Cucumber: A technical and economic evaluation of the high wire crop training system

The high wire growing regimes, as evaluated in this project, were not economically viable compared to the conventional cordon system currently used by the majority of cucumber growers in the UK.

The system was evaluated under very dull and challenging growing conditions in 2007 / 2008. The results would probably have been better in a year with a higher total light sum such as 2003. Alternatively, the use of supplementary lighting (as in the AYR project, PC 201) would have provided a base level of light that would have maintained assimilate production and crop vigour during the periods of poor natural light. It is recommended that the following technical issues be addressed before growers undertake any further large-scale trials:

* Specialised cucumber cultivars are required which are more suited to the high wire method of production. 

* Improved methods of managing plant vigour are required, particularly during dull and / or fluctuating weather conditions.

* More rapid and effective methods of controlling spider mites are required.

* Labour costs must be reduced. This could probably be achieved by investing in moveable crop wires and automated removal of redundant leaves.  

This project has been a success for the UK cucumber industry in that it has provided a thorough crop-scale evaluation of this growing system without individual members wasting their own time and resource on duplicated independent trials.

AIM:

To determine and demonstrate the technical and economic viability of the high wire crop training system to UK cucumber growers.

 OBJECTIVES:

• To continue to gather information about hire wire crop training from overseas.
• To quantify the output from a high wire crop training system in the UK.
• To quantify inputs required to achieve the above objective.
• To compile and collate comparative data from current commercial "best practice".
• To calculate economic margins for hire wire cucumber crops.
• To transfer new knowledge and technology to cucumber growers.
• To provide direction for complementary studies.