THE EFFECT OF MYCORRHIZA AND FOLIAR APPLICATION OF PLANT EXTRACTS ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF CUCUMBER (CUCUMIS SATIVUS) UNDER PROTECTED CULTIVATION

The experiment was conducted during 2023–2024 growing season in a plastic house at the research station in Al-Bandar, affiliated with the College of Agriculture, University of Al-Muthanna, on cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L., cv. Sahara). The study aimed to investigate the effect of Mycorrhizal fungi and foliar spraying with licorice extract combined with yeast at concentrations of 0, 5, and 10 g L⁻¹ on the growth and yield of cucumber cultivated under greenhouse conditions. Three foliar sprays were applied during the growing season. A randomized completely block design (RCBD) with three replications was used, and means were compared using the least significant difference (LSD) test at the 0.05 probability level. The main results can be summarized as follows: Plants treated with mycorrhizal fungi showed significant superiority in all studied traits. The concentration of 10 g L⁻¹ licorice extract combined with yeast was superior comparing with other treatments in terms of vegetative growth and yield parameters. Furthermore, the interaction between mycorrhizal fungi and 10 g L⁻¹ concentration of licorice extract combined with yeast recorded the highest values for plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, dry weight of vegetative growth, number of fruits, and total yield per plant, reaching 221.93 cm, 36.12 leaves, 40.72 dm², 117.49 g, 34.26 fruits, and 4.44 kg plant⁻¹, respectively .