Abstract:

To determine the effects of biochar-based organic fertilizers on the biological characters, fruit quality, soil nutrients and microbial communities of Cucurbita pepo in northwest Hebei, three treatments with different fertilization levels were carried out with C. pepo ‘Zaoqingyidai’. Compared with the no fertilization (control), biochar-based organic fertilizers could significantly increase plant height and stem diameter of C. pepo. Meantime, soil nutrients and microbial communities, and the content of P, K and organic matter in soil were also improved. The fertilization treatment of 1500 kg/hm² was the best in the study, under which, the plant height and stem diameter increased obviously, which were 22.8% and 16.7% more than those of control, respectively. The macro-genome sequencing results showed that biochar-based organic fertilizers could increase the relative abundance of Ascomycetes fungi expression, decrease the relative abundance of Sporomycetes fungi expression. The Russula was newly added. In the fertilization treatment of 1000 kg/hm², the OTU number of rhizosphere soil microorganism was the most and reached 811. The results can provide a theoretical basis for the application of biochar-based organic fertilizers in the production of C. pepo in northwest Hebei.

Key words: Biochar-based Organic Fertilizer, Cucurbita pepo, Fruit Quality, Soil Nutrients, Soil Microorganism