Utilization of organic materials as soil amendments for cucumber production in greenhouse cultivation

Appropriate application of organic materials to agricultural soil is considered to be a valuable alternative to landfills or incineration and a good management practice for maintaining soil fertility and sustainable crop production. This study was performed to evaluate the potential use of five organic materials (peat moss, bran coat, asparagus residue, turf clipping and soybean residue) as soil amendments and/or fertilizers for greenhouse cucumber production. Each organic material was applied to greenhouse soil at the rate of 7.5 t ha(-1) The application of organic materials to the greenhouse soil produced an improvement in the soil properties as well as in the cucumber growth, yield and quality, especially low-cost asparagus residues, turf clipping and soybean residues. Nevertheless, these improvements depended on the chemical composition of organic materials. In particular, all organic materials significantly increased soil potassium content. Asparagus residues significantly increased soil phosphorus content. This study demonstrated that asparagus residues, turf clipping and soybean residues were suitable for use as soil amendments and/or fertilizers for greenhouse cucumber production in terms of economic evaluation.