Production of staminate flower through silver ion containing compounds in gynoecious cucumber

A study was carried out to investigate the effect of silver nitrate (SN) and silver thiosulphate (STS) concentration, number of sprays and method of applications on induction of staminate flower in gynoecious cucumber cv. ‘Infinity’. Higher dose (400 ppm) of AgNO₃ and lower dose (2mM) of STS was found better. Further, twice application over once was found more effective for influencing all the characters in desired direction. All treatments performed better when applied as foliar application than that of soil application. All treatments, irrespective of dose and methods of application, induced staminate flower in all the plants. Besides, foliar application of STS at 2mM twice (at 2–3 true leaf stage and thereafter 7 days) followed by SN at 400 ppm twice produced greatest number of staminate flowers (151.0), more number of staminate nodes (20), staminate flowers earlier (27.83 days) and upto maximum nodes (25.17) in a plant.