Estidamah tested a new cropping system called “high-wire system”. In this case, the training-wire can be elongated and shifted aside to cope with the continuously growing stem (up to 60 cm a week). Of course, the continuously growing stems will just as well create a large bunch of stems. But in the high-wire system, the bunches result from de-leaved stems and are at the bottom side of the crop. Therefore, the bunch of stems will be much less messy. Hence, one crop cycle can stay productive for a longer period and increases product per kg
Experiment Setup
The experiment was conducted in a commercial farm in Al-Qassim region using med-tech glass-covered greenhouses with soil cultivation
Experiment History
- Training cucumber in two systems (high wire and umbrella)
- Planting date April 2019
- Planting density 2.5 plant/m2
- Cucumber variety: Zahran from Enza Zden
Testing a new cropping system called a high-wire system in comparison to the traditional Umbrella system
Using High-Wire Cucumber Growing System in Med-Tech Glass Greenhouse at the commercial farm
Effect of training system on cucumber irrigation and cooling water and energy consumption at the commercial farm
Items |
High-wire |
Umbrella |
---|---|---|
Irrigation water consumption (L/m2) | 1020 | 850 |
Irrigation water consumption (L/plant) | 43.6 | 69.4 |
Cooling water consumption (L/plant) | 64 | 55 |
Return per m3 (SAR/m3) | 60.8 | 30.6 |
Energy consumption (Kw/h/m2) | 35 | 31 |
Energy consumption (Kw/h/kg) | 1.5 | 2.5 |
Effect of training system on monthly cucumber production at the commercial farm
According to the results of this trial, yield (kg/m2) was improved by 90%, by using a high-wire cropping system, while yield per plant was improved by 91%. The harvest period was increased by 30% as compared with the umbrella system.
Items |
Umbrella |
Hi-wire |
---|---|---|
Plant height (cm) | 4.4 | 6.9 |
Yield (kg/m2) | 12.25 | 23.39 |
Yield per plant (kg/plant) | 4.9 | 9.4 |
Number of fruit per plant | 65 | 125 |
Fruit class A % | 82.5 | 95 |
Fruit class B % | 17.5 | 5 |
Effect of training system on cucumber fruit yield classification at the commercial farm