Together with our Saudi Arabian local partner, Intrahorti has set up a trial to compare cucumber cultivation with and without the use of Intra Hydropure in the irrigation system. Irrigation systems can harbour many different micro-organisms and other organic dirt that can have a negative influence on the production of cucumbers. This trial is set up with the thought to use Intra Hydropure to improve hygiene and to prevent diseases from happening. But, how does Intra Hydropure work?

A low continuous dosage of Intra Hydropure, which is unique silver-chelated hydrogen peroxide, gives 100% guaranteed clean irrigation systems, to ensure full elimination of pathogenic microorganisms. Pathogenic fungi, bacteria and viruses spread easily throughout the irrigation system highways. These tiny organisms are hiding and building up in pipelines, creating a biofilm and creating fluctuating pH levels.

Trial set-up

With the use of 720 cucumber plants for 103 days, a trial was designed to investigate the effects of Intra Hydropure on different aspects of plant growth. Seedlings of 12 to 14 days old were planted in a single tunnel of 360m2 and from that moment on, plants were exposed to a continuous dosage of 40ppm Intra Hydropure through the irrigation lines. After a few weeks, the grower already mentioned that plants exposed to Intra Hydropure looked more healthy, they were darker and with more leaves. Many traits of the cucumber plants and fruits were measured, such as the number of internodes, vegetative growth, the diameter of the stem, weight of the fruits and number of fruits (table 1).

Table 1: Results measurements of plant traits control and Intra Hydropure group.

Better performing cucumber crops

On a daily basis, the cucumber plants were closely watched and measured and fruits were measured and weighed after harvest (figure 1). In the set-up where Intra Hydropure was present, plants showed on average better vegetive growth, more and bigger leaves, stronger stems and a better fruit setting, see table 1. Furthermore, the plants had on average more kilograms of fruits per plant, which included more high-quality fruits and less low-quality fruits compared with the control group. The biggest differences in total production were in weeks 6-10 with 67.9 kg and in weeks 16-20 with 58 kg more cucumbers compared with the control group. Thus, already during the midseason harvest differences in yield were visible. This means using Intra Hydropure, provides the grower with more profit.

Figure 1: Average total production in kg of cucumbers per per week.

Less calcium deficiency

Furthermore visible in table 1, fruits of plants that got Intra Hydropure through the water irrigation system, showed a lower number of calcium deficiency compared with the control group. The plants were able to take up more calcium and have therefore a lower chance of diseases or problems like blossom-end rot, inhibition of root growth and brown spots on the younger leaves. How is it possible that these cucumber plants exposed to Intra Hydropure have an improved calcium uptake?

Clean and disinfected irrigation lines are very important, hygiene is the key for healthy plants. As visible in figure 2, the grower had dirty irrigation lines. The formation of biofilm in the irrigation lines caused nutrients to stick to the pipeline. A second explanation is that the formation of biofilm altered the pH of the water, calcium may be present but tied up due to a wrong pH level unavailable for plants. As Intra Hydropure removes this biofilm, plants were able to take up more calcium and have less calcium deficiency.

Figure 2: Pictures were taken of the pipelines before and after using Intra Hydropure.

Conclusion

Intra Hydropure provided clean irrigation water and prevented build-up of biofilm in the pipelines. Plants looked healthier, fewer plants showed signs of calcium deficiency and this resulted in over 200 kg (14%) more production of cucumber yield including better quality cucumbers.