Visible injury appeared 7 days after ultraviolet-B(UV-B) irradiation, but did not show any significant decline of growth in cucumber plant. However the growth of the first leaves of fertilized plants was suppressed by UV-B irradiation. Especially the most effective growth retardiation appeared when supplied with nitrogen rather than phosphate and potassium. These results suggest that UV-B may play an important role in inhibiting nitrogen metabolism. Therefore we examined the effect of activity of nitrate reductase, and found that the nitrate reductase activity of the first leaves was increased by UV-B irradiation for 7 days and fertilization. We examined the effect of plant hormone on the inhibition of growth in the first leaves. Benzyladenine promoted the growth of discs excised from the first leaves by fertilization and without UV-B, but did not promote the growth of leaf discs from UV-B irradiated plants. We conclude that the UV-B-induced decrease in the growth of the first leaves could be related to reduction in sensitivity to plant hormones.