CUCUMBER CULTIVATION ON SOME WASTES DURING THEIR AEROBIC COMPOSTING

Composting waste from vine branches, flax residues and grape prunings, husks and seeds was assessed as a technique to produce a medium for c ucumber production under glasshouse conditions. The composts were trea ted with N, P, K, Cu, Mg, Fe and marble at the very beginning of the c omposting. During the growing period the composts maintained a higher temperature in the root zone, a higher CO2 production and a higher mic robial biomass C level than the manured soil. They also released nutri ents in accordance with the plant demands. The nitrate concentration i n fresh fruits was significantly lower in the compost treatments than in the manured soil. Fruit production on the composts started 10-12 da ys earlier and the compost treatments showed a significantly higher yi eld (six times higher for the first month and 48-79% for the whole per iod). This simple technology had better economics than the use of manu red soil.