Effect of silicon on the growth of cucumber plant in soil culture

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1 Soil Science and Plant Nutrition ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: Effect of silicon on the growth of cucumber plant in soil culture Yasuto Miyake & Eiichi Takahashi To cite this article: Yasuto Miyake & Eiichi Takahashi (1983) Effect of silicon on the growth of cucumber plant in soil culture, Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 29:4, , DOI: 1.18/ To link to this article: Published online: 14 May 212. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 986 Citing articles: 24 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

2 Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 29 (4), , 1983 EFFECT OF SILICON ON THE GROWTH OF CUCUMBER PLANT IN SOIL CULTURE Yasuto MIYAKE and Eiichi TAKAHASHI Faculty of Agriculture. Okayama University. Okayama. Japan -Faculty of Agriculture. Kyoto University. Kyoto. 66 Japan Received February 28, 1983 Field experiments were conducted in alluvial soils for 3 years to evaluate the effect of silicate fertilizers on the growth of cucumber plants. Application of silicate fertilizer promoted the growth and yield of cucumber plants, and also reduced the damage caused by wilt disease. In these experiments, no deleterious effects associated with continuous cropping were observed. However, successive application of silicate fertilizer resulted in the increase of soil ph year after year and adversely affected the growth of cucumber plants. The application of large amounts of organic matter was effective in correcting the soil ph. Key Words: cucumber, silicon, soil-culture, disease prevention. It was reported in a previous paper (J) that the growth response of the cucumber plant to silicon deficiency is characterized by abnormalities of the newly developed leaves at the flowering stage and reduction in pollen fertility. The cucumber plants with silicon deficiency became easily infected with powdery mildew disease and their growth was inferior to that of plants without silicon deficiency. When the silicon concentration in the outer medium was high, the silicon content in the leaves of plant was as high as that of gramineous plants, and the growth of the plants was accelerated in proportion to the increase of the silicon content in leaves. In the case of rice plants it has been shown that the presence of silicon increases the resistance to fungus diseases and promotes dry matter production when plants absorb sufficient amounts of silicon (2). These results show that the growth response of the cucumber plant to silicon is similar, in part, to that of rice plants, which are typical silicon absorbers. These findings suggest that silicon exerts a beneficial effect on the field-grown cucumber plant as in the case of rice plants. MATERIALS AND METHODS The field experiments described in this report were conducted at the Research Farm of Okayama University in the Kojima polder for 3 consecutive seasons from 463

3 464 Y. MIYAKE and E. TAKAHASHI 1978 to 198. Properties of the soil used were as follows: texture LiC; ph (H 2 ) 6.; water soluble Si mg/ioo g dried soil; available (ph 4 ammonium acetate buffer solution soluble) Si 2 43 mg/ioo g dried soil. An outline of the field experiments is shown in Table 1. Each treatment consisted of two plots. Several chemicals (calcium silicate, potassium silicate and lime- Experiment Table I. Design of experiments. Treatment Period Plot name Calculated Calculated Chemicals (kg/ha) as as sol. SiOI-t. alkalinity (kg/ha) (kg/ha) Apr. 22-Sept. 17, 1978 Ca Si -I Ca Si -2 K Si -I K Si -2 Control-I Calcium silicate Calcium silicate Potassium silicate Potassium silicate Lime-magnesium fertilizer 2, 4, 2,25 4,5 1, ,48 74 b 1,48 b 74 Control-2 Lime-magnesium 2,64 1,48 fertilizer 2 Apr. 17-Sept. 16, 1979 Ca Si -I Calcium silicate 2, 74 Ca Si -2 Calcium silicate 4, 1,48 K Si -I Potassium silicate 2,2S 74 b K Si -2 Potassium silicate 4,5 I. 48 b Control-I Calcium carbonate 1,37 74 Control-2 Calcium carbonate 2, 74 1,48 3 Apr. IS-Aug. 24, 198 Ca Si -I Calcium silicate 2, 74 Ca Si -2 Calcium silicate 4, 1,48 K Si -I Potassium silicate 2,25 74 b K Si -2 Potassium silicate 4,5 1, 48 b Control-I Lime-magnesium 1,32 74 fertilizer Control-2 Lime-magnesium 2,64 1,48 fertilizer Size of plots, and number of plants per plot: 2 plants/9 m"/plot, Exp. I (1978); 1 plants/4.s ml/ plot, Exp. 2 (1979); 13 plants/6.3 rna/plot, Exp. 3 (198) Addition of composts: lot (dry matter basis)/ha of rice straw compost was added to the soil in Exps. I and 2 except the Control plots in Exp. 2 which received equal amounts of wheat straw compost instead of rice straw compost. In Exp. 3 no compost was added. The chemicals \\-ere added to the Joil in the different treatments, and then mixed thoroughly. In Exps. 1 and 2, the composts were added to the soil after 2 days. t..5 N HO soluble SiOI b Lime-magnesium fertilizer (Exps. I and 3) or CaCO, (Exp. 2) was added to adjust the alkalinity.

4 Effect of Si on Soil-cultured Cucumber magnesium fertilizer or calcium carbonate) were added to the soil in the different treatments, and then mixed thoroughly. After 2 days, composts were added to the soil (Experiments I and 2). "Suyo" was selected as a suitable cultiver of cucumber (Cucumis sativas L.), since it is able to grow under a high level of solar radiation and high temperature conditions. The seeds were sown in a nursery bed made of sand (Experiments I and 2). Three weeks later, the seedlings reached the 2-leaf stage, and thereafter they were transplanted to the experimental field. In Experiment 3, the seeds were sown directly in the experimental field. Cultivation methods and design of fertilizer application are outlined in Table 2. Cucumber fruits were harvested every other day, and the number of fruits and fruit weight in each plot were determined. At the end of each experiment, analytical samples were collected and the topweight of the plants was determined. The sampling and analytical methods have been described in a previous paper (3). Table 2. Culture conditions. Experiment Plant (C\.) Seeding Transplanting Harvesting Amount of fenilizers (kg/ha) Basal dressing Top-dressing Suyo Apr. 23,1978& May 17,1978 June 17-Sept. 17, N 24 N 2S P,O, 24 PIO, 16 KIO SI8 KIO 28-2 Suyo Apr. 17,1979& May 8, 1979 June 21-Sept. 16, N 24 N P.O. 24 PIO, 14 KIO 518 K,O 632' 3 Suyo May 21, 198 b June 3-Aug. 24, N 13 N PIO, 27 P.O, KIO l d K,O & Sowed in a sand nursery bed. b Direct sowing. Except for the K Si 2 plot. where 1,36 kg KIO per ha were applied. d Except for the K Si 1 and K Si 2 plots. where SI8 kg KIO per ha (K Si l plot) and 1,36 kg K,O per ha (K Si 2 plot) were applied respectively. - Except for the K Si 2 plot, where no dressing was applied. ' Except for the K Si 2 plot, ",here 117 kg KIO per ha were applied. I Ex cept for the K Si 1 and K Si 2 plots, where no dressing was applied. RESULTS Effect of Si on thl! growth and yield Experiment I. The growth of the field-grown cucumber plants was normal until the full productive stage (Aug. I, 1978); however. the total amount of fruits produced was higher in the plants with Si application than in the plants in which Si application had been omitted (Table 3).

5 466 Y. MIYAKE and E. TAKAHASHI Table 3. Effects of calcium and potassium silicate supply on the growth and yield of field.grown cucumber plants Treatment Fruit yield a Fruit yield b Top weight Experiment Plot name Calculated Fresh. Fresh (dry matter Number as sol. SiO." weight Number weight basis) (lcgjha) ("/ 1jha) (tjha) (x 1jha) (t/ha) (kg/ha) Ca Si , ,83 Ca Si ,81 K Si , ,8 K Si , ,11 Control I , ,59 Control , ,67 2 Ca Si I, ,78 Ca Si ,7 K Si , K Si , ,33 Control I ,22 Control ,22 3 Ca Si ,19 Ca Si K Si ,19 K Si ,23 Control I ,3 Control ,6 a Yield to the full productive stage: June 17-Aug. I, 1978 (Experiment I), June 2 I-Aug. 2, 1979 (Ex periment 2) and June 3O-Aug. I, 198 (Experiment 3). b Yield to the end of harvesting: June 17-Sept. 17, 1978 (Experiment 1), June 21-Sept. 16, 1979 (Experiment 2) and June 3-Aug. 24, 198 (Experiment 3). c.5 N HO soluble SiO. After the full productive stage, the difference in fruit yield between plants with and without Si application increased due to the presence of a larger number of wilted plants when Si application had been omitted than when Si had been supplied (Table 4). At the end of the experiment, the total amount of fruits produced in the plants with Si application was much higher than when Si application had been omitted. The dry weight of the tops of the plants grown without Si was also lower than that of the tops of plants to which Si had been supplied. Particularly, the yield of fruit and top weight in the K Si-2 plot was highest among the plots with Si application (Table 3). Experiment 2. The growth of the cucumber plants in all the treatments was also normal until the full productive stage (Aug. 2, 1979), even though the plants were subjected to continuous heavy rainfall for 1 week at the beginning of harvest, and the fruit yield of the plants in all the treatments of Experiment 2 was lower than in

6 Effect of Si on Soil<ultured Cucumber 467 Experiment 1. The total amount of fruit yield in the treatments where Si application had been omitted was remarkably lower than that in the treatments including Si even before the full productive stage. The yields of plants in the K Si treatments (K Si I and 2 plots) were higher than those of the plants in the Ca Si treatments (Ca Si-1 and 2 plots). After the full productive stage, a large number of wilted plants was observed in the plots where Si application had been omitted while in the plots with Si application plant wilting was seldom observed. Therefore, at the end of this experiment the total amount of fruit yield and top-weight of the plants in which Si application had been omitted were much lower than those of the plants with Si application. The growth and )ield of plants in the K Si-1 and 2 plots were superior to those of plants in the Ca'Si-1 and 2 plots (Table 3). At present, the reasons why the K.Si treatments were superior to the Ca Si treatments with regard to plant growth remain to be determined. Experiment 3. The early growth of all plants was normal; however, the fruit yield of all the treated plots in this experiment became much lower than in Experiment 2, due to the continuous heavy rainfall, low temperature, and insufficient amount of solar radiation for 2 months after the initial harvest stage. During the continuous culture experiments for more than 3 years (1978-8), the fruit yield decreased in the following order: Exp. 1 (l978)-exp. 2 (1979)-Exp. 3 (198). At the same time, the production of cucumbers at the Research Farm of Okayama University using a crop rotation method, also decreased in the same order: These results suggest that the decrease in yield was not due to the injury associated with continuous cropping but was mainly due to the unfavorable weather conditions during the cultivation period. In Experiment 3, the yield of cucumber in the first group of treatments with Si application (Ca Si-1 and K.Si-I) was superior to that of the treatment where Si application had been omitted (Control-I) while in the second group no significant difference could be detected between the treatments with Si application (Ca.Si-2 and K Si-2) and the treatment where Si application had been omitted (Control-2). These results differed from those of Experiments 1 and 2. In all the experiments, since a large quantity of basic materials were applied year after year, the soil ph in Experiment 3 became very high, whereas, in Experiments I and 2, the rise of soil ph was inhibited by the addition of a large amount of compost. However, since in Experiment 3 no compost was used, the soil ph increased. In particular, in the Ca. Si-2, K Si-2 and Control-2 plots, which were treated with a double amount of basic materials, there was a remarkable increase in soil ph ( ) (Table 6). FUJlEDA (4) had reported that the most suitable ph of soil for the growth of the cucumber plant was The existence of a high soil ph had a deleterious effect on the growth of the cucumber plants.

7 468 Y. MIYAKE and E. TAKAHASHI Effect of Si on the incidence of Fusarium wilt disease in the cucumber plant After the full productive stage, wilted plants were appeared and the number of wilted plants increased with the decrease in the growth of the plants. Judging from the appearance and results of microscopic examination of the wilted plants, the symptoms were due to Fusarium wilt disease. At the end of Experiments I, 2 and 3, the incidence of Fusarium wilt disease was remarkably lower in the plants with Si application than in those in which Si application had been omitted (Table 4). Concentration of SiD! in the cucumber plant Table 5 shows the Si 2 content in the leaves and stems of the cucumber plants in Experiments I, 2 and 3. The Si 2 content in the leaves of plants with Si application increased considerably Table 4. Effects of calcium and potassium silicate supply on the incidence of Fusarium wilt disease in field-grown cucumber plants Treatment Experiment Plot name Calculated as sol. SiO,' (kg/ha) Percent wilted plants b Ca Si -I Ca Si -2 K.Si -I e K Si -2. Control-I Control ea Si -I Ca Si 2 K Si 1- K Si -2 c Control-I Control ea Si -I Ca Si -2 K Si -I. K.Si -2e Control-I Control a.5 N HQ soluble SiO,. b Estimated at harvest stage (Exp. I, Sept. 17, 1978; Exp. 2, Sept. I, 1979; Exp. 3, Aug. IS, 198). Lime-magnesium fertilizer (Experiments 1 and 3) and CaCO, (Experiment 2) were added to adjust the alkalinity.

8 Effect or Si on Soil<ultured Cucumber 469 Table 5. Content of silica in plants Treatment SiO. ~~ (dry matter basis) Experiment Plot name Calculated as sol. Si 2 & (kg/ha) Leaves Stems Ca Si -I 2.88 I. 8 Ca Si K Si -I K Si Control-I I Control Ca Si -I Ca Si K Si -I K Si Control-I I. SI.41 Control-2 I. S Ca Si -I Ca Si &.5 )II HCI soluble SiO. K Si -) K Si S6 Control-) I Control-2 I to values ranging from 2.44 to 4.48% Si 2, while the content remained low at levels of I.3~2.16% Si 2 in the leaves of plants without Si application. The silicon concentrations in the stems were lower than in the leaves. Changes in al'ailahle-si/ica content and in the ph of soils At the end of Experiment I, the available-silica content (soluble in ph 4 ammonium acetate buffer solution) in 1 g dried soil increased markedly to mg Si 2 in the treatments with Si application while they remained at mg SiOI in the treatments where Si application had been omitted. In the following year, at the end of Experiment 2, the available-silica content increased to mg Si 2 in the treatments with Si application while they remained at mg SiOI in the treatments without Si application. In the following year, at the end of Experiment 3, the available-silica content increased to mg SiOI in the treatments with Si application while they remained at 7 mg SiOI in the treatments where Si application had been omitted.

9 47 Y. MIYAKE and E. TAKAHASHI Table 6. Changes in content of available silica and ph of soil. Experiment Plot name Treatment Calculated Calculated as as sol. SiO,b alkalinity (kg/ha) (kg/ha) Soil Avail. SiOI (air dried soil) & (air dried ph soil) (mg/loo g) (HIO) ~ Soil used: Ca Si -I 74 At the end of Exp Ca Si -2 1,48 At the end of Exp K Si -I 74 At the end of Exp K Si -2 1,48 At the end of Exp Control-I 74 At the end of Exp Control-2 1,48 At the end of Exp Ca Si -I 74 At the end of Exp Ca Si -2 1,48 At the end of Exp K Si -I 74 At the end of Exp K Si -2 1,48 At the end of Exp S Control-} 74 At the end of Exp I Control-2 1,48 At the end of Exp S Ca Si -I 74 At the end of Exp. 3 } Ca Si -2 1,48 At the end of Exp K Si 1 74 At the end of Exp K Si 2 1,48 At the end of Exp Control-I 74 At the end of Exp Control-2 1,48 At the end of Exp & ph 4 ammonium acetate buffer solution soluble SiO ~ b O.S N HCI soluble SiO,. DISCUSSION The role of silicon has not yet been fully recognized. In Japan, however, silicon is rated as one of the beneficial elements for the growth of rice plants: under heavy application of fertilizers, rice plants absorb sufficient amounts of silica which helps increase their resistance to fungus diseases and prevent lodging, enables leaf blades to remain erect, decreases mutual shading and promotes dry matter production in the community (2). Si also exerts beneficial effects on the growth and yield of barley (5) and sugarcane (6). But these effects have not yet been documented in many species of higher plants except for these gramineous crops. Our experiment (1), however, showed that Si deficiency in cucumber plants was associated with a decrease in plant growth and yields, reduction of pollen fertility, and increase of the susceptibility to powdery mildew infection. The cucumber plant does not show active Si uptake as does rice which absorbs

10 Effect of Si on Soil-cultured Cucumber 471 it rapidly and depletes its concentration in the medium. But when sufficient amounts of soluble Si are available the surrounding media, the cucumber plant can absorb large amounts of Si, and the Si contents in the leaves can reach values as high as those in gramineous plants. In the field experiments, the cucumber plants which had been given large amounts of silicate fertilizers showed adequate growth and yields and also suffered less damage from wilt disease. These results suggest that the growth response of cucumber plant in soil culture is similar, in part, to that of the rice plant which is a typical avid absorber of Si. The effect of silicon on the growth of the cucumber plant remains poorly documented. However, in the current experiments the effect of silicon could be observed not only in the case of the solution-cultures (I) but also in the case of the soil-culture. These results suggest the possibility that Si should be considered as an important element for plants regardless of their avidity for Si. REFERENCES 1) MIYAKE, Y. and TAICAHASHI, E., Effect of silicon on the growth of solution-cultured cucumber plant, Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 29, (1983) 2) OKUDA, A. and TAKAHASHI, E., The role of silicon, In The Mineral Nutrition of Rice Plant, ed. by IRRI, Jones Hopkins Press, Baltimore pp J) MIYAI:E, Y. and TAKAHASHI, E., Silicon deficiency of tomato plant, Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., U, (1978) <I) FUJlEDA, K., Cucumber plant-property and adaptability, In The Handbook of Olericulture, Yokendo, Tokyo, 197. pp. 198 (in Japanese) 5) DYKE, G.V., Effect of silicate on Hoos Barley, Rep. ROlhamsted expo Sin. for 1979, Part I, pp ) AYllES, A.S., Calcium silicate slag as a growth stimulant for sugarcane on low-silicon soils, Soil Sci., 11, (1966)