EFFECT OF PEAT BRIQUETTES ON THE FORMATION OF CUCUMBER SEEDLINGS IN INTENSIVE LIGHT CULTURE

Abstract

Obtaining high-quality seedlings is an essential condition for growing vegetables in modern cultivation facilities of protected ground. The influence of the composition and properties of peat briquettes on the growth and development of hybrid F1 of cucumber Zozulya seedlings, indicators of plant leaves photosynthetic activity, their net productivity in cultivation under controlled conditions of intensive light culture were investigated. It is shown how the change in the composition of peat briquettes affects their hydrophysical properties: volume, density, moisture absorbing capacity, etc., which is reflected in the state of cucumber seedlings. Thus, for the grown cucumber seedlings, peat briquettes had more favorable hydrophysical properties, which included, in addition to neutralized peat, Cambrian clay, separately or in combination with straw in the amount of 10% of the peat volume, or with sapropel. The moisture absorbing capacity in the considered peat briquettes was optimal for growing plants in conditions of intensive light culture and ranged from 617 to 774%. Optimization of the hydrophysical properties of peat briquettes was positively reflected in the photosynthetic activity of the leaves. The photosynthetic potential increased by 20-29%, the leaf surface area – by 19-40%; net productivity of plants photosynthesis – by 0.6-3.2 g/m2 per day, which eventually led to the formation of plants with a higher biomass – by 10-48%. An increase in the content of straw in the peat briquette to 20% led to a decrease in the moisture absorbing capacity of the peat briquette, which contributed to a certain deterioration in the physiological state of plants and, as a consequence, to a tendency towards to reduce the mass of plant seedlings.