Cucumber

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 15:51

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Latin name: Cucumis sativus Family: Pumpkin Categories: Vegetable crops

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) Is a popular vegetable, an annual herb that belongs to the extensive pumpkin family.

History

People have been cultivating cucumbers for thousands of years. It was first cultivated in Southeast Asia. Then the cucumber, like other pumpkin plants, came to America and Europe. Since those distant times, the popularity of the vegetable has not diminished in the least. It is actively used in the culinary arts of different countries of the world on different continents.

general characteristics

Cucumber is a cross-pollinated plant. It is distinguished by a developed, branched root system. Moreover, most of the roots are located at a depth of twenty to forty centimeters. Most of the varieties have a liana-shaped, highly branching stem. Cucumber has petiolate leaves with different blade shapes. Flowers are axillary, dioecious. Cucumber is a monoecious plant. There are varieties in which more than 50% of plants are practically only male or female and bisexual flowers. Many parthenocarpic hybrids produce seedless fruits.

The length of the fruit is different - on average, from five to thirty or more centimeters. Cucumbers have white seeds. If stored properly, seeds will remain viable for about a decade.

The popularity of the vegetable has led to the emergence of numerous varieties. They differ in many characteristics - purpose, ripening time, duration of the growing season, etc.

Care rules

Cucumbers are quite demanding on growing conditions - the degree and nature of illumination, watering, temperature, soil nutrition, etc.

Temperature … For successful germination of seeds, a soil temperature of about 12-15 ° C is required. However, this is not the most favorable temperature. The most optimal temperature for cucumbers can be called a temperature of 25-30 ° C. But with the onset of frost, even small and short-term, cucumbers have almost no chance of surviving. Even at a temperature of 10 ° C, they stop growing, get sick and do not bear fruit. So the best temperature for cucumbers is 25-31 ° C for air and 21-25 ° C for soil.

Humidity … However, the cucumber is demanding not only on temperature, but also on humidity. When growing crops in open ground, the optimum moisture content is at the level of 76-80%, in protected ground - about 86-90%. The humidity should not be allowed to go away from the indicator of 75-80%. The guarantee of a rich harvest of cucumbers is irrigation uniform in time and amount of water and good heating of the soil.

As for the early ripening varieties, here you can count on a good harvest if you plant seeds in the ground in the early stages. The most successful option would be to use frame film shelters, as well as cultivating a vegetable on a trellis.

Seat selection … When choosing where to plant cucumbers, it is important to consider that this place must be well protected from the wind. Sun access is also required. The soil should be nutritious and loose. If you have a lot of choice, give preference to a place where early vegetables used to grow. Cucumbers should not be sown in the same place. It is necessary to wait for a pause of two to three years. The soil is also considered unfavorable after other crops belonging to the pumpkin family, namely, melon, watermelon, zucchini, pumpkin, squash. This is due to the fact that pumpkin seeds often get sick, and the "infection" continues to remain in the ground.

Sowing … For sowing, it is recommended to take two-year or three-year seeds. Plants produce more female flowers, and this happens quite early. The seeds need to be prepared as follows. First of all, they need to be warmed up at a temperature of 60 ° C for two hours. Next, you should select the seeds by their specific gravity in the sodium chloride solution (3-5%). When the seeds fall to the bottom, the solution must be drained, and the seeds must be rinsed with running water and dried a little. It is important to carry out disinfection in advance, using for this purpose a solution of potassium permanganate (1 liter of water - 10 g), and then rinse with plain water.

Fertilizers … Cucumbers respond well to the use of organic fertilizers. In the autumn, for digging, you need to add humus or rotted manure (approximately 6-9 kg / m2). It is important to remember that if you do this in the spring, and even in significant doses, you can lose part of the crop - the plant will bear less fruit, the quality of the cucumbers will deteriorate, and voids will appear in the greenery. So compost, humus, half-rotted manure will be more favorable.

It is better to sow cucumbers early - at a depth of four to five centimeters. The ground must be moist. The seeding rate is 0.3-0.5 g / m2. During sowing, you need to maintain a distance of 25-40 cm. It is recommended to loosen the ground between the seedlings deep enough (about 10 cm deep).

It is recommended to huddle the culture, as they quickly form adventitious roots, which increase plant nutrition. Loosening the soil (6-8 cm) and weeding should be done as the earth is compacted and weeds appear.

Watering … Cucumbers love moisture and should be watered about once a week. If the weather is hot, you can do this every day. Cucumbers need a lot of water during the fruiting period. Watering is best done in the morning and afternoon. After morning dew and rain, it is recommended to spray the plant with water. Water for irrigation should be at room temperature, it is better not to use cold water. Water the cucumbers abundantly. It is recommended to use up to 20 liters per meter, but the water should be poured gradually. When the third true leaf appears on the cucumber, it is recommended to use top dressing (liquid potash and nitrogen fertilizers). This will enhance the plant's protection from fungus.

Picking cucumbers best done in the morning or evening. To do this, you need to gently press your finger on the stalk.

It is important to get rid of sick and defective fetuses on time.

To obtain seeds, you must wait until full ripeness. The seeds are harvested by hand with juice, left in a fermentation vessel for a couple of days, then washed and dried.