The effect of grafting and irrigation water, enriched with carbon dioxide, on the N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Mn and Zn content in the aerial part of Japanese cucumber plants cultivated under protected conditions was evaluated. The experiments were carried out in two periods. The experimental design was of blocks with four treatments and four replications. The treatments were cucumber plants grafted and not grafted, irrigated with common water or water enriched with CO2, with 1‰ in the first semester and 0,25‰ of concentration in the second semester. At the end of the culture cycle, the CO2 only influenced the K, Ca, Mg, and S contents in the first semester; while the N content was altered only in the second semester. The grafting did not influence N, P, and Mg content, but, grafted plants had higher potassium content and lower Mg, S and Ca content in plant shoots, at the end of the cultivation period. These results could be related to the symptoms of deficiency observed in grafted cucumber plants.
Cucumis sativus L; nutrition; CO2
