Effects of Microbial Fertilizers on Growth and Defense-related Enzymes of Continuously Cropped Cucumbers

Various microbial fertilizers were applied on the soil that grew continuous crops of cucumbers. The growth and the activities of defense-related enzymes of the cucumbers cultivated on the ground applied with 4 different microbial fertilizers were monitored. All tested fertilizers promoted the growth in varying degrees. With the fertilization, POD activities in the cucumber leaves at different developmental stagesincreased, while PPO and PAL activitiesraised initially followed by a decline. The microbial fertilizersseemed to induce a systemicresistance to diseasesin the cucumber plants.