THE EFFECT OF YEAR, PLANTING DATE, MULCHES AND TUNNELS ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF FIELD CUCUMBERS IN SOUTHERN QUEBEC
In 1986 and 1987, five mulch/tunnel treatments (bare soil (BS), black mulch (BM), transparent mulch (TM), black mulch/perforated transparent tunnel (BMT), and transparent mulch/perforated transparent tunnel (TMT)) were factorially combined with three planting dates representing very early (10 May), early (21 May) and normal (3 June) dates for Southern Québec. Following a late frost after the first two planting dates of 1986, all treatment combinations resulted in significant improvements in survival rates over BS plants. Only the TMT treatment proved justifiable for the earliest planting date across both years, though there were no significant differences between TMT and BMT treatments under milder growing conditions. Tunnel treatments proved superior to their mulch-only counterparts for earlier plantings and/or the cooler season (1986). TM resulted in superior yields over BM for all planting dates in 1986, and for no planting dates in the warmer season. TM generally resulted in yields superior to that of BS. BM treatments rarely improved early yields over BS, though total yields were improved in 1986.Key words: Cucumber, planting date, mulch, tunnels