Abstract：This experiment was carried out with greenhouse cucumber（Cucumis sativus L.）seedling grown in nutrient solutions with different concentration of NO3-，for a short period treatment．The growth and development indicators，photosynthetic characteristics，yield and quality of cucumber plant were investigated during treatment and recovery phases．The results indicated that short-term low NO3- treatment reduced vegetative growth and photosynthetic characteristics of cucumber seedlings．However，after a period of recovery，there was no difference in cucumber yield，while the fruit quality was improved as compared with the control．T2（5 mmol?L-1 NO3-）achieved the highest stomatal conductance，intercellular CO2 concentration and net photosynthetic rates which increased 15.25%，4.90%，3.28% compared with the CK，respectively．T2 had a low impact on fruit yield but its VC content increased 14.92% compared with the CK，and the nitrate content of T2 was 20.52% lower than that of the CK．
