Effects of different irrigation methods on water distribution and nitrate nitrogen transport of cucumber in greenhouse

In order to reveal the effects of different irrigation methods on water distribution and nitrate nitrogen transport in solar greenhouse, border irrigation, drip irrigation and subsurface irrigation were evaluated by using cucumber Jinyu No.5. Irrigation water distribution, nitrate leaching, root zone nitrate nitrogen transport, root distribution, yield and water use efficiency were conducted in the current study. The experiments showed that the amount of leaching and evaporation decreased but transpiration increased under drip irrigation and subsurface irrigation. As the results, compared to border irrigation, the above irrigation systems saved water by 25.9% and 32.0%, cucumber yield increased by 11.6% and 15.3% and water use efficiency (WUE) increased by 49.9% and 68.7%, respectively. The drip irrigation and subsurface irrigation also reduced the amount of nitrate leaching, and it was important to protect groundwater.