Weed competition in a cucumber crop

Two field experiments were conducted on cucumber (var. Explorer) during 1979 in a randomised trial design with four replications on the red ferralitic soil of Havana province, Cuba. The effect on the crop of the following different treatments was established: weeded regularly for 20, 30 or 40 days after crop emergence and during the whole crop cycle; left unweeded for these same periods. The mean data of both experiments showed that the weed incidence for 20 or more days following crop emergence affects cucumber yields, causing losses of 100% if the weeds were not removed during the crop cycle. Good high yields, similar to those of the treatment weeded during the crop cycle, were obtained when the weeds were removed 30–40 days after crop emergence.