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HYDROPONICS PRODUCTION OF CUCUMBER AS SOIL FARMING ALTERNATIVE IN NIGERIA

The constant farmers-herders clash has predisposed farmers to insecurity in Nigeria thereby making farming in open field difficult. The hydroponics system has gained popularity in the cultivation of vegetable crops around the World. However, in Nigeria, there is dearth of information on hydroponics usage as an alternative to soil farming. Hence, the need to investigate the suitability of producing cucumber in Nigeria using the hydroponics system compared to soil. Seeds of three cucumber varieties were grown in cocopeat substrate and topsoil in a 3 (genotypes) by 2 (substrate) factorial experiment laid in a completely randomized design with 3 replicates. Each plant was fertigated with 100 ml of liquefied poultry manure weekly and was watered every 3 days till harvest. Data were taken on the number of leaves, plant height, leaf area, days to flowering and fruiting, number of fruits and average fruit weight. Data collected were analyzed using ANOVA and differences in the treatment means were separated using least significant differences at 5% level of significance. Result obtained showed significant differences among genotypes in the growth and yield parameters with Poinset having the highest number of fruits (6.88±0.57) and fruit weight (275.00±17.03), while the substrate effect was not significant.