The effects of pine wood vinegar on the germination, growth and photosynthetic characteristics of cucumber

Abstract

Wood vinegar is a substance, derived from cooling black carbon fire, which could be used instead of chemical materials in the agriculture industry as an organic compound. In order to study the effectiveness of pine wood vinegar on physiological and photosynthesis traits of cucumber, two experiments were conducted based on a completely randomized design with six treatments including 0, 1250, 2000, 2500, 3333 and 5000 mgL-1 of wood vinegar with four replications. The first experiment was designed in the laboratory in order to study the effect of pine wood vinegar priming on cucumber seeds and the second one was conducted in a greenhouse condition to investigate the effect of wood vinegar on seedlings of cucumber in Isfahan University of Technology. The highest flower number and yield in cucumber was observed in 2500 mgL-1 pine wood vinegar trearment. Photosynthesis in cucumber increased in 2000 mgL-1 pine wood vinegar trearment. The lowest transpiration in cucumber was 1.54 mmolm–2s–1 in 2000 mgL-1 pine wood vinegar treatment. 1250 mgL-1 wood vinegar treatment increased germination percentage and speeded up the germination process compare to control. The highest root length, volume and surface were observed at 1250 mgL-1 treatment. The concentration of nitrogen (5.5% DW) in the treatment of 3333 mgL-1 Pine wood vinegar, the potassium concentration in the treatment of 5000 mgL-1 and calcium and iron concentrattions in the treatment of 1250 mgL-1 were at the highest levels compared to other treatments. The highest amount of chlorophyll and photosynthesis was observed at 2000 mgL-1 treatment. The wood vinegar with 2500 mgL-1 pine wood vinegar concentration showed the highest flower and fruit yield in cucumber, but the best quality of fruit was produced by 2000 mgL-1 treatment.