Effect of silica nanoparticles on yield of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in Ahvaz region.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of silica nanoparticles on the yield and water productivity of cucumber plant and to determine the most appropriate method of application of silica nanoparticles (leaf and root nutrition)In order to investigate the effects of silica nanoparticles on cucumber yield, an experiment was conducted in a factorial design based on completely randomized block design with 4 replications in two growing seasons during 2018and2019 in the greenhouse of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. Treatments included silica nanoparticles with concentrations of 0,25,50,75 and 100 ppm and two methods of foliar application on leaves and root feeding.The results showed that the highest and lowest values of fruit weight in the first and second crops were in the treatment of 50mg/l nanoparticles by foliar application (first crop:weight10484.3and second crop:weight8039g) and 0mg/l nanoparticles were obtained by root solution (first culture:weight7700g and second culture: weight6280g). Also, the highest amount of water productivity was related to the treatment of nanoparticles with a concentration of 50ppm under foliar application (first culture:71.32and second culture:64.83).This study showed that the use of silica nanoparticles can have a positive effect on cucumber yield and caused a 32.11and21.2% increase in yield in the first and second crops, respectively, compared to the control treatment. The use of nanoparticles increases water productivity and increases cucumber plant yield, the use of silica nanoparticles with a concentration of 50 ppm as foliar application on the leaves can be a good option to increase yield in cucumber.