DEVELOPMENT OF BREEDING TECHNIQUES AND SEED PRODUCTION TESTING FOR PARTHENOCARPIC CUCUMBER VARIETIES IN PLANT FACTORY WITH ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING SYSTEM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55766/sujst6871Keywords:
Cucumis sativus, Parthenocarpy, Cucumber breeding techniques, Plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL), Controlled environment agriculture, Phytotoxicity, Silver nitrateAbstract
This study investigated the refinement of breeding techniques and the selection of parthenocarpic cucumber varieties within a Plant Factory with Artificial Lighting (PFAL) system. We addressed the challenge of inducing male flower production in parthenocarpic cucumbers, which typically do not require male flowers for fruit production, by testing silver nitrate at concentrations of 0, 100, 200, 300, and 500 ppm. Silver nitrate successfully induced male flowers at concentrations of 300 and 500 ppm, with 300 ppm being optimal due to phytotoxicity observed at 500 ppm, which impaired plant growth. Subsequently, we optimized seed production by cultivating cucumber varieties 'Smile' and 'Basha' under controlled lighting conditions using a combination of white and white+red+blue light at an intensity of 300–500 µmol m-2s-1 for 16 hours per day in the PFAL system. The seed production cycle was streamlined to 70 days, with plants reaching pollination readiness at 23 days and completing seed development within 45 days. Lighting conditions and cucumber varieties did not significantly affect seed characteristics such as number, weight, or germination rates. In summary, our research demonstrated that using 300 ppm silver nitrate and managing controlled lighting conditions can effectively enhance breeding and seed production processes for parthenocarpic cucumbers, offering valuable insights to improve the efficiency and reduce the duration of cucumber breeding programs in Thailand.
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