BEIT ALPHA CUCUMBER AN EXCITING NEW GREENHOUSE CROP

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1 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 113: BEIT ALPHA CUCUMBERAN EXCITING NEW GREENHOUSE CROP Nicole L. Shaw, Daniel J. Cantliffe, Juan C. Rodriguez, Scott Taylor and David M. Spencer University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Horticultural Sciences Department Gainesville, FL Additional index words. Hydroponic, seedless cucumber, Cucumis sativus, protected culture, cucurbit. Abstract. '' cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) are com monly grown in protected structures in the Middle-East and Is rael, and are thus adapted to the warm climates of Florida. Traditionally, greenhouse cucumber cultivars grown in the U.S. are s. Six cultivars were compared to three cultivars over three seasons in Gaines ville, FL. Seedlings were transplanted into perlite bags on 31 March, 30 September, and 16 February 2000 and were grown in a double layer polyethylene-covered green house with passive ventilation. All six cultivars pro duced more early and total marketable yield in all seasons than the Dutch cultivars. Total marketable fruit numbers among all cultivars were greater in the spring than in the fall. Numbers of fruit produced were similar among cultivars in all seasons. Cull weight was greater in the spring than the fall, but was not significantly different among cultivars. Fruit length and diameter were significantly different between seasons and cultivars. The Dutch types were more wrinkled than the types and uniformity was the same among all cultivars. Powdery mildew ratings were simi lar for both seasons when chemical fungicides were used. When powdery mildew was present and chemical control was not used, the cultivar '' and the Dutch cul tivars '' and '' had better tolerance than all other cultivars. cucumbers can be suc cessfully grown year-round in Florida and offer an exciting new greenhouse crop for Florida producers. They will be a strong competitor for the traditional greenhouse cucumber once introduced in the market place. The number of greenhouse vegetable producers in Flori da is increasing. In 1996, there were approximately 55 acres of vegetable greenhouses in Florida (Hochmuth, 1996). To day, there are approximately 84 acres throughout Florida. The largest areas for greenhouse production of vegetables are found primarily in three locations: southwest coast (Na ples), southeast coast (Ft. Pierce), and north-central (Live Oak) Florida. With the rapidly growing population in Florida, demands for land, water, and other natural resources are in creasing. Much of the urban development occurs in areas tra ditionally devoted to agricultural production (Gordon, 1998). Because of increased plant densities and longer grow ing seasons, hydroponic greenhouse production can provide yields greater than field-grown vegetable crops (Eversole,, Johnson, B., ), thus, reducing the need for land, es pecially for crop rotation. The increase in the number of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series No. N greenhouse vegetable producers in Florida could be because greenhouse vegetable production has been looked at as an al ternative to using the soil fumigant methyl bromide (Anon., ). Greenhouse vegetables are commonly grown in sterile media such as perlite or rockwool that does not require chem ical fumigation. Furthermore, greenhouses provide an excel lent place to produce consistent, superior quality produce that brings a higher price at the market than field-grown pro duce (Johnson, G., ). Vegetable producers in Florida have an advantage of be ing able to produce for the winter market, but must compete with other countries such as Canada, Holland, Mexico, and more recently, Spain and Israel (Cantliffe and VanSickle, 2000). The commodities of main competition are tomato, pepper, and cucumber. Florida, like Spain, has a major envi ronmental advantage over Holland. For instance, although yields are nearly 3 times greater from Holland than Almerfa in Southeast Spain (i.e., tomato: 42 kg-nr2 compared to 12 kg-nrr2, respectively), inputs are much greater in Holland for fossil fuels used to cool and heat their greenhouses (Costa and Heuvelink, 2000). Thus, warmer climates, such as Flori da, have great savings advantages in production costs com pared to Canada or Holland. The lower yields reported from Almerfa, Spain may be due to the source of germplasm growers have available. Until recently, the majority of greenhouse vegetable seed has been from Dutch sources. This germplasm was developed for cooler environments with lower solar radiation than that found in such regions as Spain, Israel, or Florida. Israeli seed sources are now available worldwide and may be adapt able to Florida because of the similar climates of the two regions. Quite common to the European market are the 'Galia' melon and the '' cucumber. Both cultivars were developed in Israel especially for greenhouse or protected-agriculture cultivation. New to the U.S. is the cucumber, a major pri mary cucumber type grown in Israel and exported to Europe. The cucumber originated on a Kibbutz in Israel and is now being distributed by several seed companies in the U.S. and Israel. cucumbers are hybrids that are gynoecious and parthenocarpic, thus they do not need to be pollinated. The fruit is seedless and has a thin skin like the Dutch cultivars but does not require plastic wrap to prevent dehydration after harvest. Fruit production is prolific for Beit Alpha cultivars; many fruit set at each node and on the later als. Yields can be compact (10 harvests or less) or continuous (more than 30 harvests) depending on season. cul tivars grow well under extreme environmental conditions, es pecially high temperature (35-40 C), but also continue to produce well at low temperatures (10-15 C). As part of a Florida-Israeli Protected Agriculture Project, the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida and several Israeli agricultural companies are working together to promote and improve the greenhouse industry in the southeastern U.S. An important goal of the project is to adapt Israeli technology and especially new commodities for production in Florida. The objectives of this research were to identify suitable cucumber cultivars for green- Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 113:

2 house production in Florida and compare yield and fruit quality to standard Dutch types commonly used in green house production, potentially to introduce a new commodity for U.S. consumers and Florida producers. Materials and Methods Cucumbers were grown at the Horticultural Research Unit in Gainesville, Florida. The greenhouse structure (Top Greenhouses Ltd., P.O. Box 207, Rosh Ha'ayin 48101, Israel) was covered in double layer polyethylene with passive ventila tion. The sidewalls were 3.6-m high and there was a 1-m roof vent at 8 m. Both sidewalls and roof vents were covered with 0.6 mm screen to prevent the movement of insects into or out of the greenhouse. Greenhouse temperature was not manip ulated through either heating or cooling and cucumbers sur vived nights as low as 5 C and days as high as 43 C. Temperatures were measured every 15 minutes at various lo cations in the greenhouse using thermocouples and recorded by a datalogger (CR10, Campbell Scientific, Inc., 815 W N. Logan, Utah ) to have complete knowledge of temperature fluctuations (Jovicich, 2000). Transplants were grown for 3 weeks in an evaporative padcooled glasshouse at temperatures of 28 C day and 22 C night. Transplant medium was a mixture of 60% peat and 40% vermiculite. Transplants were fertilized twice weekly with Peters Professional All Purpose Plant Food (Spectrum Group, P.O. Box 15842, St. Louis, MO ). Six cultivars and three cultivars were transplanted into 1 m x 0.32 m white-polyethylene sleeves (Agrodynamics, 10 Alvin Court, East Brunswick, NJ 08816) filled with perlite (Airlite Processing Corp. of Florida, th St., Vero Beach, FL 32967) on 31 March, 30 September, and 16 February cultivars were '', '', '', and '' from Hazera Seeds Inc. (745 Balboa St., Grover Beach, CA 93433), and Tlan' and '' from Zeraim Gedera (P.O. Box 103, Gedera 70750, Israel). The cultivars were 'Long John' from Zeraim Gedera, '' from Rijk Zwaan Export B.V. (P.O. Box 40, 2678 ZG DeLier, The Netherlands), and '' from Enza Zaden (407 Front St., Salinas, CA 93901). Irrigation scheduling was based on plant need to achieve 15-20% daily leachate from the bag. A programmable timer, Sterling 12 (Superior Controls Co., Inc., Avenue Kearny, Valencia, CA ) was used for irrigation. Plants were fertilized at each irrigation in accordance with University of Florida recommendations (Hochmuth and Hochmuth, 1996; Hochmuth, 1991). A complete nutrient so lution was provided to the plants with nitrogen (N) levels in creased from 100 ppm N at transplanting to 180 ppm at first harvest and maintained at 180 ppm N for the remainder of the crop in all seasons. Potassium (K) level was 150 ppm K throughout the season. Phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, sulfur and all micronutrient concentrations remained the same throughout the crop for all seasons at 50 ppm P, 135 ppm Ca, 50 ppm Mg, 65 ppm S, 3 ppm Fe, 0.2 ppm Cu, 0.8 ppm Mn, 0.3 ppm Zn, 0.7 ppm B, 0.06 ppm Mo. The ph of the nutrient solution was maintained between 5.5 and 6.5. Plants were individually trellised on twine (Paskal Binding Accessories, Ltd., P.O. Box 54, Migdal Tefen 24959, Israel). The twine hung from a cable harnessed at a height of 3.6 m and was connected at the base of each plant with a plastic clip. As the plants grew, they were twisted around the twine for sup port. When fruit load caused the plant to slip down the twine, a clip was added under the fruit node for support. Pruning of the two types of cucumber was different. All laterals and fruit were removed up to the 8th node for both types. The plants were grown in a single stem training system where only one fruit was allowed to develop at each node and the laterals were removed at the main stem. The types were also trained to a single stem; how ever, the types set many quality fruit at each node and set multiple fruit on the laterals, therefore, we did not re move the laterals. Information on how to prune types was lacking, therefore, to avoid excess vegetative growth, the laterals were pruned at their second node. Powdery mildew (Sphaerothecafuliginea) was present during all three seasons. In spring and fall, information on using biological control in our type of greenhouse was limited; thus, we did not use biological control for either insects or disease. Application of insecticides and fungicides were made as need ed. In both spring and fall, a once weekly application (rotated) of the insecticides M-pede (fatty acid soap, Mycogen Corp., 550 Oberlin Dr., San Diego, CA92120), Dipel {Bacillus thuringiensis, subsp. kurstaki, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., North Chicago, IL ), or XenTari (Bacillus thuringiensis, subsp. aizawai, Abbott Laboratories, Inc.) was made. Further more, a once weekly application of either Dithane (mancozeb, Rohm & Haas Co., 100 Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA ) or sulfur fungicide was used. In spring 2000, Quadris (azoxystrobin, Zeneca Agricultural Products, 1800 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE 19650) fungicide was applied twice after planting. Thereafter, a biological fungicide, AQ10 (Ecogen, Inc., 2000 West Cabot Boulevard #170, Langhorne, PA ), was used in the spring of Cultivars were rated at the end of each season for powdery mildew severity on a 1-10 rating scale, where 1 = <10% of leaves with powdery mildew, 2 = 20%, 3 = 30%, 4 = 40%, 5 = 50%, 6 = 60%, 7 = 70%, 8 = 80%, 9 = 90%, and 10 = 100% of leaves with mildew. At the end of each season, each plot was rated for plant appearance to estimate plant vigor. Plant appearance ratings were on a 1-5 rating scale, where 1 = plants in full fruit pro duction, 2 = green plants, partial fruit production, 3 = plants with yellow or pale green leaves, low fruit production, 4 = plants mostly yellow, very low fruit production, and 5 = no fruit production. Insect pests were monitored using yellow sticky cards (Whitmire Micro-Gen, Research Laboratories, Inc., 3568 Tree Court Ind. Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63122) and daily scout ing. NATUPOL bumblebees (Bombus impatiens, from Koppert Biological Systems, Inc., Beverly Rd., Romulus, MI 48174) were used for pollination of other crops in the green house (but not for the cucumbers), thus, compatible pest control measures were necessary including biological control. In the spring 2000 season, approximately 3000 adult lady bee tles (Hippodamia convergens, from IPM Laboratories, Inc., P.O. Box 300, Locke, NY ) were released weekly for control of the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae). Aphidius colemani (from IPM Laboratories, Inc.), a parasitic wasp of the green peach aphid, was released as 500 adults for 3 weeks to establish a population. Neoselius californicus (from IPM Labo ratories, Inc.), a predator mite which feeds on two-spotted spi der mite (Tetranychus urticae) was released twice, first as 5000 adults and a week later as 10,000 adults. Unfortunately, the population of predator mites needed to control the two-spot- 248 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 113: 2000.

3 ted spider mite could not be established at high tempera tures. Approximately 250 Geocris puncipes nymphs (from Entomos, LLC, 4445 SW 35th Terrace, Suite 310, Gainesville, FL 32608) were released once to control the green peach aphid and the two-spotted spider mite. The experiment was conducted using a randomized com plete block design with three blocks. Each plot consisted of two lay-flat bags with three plants per bag. Planting, harvest ing, and quality measurement dates are reported in Table 1. fruit were harvested and graded according to USDA grade standards for greenhouse cucumber (Anon., 1985). fruit were harvested and graded according to recommendations from Israeli seed companies. fruit were first harvested in spring when fruit diameter was approximately 6 cm. Upon the recommendation of repre sentatives from Israeli seed companies during fall, Beit Alpha fruit were harvested at approximately 4 cm diameter, which more closely resembles fruit sold in the European mar ket. For all cultivars, fruit number and weight were recorded for each plot. Marketable fruit numbers were recorded using modified USDA grades of fancy, No. 1, and oversize. fruit were straight, uniform green color and no blemishes. No. 1 fruit could have a slight curve or bell-shape, uniform green color and no blemishes. Oversize fruit were fancy or No. 1 fruit that were harvested one or two days after full maturity. Fruit quality measurements (length, width, appearance) were con ducted three times in spring and fall, and twice in spring Five fancy grade fruit from each plot were measured for length and width. Total fruit per plot were rated for wrinkle of fruit skin and fruit uniformity. All treatments were compared side by side to develop a scale. Ratings were on a 1-5 scale: 1 = least fruit skin wrinkle (smooth skin) and 5 = most fruit skin wrinkle. Fruit uniformity was also rated on a 1-5 scale: 1 = least uniformity of fruit; all fruit were of different length, diameter, and shape, and 5 = most uniformity; all fruit were of similar length, diameter and shape (Hochmuth et al, 1996). The data were subjected to analysis of variance and means were separated using Duncan's multiple range test, 5% level (SAS Institute). Results and Discussion Plants were harvested 23 times in spring, 30 times in fall, and 20 times in spring Early yield consisted of the first 8 harvests in spring and spring 2000, and the first 10 harvests in fall (Table 2). Marketable yield is the combined total of straight fruit with no blemishes (fancy), bell-shaped or slightly curved fruit with no blemishes (No. 1), and oversized fruit (fancy or No. 1 fruit harvested 1-2 days past full maturity). There was a significant two-way interaction between season and cultivar for marketable and fancy num ber and weight of cucumber fruit. While there were signifi cant differences among cultivars, marketable and fancy number and weight of cucumber fruit for each cultivar did not differ between spring and spring Of all culti vars, '' produced the greatest number of early fruit in the spring with 14 fruit per plant, but in the fall, '' pro duced the greatest number of early fruit with 16 fruit per plant. '' and '' produced more early fruit in the fall than the spring (6 and 8 fruit per plant compared to 3 and 2 fruit per plant, respectively), while production from 'LongJohn' was the same in both seasons (7 fruits per plant). Average fruit weight was significantly different between seasons (Table 3). Because delivery of seeds from Holland was delayed, the Dutch cultivars were planted 2 weeks later than the cultivars in spring 2000; therefore, there was no recorded yield during the first 8 harvests of those plots. Fruit weight of 'Long John' was greater in spring than fall. This variation was attributed to differences in environment between the spring and fall seasons (it was not grown in spring 2000 because seed was not available). For the cultivars, average fruit weight decreased over each of the three seasons. The reason for these differences is ex plained in the discussion of Table 6. There was a significant interaction between season and cultivar for total marketable number and yield of cucumber fruit (Table 4). Total number of marketable cucumber fruit was greatest for all cultivars in spring. Of the cultivars, '' and '' yielded similarly in both fall and spring 2000 (33 and 36 fruit per plant, respectively). All other cultivars produced more marketable fruit in the spring than the fall. '' produced superior yields over all Dutch cultivars in both spring and spring 2000 in which yield for '' was approximately three times greater than the yield from the s (66 and 44 fruit per plant, re spectively, compared to 23 and 14 fruit per plant, respective ly). The number of fruit produced was similar among Dutch cultivars for all seasons (12-23 fruit per plant depending on season). Marketable fruit weight per plant was greatest in spring compared to either fall or spring There were no significant differences among cultivars for total marketable fruit weight per plant in spring. The average marketable fruit weight per plant in spring from either the Beit Alpha-types or s was approximately 11.7 kg. In fall, marketable fruit weight per plant was significantly differ ent among all cultivars. The greatest yields were from the Beit Alpha-types '' and '' with 8.6 and 8 kg fruits per plant, respectively, and the '' with 8.5 kg fruits per plant. The lowest yield in fall was from the Beit Alpha cultivar '' at 5.5 kg of fruit per plant. In spring 2000, there was no significant difference in marketable weight per plant among cultivars and they yielded more than the s (6.1 compared to 4.3 kg per plant). Table 1. Planting and harvesting dates for 3 seasons of greenhouse cucumber. Gainesville, Florida., Fall, and Dates Fall 2000 Planting 1st Harvest Last Harvest Total Harvests Quality Measurements 31 March, 1 May, 1 July, 23 4 May, 20 May, and lojune, 30 Sept., 28 Oct., 26Jan., Nov., 14 Dec, and 6 Jan., Feb., March, April, March and 14 April, 2000 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 113:

4 Table 2. Means for early greenhouse cucumber yield for two spring seasons and one fall season. Gainesville, Florida., Fall, / 2000 Fall Cultivar* Market Market wt. (kg) wt. Market Market wt. (kg) wt ab 14.3 a 12.0 b 12.6 b 11.2b 12.3 b 2.4 b 2.4 b 2.0 b 2.2 b 2.2 b 2.5 b 9.9 b 11.9 a 9.7 b 10.0 b 8.3 b 8.8 b Yield per plant 1.8 b 10.6 cd 2.0 b 13.6 b 1.5 bed 16.2 a 1.7b 12.3 be 1.6 be 9.6 de 1.7 b 1.7 cd 2.2 cd 2.4 cd d 2.3 cd 2.2 d 2.5 cd 9.9 bed 12.0 b 14.4 a 11.1 be 8.5 de 9.6 cd 2.1 be 2.2 abc 2.4 ab 2.1 be 2.0 be 2.2 abc Longjohn 7.4 c 3.1 d 2.3 d a 1.2 c 0.9 c c 2.4 d 2.1 d a 1.0 cd 0.8 d ef 6.3 f 8.2 ef ab 3.2 a fg 4.2 g 6.6 ef be 1.9 c 2.6 a 0.57 zmeans separation within each column using Duncan's multiple range test, Cull number or weight per plant did not differ between spring seasons, but were different between both spring sea sons and the fall (Table 5). Cull numbers were low due to the continual removal of poor quality fruit before maturity. Re moval of aborted flowers or poor quality fruit was a necessary procedure for sanitation and to insure a constant set of new flowers for production of quality fruit. More culls were re corded from four of the six cultivars than the Dutch cultivars in both spring and fall seasons. Cull fruit may have been missed during pruning due to excess vegetation from -type plants compared to plants; however, in most cases, cull numbers reported from the Beit Alpha cultivars were less than 10% of the total number of fruit harvested (compared to 20% of the total number of Dutch fruit harvested). For all cultivars, weight of cull fruit was less than one kilogram per plant per season. Average fruit weight for each cultivar was different among the three seasons (Table 6). In all seasons, the average fruit weight for all cultivars was less than half that of the Dutch cultivars. There were no significant differences in aver age fruit weight among the Dutch cultivars in either spring or fall (approximately 500 g per fruit in spring and 395 g per fruit in fall ). There was approximate ly a difference of 35 grams per fruit among average fruit weights of the cultivars in fall. Average fruit weight of '' was greater than the other culti vars, except '', in fall (247 g per fruit compared to 156 to 189 g per fruit). In spring 2000, '' fruit were heavier than '', but other than that, there were differenc es in average fruit weight of cultivars (approxi mately 134 g per fruit). Average fruit weight of the '' was significantly greater than '' (310 g per fruit compared to 295 g per fruit, respectively) and the Beit Alpha-type cultivars. Through all seasons, '' produced the lightest -type fruit (10 to 20 g per fruit less than the next lightest -type), although not always signif icantly different from the others. The difference in average fruit weight between seasons may have been due to the uncertainty about when to harvest the -type fruit. There is little information either in the scientific literature or seed catalogs regarding production Table 4. Means for total marketable greenhouse cucumber yield. Gaines ville, Florida., Fall, and Table 3. Average fruit weight of greenhouse cucumber i for early harvest. 1 OOO T?oll 1 QQQ Cnrinrr 9HfM Gainesville, Florida, aprmg lyyy, rail iyyy, opnng ^uuo. Cultivar2 Fall 2000 Cultivar2 Marketable number per plant Fall 2000 Marketable weight (kg/plant) Fall Soring b 186 b 167 b 192 b 224 b 225 b grams per fruit 216 d 183 e 170 e 193 de 248 c 251c 131 ab 125 b 129 ab 129 ab 133 ab 135 a 52.2 b 27.6 ab 52.2 b 32.2 a 66.8 a 36.7 a 45.1b 31.6 a 46.7 b 33.0 a 51.0 b 36.4 a 39.7 ab 42.9 a 44.2 a 42.2 a 34.3 c 36.2 be b 5.8 ab 6.0 ab 5.7 ab 8.6 a 8.0 ab 6.1a 6.1a 6.1a 6.3 a 5.9 a 5.8 a Longjohny 522 a 407 a 387 a b 444 a 401b Longjohn^ 22.6 c 16.8 c 19.5 c 15.6 c 23.8 c 21.2 be d 14.3 d ab 6.8 ab 8.5 a b 4.4 b 0.91 zmeans separation within each column using Duncan's multiple range test, P<0.05. >Not seeded in spring zmeans separation within each column using Duncan's multiple range test, vnot seeded in spring Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 113: 2000.

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6 Table 8. Length and diameter of cucumber fruit as measured throughout the season. Gainesville, Florida. Fall. Cultivar* Longjohn Early" 19.3 c 17.1 d 14.3 e 17.9 cd 17.9 cd 17.8 cd 31.4 b 37.2 a 32.3 b 0.96 Length (cm) Mid 18.7 be 18.9 be 17.7 c 18.9 be 19.6 be 20.3 b 34.3 a 35.9 a 35.8 a 0.94 Late 19.4 c 19.1c 16.4 d 17.6 cd 19.5 c 18.8 cd 39.0 a 36.0 b 37.2 ab 0.96 Diameter (cm) Early 4.5 be 4.5 be 4.3 cd 4.5 be 4.6 be 4.2 d 4.9 a 4.7 ab 4.6 ab 0.38 Mid/late 3.9 d 4.0 cd 3.9 cd 4.0 c 4.0 cd 4.1 c 4.7 a 4.5 b 4.5 b 0.46 'Means separation within each column using Duncan's multiple range test, "Quality measurements in fall : Early = 8, Nov., Mid = 14 Dec, and Late = 6Jan., getting cooler and day length shortens, both factors which cause the fruit to develop more slowly which leads to longer fruit in some cultivars. Similar to the spring seasons, fruit length was longest during the middle of the fall season (14th harvest) for the cultivars '', '', and 'Ram bo'. Fruit length of '' and '' varied less than 1 cm over the season (approximately 19 cm and 36 cm, respec tively). Fruit diameter of the cultivars was greater during the early part of the season, 4th harvest, than the mid dle or end of the season, the 14th and 21st harvest (4.5 cm com pared to 4 cm). Similar to both spring seasons, fruit diameters of all cultivars were less than that of the s. Ratings for wrinkle of fruit skin and fruit uniformity were similar for each season (Table 9). All cultivars were generally smoother than the s. Using a scale from 1 to 5 (1 = fruit skin with the least amount of wrinkle, and 5 = fruit skin with the most amount of wrinkle), '' had the smoothest fruit skin of all cultivars at 1.4 Of the cultivars, '' and '' were rated with the most wrinkle of fruit skin (at nd 3.2, respectively). Also using a scale from 1 to 5 (1 = least uniform, and 5 = most uniform), cultivars '' and '' and the '' were rated more uniform than the 'Longjohn'. The cultivars '' and '' pro duced the most uniform fruit (4.2 and 4.3, respectively). Cucumber plants were rated on a scale of 1 to 10 for sus ceptibility to powdery mildew at the end of each season. There was no difference in powdery mildew ratings between spring and fall. Some differences among cultivars existed, but incidence of mildew was generally minor. Mildew ratings were significantly different among cultivars during spring 2000 (Table 10) when synthetic-chemical sprays were avoided to determine if the crop could be grown using no pes ticides and biological control. Chemical fungicides were ap plied in both spring and fall and powdery mildew was low among all cultivars (usually less than 20%). Without chemical fungicides (spring 2000), powdery mildew was se vere for most cultivars (greater than 80%). The -type '' had significantly lower powdery mildew ratings in the spring 2000 than the 'Kalun ga' that is labeled as powdery mildew resistant (30% com pared to 50%, respectively). '' seems to have some tolerance, if not resistance, to powdery mildew. There was a significant interaction among seasons for plant appearance (Table 10). In all three seasons, the exper iment continued as long as some plants in each plot had mar ketable fruit to harvest. In spring and fall, fruit production by '' and '' declined earlier com pared to all other cultivars. Based on plant appearance and fruit production at the end of each season, the cul- Table 10. Powdery mildew and plant appearance ratings at the end of the season for greenhouse cucumber. Gainesville, Florida., Fall and Cultivar* Powdery mildew* /Fall 2000 Plant appearance" Fall 2000 Table 9. Ratings for wrinkle of fruit skin and fruit uniformity throughout the season of greenhouse cucumber. Gainesville, Florida., Fall 1.0 d 3.2 c 3.1 ab 4.5 a and bed 8.8 a 3.8 a 4.2 a Cultivarz Wrinkle? Uniformity" 1.9 be 1.8 bed 8.5 a 9.5 a 2.3 be 3.8 a 3.8 a 3.7 b bed 2.4 ab 1.7 bed 8.8 a 8.3 a 2.8 b 3.0 ab 3.5 a 2.7 cd 3.8 abed 2.0 de 4.2 ab Longjohn" 2.9 a 2.3 be 2.1 de 1.4 e 4.3 a bed 1.2 cd 1.3 cd 3.5 c 5.0 b 2.0 c 2.5 be 2.5 be 2.0 c 3.0 ab 2.7 b 3.2 be 3.1 bed Longjohn 4.7 a 4.8 a 4.8 a d 3.0 cd 4.0 abc 0.42 'Means separation within each column using Duncan's multiple range test, >Rating scale for wrinkle: 1 = least wrinkle, 5 = most wrinkle of fruit skin. xrating scale for uniformity: 1 = least uniform, 5 = most uniform fruit. Uni formity ratings considered length, diameter, and shape. 'Means separation within each column using Duncan's multiple range test, >Powdery mildew ratings: l-<10% leaves with powdery mildew, 2-20% plant coverage, 3-30% plant coverage, 4-40% plant coverage, 5-50% plant cover age, 6-60% plant coverage, 7-70% plant coverage, 8-80% plant coverage, 9-90% coverage, % plant coverage. "Plant appearance ratings: 1-still in full fruit production; 2-plant green, par tial fruit production; 3-plant yellow with some green leaves, low fruit pro duction; 4-plant mostly yellow, very low fruit production; 5-no fruit production. wnot seeded in spring Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 113: 2000.

7 tivars '', '', and '' appeared to be the most vig orous cultivars. In spring 2000, fruit production was low for all cultivars at the end of the season because of two-spotted spi der mite damage to the plant and fruit. Conclusion The cucumber is an exciting new crop for the greenhouse industry in Florida. Some cultivars yielded nearly three times greater than the Dutch cultivars. Due to the warm environment in Florida, cultivars thrive and produce multiple high fruit yields with excellent fruit quality that exceed the standard Dutch greenhouse cul tivars. The cultivar '' produced high yields in all three seasons and was resistant to powdery mil dew. From personal communications (Brown's Fruit Stand, Waldo, FL), the -type cucumber required less postharvest attention, and the flavor and texture were superior to the. Future challenges will be to introduce the cucumber to the U.S. market and win consumer acceptance of the new product. Literature Cited Anon.. Methyl Bromide Alternatives. U.S. Dept. of Agr., Agr. Research Service. Vol. 5, No p. Anon United States standards for grades of cucumber. U.S. Dept. of Agr., Agr. Marketing Service. 8 p. Anon United States standards for grades of greenhouse cucumber. U.S. Dept. of Agr., Agr. Marketing Service. 13 p. Cantliffe, D. and J. VanSickle European greenhouse industry: growing practices and competitiveness in U.S. markets. Proc. Fla. Tomato Insti tute. Naples, FL. PRO 517:6-9. Costa, J. M. and E. Heuvelink Greenhouse horticulture in Almerfa (Spain): report on a study tour January Horticultural Produc tion Chains Group. Wageningen, The Netherlands. 117 p. Eversole, C.. Hydroponic vegetable production shooting up. Available from: Gordon, J To achieve an agricultural production system that is highly competitive in the global economy. Florida 1998 GPRA Performance Plan. Available from: Hochmuth, G. and R. Hochmuth Keys to successful tomato and cu cumber production in perlite media. Fla. Coop. Ext. Serv. Misc. Rept. 9 p. Hochmuth, R., L. Leon and G. Hochmuth Evaluation of twelve green house cucumber cultivars and two training systems over two season in Florida. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 109: Hochmuth, G Florida greenhouse vegetable production handbook, Vol. 3. Fla. Coop. Ext. Serv. Circ. SP48, Vol p. Hochmuth, G Greenhouse vegetable production in Florida by county. Fla. Coop. Ext. Serv., Misc. Rept. 3 p. Johnson, B.. Hydroponic hurrah: popularity is growing for produce grown without soil. The Grower. Vol. 32, 6. pp Johnson, G.. Specialty designation fades: some predict hothouse toma toes could replace field-grown product. The Packer. Jan. 18,. pp. Al- A2. Jovicich, E Hydroponic greenhouse pepper production in Florida. MS Thesis. Univ. of Florida. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 113: USING URBAN PLANT DEBRIS AND PERLITE TO PRODUCE ORGANIC VEGETABLES AND HERBS R. V. Tyson University of Florida, IFAS Seminole County Extension Service Sanford, FL J. M. White University of Florida. IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center Apopka, FL K. W. King Seminole Community College Biological Sciences Sanford, FL K. J.Barnes University of Florida, IFAS Seminole County Extension Service Sanford, FL Additional index words. Lactuca sativa, Cucumis sativus, Capsicum annuum, yard waste, alternative agricultural methods. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series No.N Abstract. Replicated trials were conducted at the Seminole Community College Horticultural Unit in Sanford to test the feasibility of using urban plant debris (UPD) and perlite to pro duce organic greenhouse vegetables. Other organic fertilizer amendments and peat were added to the treatments. Green house trials with lettuce, European cucumbers, and colored bell peppers were maintained using certified organic methods. Yields of lettuce and European cucumbers were best when ur ban plant debris and perlite were mixed in equal amounts. Concurrent demonstrations using organic substrates were also conducted with a variety of vegetables and herbs using both organic and conventional fertilizers and alternative agri cultural methods. Demonstrations with composted cow ma nure and perlite as substrates for layflat bags in horizontal and vertical production will be discussed. Results indicate that ur ban plant debris and perlite can be used as inexpensive amendments in organic and alternative vegetable and herb production. Composted yard waste, currently available for free in se lected Florida counties, has been shown to be a viable sub strate component for the production of many different crops and in varied rural and urban uses throughout Florida (Byers et al., 1998). When combined with other soil amendments containing nitrogen, yard waste compost has been shown to be an excellent amendment for producing vegetable crops (Stephens and Kostewicz, 1994). It is a suitable component of Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 113: