mulched cucumber during the vegetative development phase of the crop, inducing a lower leaf area (as well as differences in leaf arrangement) and a lower LAI (leaf area index) reducing, therefore, intercepted radiation by the mulched cucumbers.