Abstract
The propagation of strong and high-quality transplants is a primary determinant of achievement in vegetable production. Hydroponic cultivation enhances cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) yield and quality. An effective soilless cultivation technique needs an appropriate culture medium, particularly for crop transplant production. In a completely randomized factorial experiment with four replications, the effects of organic and inorganic media on the growth parameters and nutrition of cucumber transplants were studied. Twenty-six treatments included peat mass, pumedia, palm peat, coco coir, pine, sawdust, vermicompost, vermiculite, zeolite, perlite, and mixed media. Peat moss increased plant height, internode length, and root length. Cocopeat and vermicompost with palm peat and pumice also grew well, but zeolite did not. Vermicompost with pumice produced the most chlorophyll, whereas perlite and vermiculite medium produced more carotenoid. Palm peat increased leaf potassium, whereas pumedia, sawdust, and pumice increased phosphorus and calcium, according to nutritional research. The most phosphorus, potassium, and calcium were in pumice-vermicompost roots. Sawdust and palm peat medium had the most root micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Mn), whereas palm peat with pumice boosted leaf zinc and magnesium. Zeolite and pumice lack macro- and micronutrients. Palm peat increased leaf potassium, according to nutritional data. In contrast, palm peat and pumedia and sawdust and pumedia produced the highest leaf phosphorus and calcium levels. Vermicompost-pumedia roots had the most phosphorus, potassium, and calcium. Plants grown in sawdust and palm peat had the highest root micronutrient concentrations of Fe, Zn, and Mn, whereas transplants grown in palm peat and pumedia had the highest leaf Zn and Mg. Pumedia and zeolite have less macro and micro-elements. Organic cucumber transplants outperformed inorganic ones in all media parameters. Adding indigenous palm peat media to inorganic media improved their effectiveness.