Plant Gene and Trait 2025, Vol.16, No.3, 123-132 http://genbreedpublisher.com/index.php/pgt 128 8 Case Study: Optimizing Plant Density and Trellis Configuration in Greenhouse Cucumber Production 8.1 Experimental setup: treatments and design This case is centered around growing cucumbers in greenhouses. The study sets different planting densities, such as 2.25, 3.0 and 3.75 cucumber plants per square meter, as well as different trellis methods, including high rope trellis, high umbrella type and modified umbrella type, etc. (Figure 2) (Ding et al., 2022; Berghage et al., 2024). Some experiments also added different pruning methods, such as leaving only one main vine and two main vines, to see how much impact they had on the growth of the plants, the number of flowers, fruit growth and yield (Ayala-Tafoya et al., 2019). In addition, some experiments planted companion plants that could attract bees to observe whether the pollination activity and yield increased (Stein et al., 2020). Figure 2 The cultivation arrangement of three density treatments in greenhouses (Adopted from Ding et al., 2022) Image caption: (A), the semi-closed, Venlo-type glass greenhouse used in the experiment. (B), picture of the plants, with about 15 leaves unfolding in different density treatments (Adopted from Ding et al., 2022) 8.2 Data on pollinator activity, fruit set, and yield Studies have found that associated plants can attract more bees to visit cucumber flowers, especially in autumn when the effect is most obvious, which is of great help in improving pollination efficiency and yield (Tscharntke
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