Crop residues are the primary source of carbon input in the soil carbon pool. Crop rotation can impact the plant biomass returned to the soil, and influence soil respiration. To study the effect of previous crops on soil respiration in cucumber (Cucumis statirus L.) fields in solar greenhouses, soil respiration, plant height, leaf area and yield were measured during the growing season (from the end of Sept to the beginning of Jun the following year) from 2007 to 2010. The cucumber was grown following fallow (CK), kidney bean (KB), cowpea (CP), maize for green manure (MGM), black bean for green manure (BGM), tomato (TM), bok choy (BC). As compared with CK, KB, CP, MGM and BGM may increase soil respiration, while TM and BC may decrease soil respiration at full fruit stage in cucumber fields. Thus attention to the previous crop arrangement is a possible way of mitigating soil respiration in vegetable fields. Plant height, leaf area and yield had similar variation trends under seven previous crop treatments. The ratio of yield to soil respiration revealed that MGM is the crop of choice previous to cucumber when compared with CK, KB, CP, BGM, TM and BC.