An experiment was conducted at the Center for Protected Cultivation Technology (CPCT), IARI, New Delhi. Cucumber hybrid Pant Sankar Khira-1 was selected for the experiment. Nursery of both the parental lines of Pant Sankar Khira-1 was raised in a plug tray with soilless media in a modern nursery at CPCT farm. The soilless media was prepared by properly mixing coco peat, vermiculite, and perlite in 3:1:1 ratio on a volume basis and filled in the required plug trays. The seeds were sown and covered with a thick layer of vermiculite for better germination.
The plug trays were kept in the germination room at 20°C. Water was applied through a fine sprinkler boom uniformly in the trays. Humidity in media was maintained at 95-100% and irrigation was given as and when it was needed. Nutrients were applied in the form of N: P: K (1:1:1) @ 140 ppm once a week. The 28 days old seedlings of both the parents were transplanted on raised beds under insect-proof net house and open field conditions. Spacing kept was 1 m between lines and 0.6 m between plants. The same number of female (180) and male plants (60) were planted under the insect-proof net house and open field condition. The seeds of parental lines of the hybrid Pant Sankar Khira-1 were obtained from the Department of Vegetable Science, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.
The experiment was conducted under two conditions, viz. insect-proof net house and open field. The insect-proof net house was made with UV stabilized white insect-proof nylon net, with a double door facility and having dimensions 60 m × 6 m × 2 m equipped with drip fertigation facilities. The male flowers in seed parent were pinched off regularly before the anthesis and the female flowers likely to be opened on the next day were covered during the evening (5-7 PM). On the next day, the male flowers were collected and pollination was carried out through hand pollination by rubbing the anthers gently over the stigmatic lobes. The pollinated flowers were covered and labeled over the peduncle.
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Kumar, Mukul & Sirohi, H & Singh, Balraj & Tomar, B & Singh, Awani & Sabir, Naved & Dwivedi, P. (2021). Studies on vegetative and reproductive growth of cucumber under insect proof net house. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences. 91. 318–20.