Effects of Zeolite on Seedling Quality and Nutrient Contents of Cucumber Plant (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Mostar F1) Grown in Different Mixtures of Growing Media

Zeolite has been successfully used in growing media for containerized production systems. In this study the effects of zeolite utilization with the mixture of different growing media (GM) on the seedling quality and nutrient contents of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Mostar F1) were determined under the greenhouse conditions. For this purpose, natural zeolite, perlite, turf, and their different mixture forms were used as GM for growing of cucumber seedlings. Effects of these substances on the seed germination, plant height, stem diameter, seedling fresh weight, and macronutrient [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg)] and micronutrient [iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and copper (Cu)] contents were studied. As a result of this study, the effects of GM on the seedling quality parameters were found to be significant for seed germination, plant height, stem diameter and fresh weight, and nutrient contents of seedlings. The best results were generally obtained from turf + zeolite mixtures.