cucumbers grown under open air conditions, encounters chilling damages, during cold seasons. plastic tunnels provide suitable heat environment for growing cucumber. the objective of this research was to evaluate cucumber phonological stages and leaf area expansion within three different plastic tunnel microclimates to moderate air temperature and air humidity. three microclimates including 1. c...

Experiments about the forced-air precooling of cucumbers were carried out under different operation parameters. The results show that the relation between cooling rate and air velocity can be given by power function. The linear relationship between the initial temperature of cold air and cucumbers and the final temperature of cucumbers is gained. Temperature gradient exists in different radius ...

The combination effects of light and air temperature, which were expressed as photothermal ratio (PTR), on the growth and sex expression of three monoecious cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L. cv. “Xintaimici”, “Jinyan 3” and “Jinyan 4”) were studied with hydroponics in this research. The results showed that with the increase of PTR, different growth responses were observed in the three cucumber cult...

In a field study in Hawaii, color-marked protein-deprived and protein-fed female melon flies, Bactrocera cucurbitae Coquillett, were released within canopies of unsprayed sorghum plants (a nonhost of melon flies) outside of a border area of unsprayed or bait-sprayed sorghum plants or open space that surrounded cucumbers, a favored host of melon flies. Application of bait spray to sorghum or sug...

Increased concentrations of CO2 and ozone are predicted to lower nutritional quality of leaves for insect herbivores, which may increase herbivory as insects eat more to meet their nutritional demands. To test this prediction, we measured levels of herbivory in soybean grown in ambient air and air enriched with CO2 or O3 using free air gas concentration enrichment (FACE). Under open-air conditi...