Growth and mineral nutrition of cucumber soilless culture

Glasshouse experiments were carried out in Southern Spain (Cartagena) to determine growth parameters associated with biomass production and mineral uptake (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) for a cucumber crop (Cucumis sativus L. cv Tropico F1) along two growth cycles (in winter and spring). Data analysis indicated that growth variables taken into account were fairly described by an expolinear function. When using thermal time (base temperature = 10 degreesC), the dynamics of dry biomass and nutrient content of the two growth cycles were quite similar. The results suggested that (i) dry weight and nutrient uptake follow identical growth patterns and (ii) can be quite well predicted with thermal units assuming an expolinear growth function.