Effects of soil amendments and mulching on soil improvement in cucumber continuous cropping

Soil amendments, including organic fertilizer, lime and bacterial manure, and mulching were applied in two cucumber fields to improve cucumber continuous cropping soil in suburban areas of Shenzhen. After mulching and soil amendments, investigation of the soil temperature, physicochemical characters and edible yield of two cucumber plots were carried out. The results showed that the soil temperature and the contents of available potassium, exchangeable calcium and magnesium increased significantly. As the soil physicochemical characters improved, the cucumber yield increased dramatically through the combination application of mulching and soil amendments.