Effect of vegetable residues incorporation on soil fertility, rhizosphere microbial community structure, and plant growth of continuously cropped cucumber in a solar greenhouse

Abstract

Purpose Incorporating crop residues into the soil is considered a sustainable and valuable method to alleviate soil deterioration caused by continuous monoculture in greenhouse production. However, the effect of vegetable residues retention on soil amendments is poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the impacts of sweet pepper, tomato, and cucumber plant residues on soil microbial communities and plant growth of continuously cropped cucumber in a solar greenhouse. Methods The 16S rRNA and ITS1 rRNA genes were amplified, and high-throughput sequencing was performed to explore the impacts of vegetable residues incorporation on soil microbial communities. Additionally, soil chemical properties, cucumber root vigor, and fruit yield were measured to assess the impacts of vegetable residues incorporation on continuously cropped soil and cucumber growth. Results The results showed that incorporating vegetable residues could improve soil buffering capacity, increase the content of soil organic matter and available nutrients, and increased the diversity of soil microorganisms and improved community structure; vegetable residues increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Chloroflexi, while reducing the quantity of soil-borne pathogens such as Bacillariophyta and Acidobacteria. Similar results were observed for the fungal communities: the relative abundance of Ascomycota was decreased to varying degrees, while the relative abundance of Rozellomycota and Basidiomycota was raised. The results demonstrated that vegetable residues incorporation significantly increased cucumber root vigor and enhanced fruit yield. The effects of different types of residues on improving soil properties were ordered sweet pepper plant residues > cucumber plant residues > tomato plant residues, and 20% of sweet pepper plant residues incorporation had the most significant effect on crop yield. Conclusion In summary, returning vegetable residues alleviated soil continuous cropping obstacles by improving the soil fertility and the diversity and community structure of soil microorganisms, and consequently promoting the growth and yield of greenhouse-grown cucumbers. The findings demonstrated that returning vegetable residues was an effective and sustainable measure for soil amendment during continuous cropping in greenhouse production.

Effect of Cucumber Continuous Monocropping on Traditional Chinese Medicine Residue through Analysis of Physicochemical Characteristics and Microbial Diversity

“…The assays were conducted following the methods from Chen et al [18] and included measuring the substrate electrical conductivity (EC), pH, organic matter (OM) content, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and total potassium (TK) contents. Briefly, the EC and pH of the substrates were determined by taking a representative 1 g sample, mixing it with deionized water at a 1:2 ratio, stirring it and then leaving it standing to obtain a clarified supernatant.…”

“…The determination of TP content was determined by sulfuric acid-hydrogen peroxidemolybdenum-antimony resistance spectrophotometry [33]. The TK content in the substrate samples was determined through flame photometry after digestion with sulfuric acid (analytical grade; Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Shanghai, China) and hydrogen peroxide (analytical grade; Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Shanghai, China) [18]. Three biological replicates of substrate samples were taken at each time point.…”

“…The authors revealed that the available nutrients decreased with continuous cropping, and the abundance of bacterial genera associated with nutrient cycling decreased as well. Chen et al [18] discovered that crop residue mixed into soil can mitigate soil deterioration resulting from cucumber continuous cropping. The presence of beneficial bacteria in the soil increased, while the population of harmful pathogens decreased with the incorporation of crop residues.…”

Soil Microbial Community Responses to Different Management Strategies in Almond Crop

“…The use of cover crops and manure is progressively reemerging in agriculture as a sustainable alternative to synthetic agrochemicals. Their use has been positively related to improved soil quality, regulation of nutrient cycling and enhancement of the suppressiveness of soil against several pathogens [ 8 ]. Cover crops can be grown in the soil to reduce the leaching of nutrients, avoid erosion, improve soil structure and suppress weeds, or can be incorporated into the soil as nutrients.…”

Soil Microbial Community Responses to Different Management Strategies in Almond Crop

“…The use of cover crops and manure is progressively reemerging in agriculture as a sustainable alternative to synthetic agrochemicals. Their use has been positively related to improved soil quality, regulation of nutrient cycling and enhancement of the suppressiveness of soil against several pathogens [8]. Cover crops can be grown in the soil to reduce leaching of nutrients, avoid erosion, improve soil structure, suppress weeds, or can be incorporated to the soil as nutrients.…”