2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
In February, many gardeners will start growing seedlings. But even in January, summer residents do not have to sit idly by. This period of relative dormancy should be used to check your seed stocks and replenish with new ones if necessary. According to some researchers, cucumbers occupy the third place among vegetables in the human diet in terms of consumption after potatoes and cabbage. And it is difficult to find a site where at least a corner of the garden would not be allocated for this culture. This means that the choice of cucumber seeds must be approached with special care. What should be considered when buying a new variety?
The Right Questions When Choosing Cucumber Seeds
Novice gardeners are tempted to purchase seeds based on an attractive picture on the package. Of course, it can give a general idea of the variety or hybrid. However, this is not all the information you need to know about the purchased product. Moreover, quite often a manufacturer, in order to reduce the final price, can produce packaging that will be completely devoid of pictures. How to get an idea of how the chosen cucumber will turn out in the end?
A good half of the key to success is studying the characteristics that should also be printed on the package. And before buying, you need to answer yourself the following questions: for what purposes will cucumbers be grown, and in what conditions?
Fragrant cucumbers without a hint of bitterness
First you need to decide whether the crop will be used for salting. The fact is that cucumbers are divided into two main categories - those that are used only for preparing fresh salads, and others, more versatile, which can also be taken for winter preparations.
Cucumbers of the first type - for salad purposes - can also be seen on store shelves in winter. They are large, long, their skin is smooth, practically without tubercles and completely without thorns. It is very profitable to grow them in greenhouses.
Fans of pickled cucumbers should opt for short vegetables with a ribbed, slightly prickly surface. Most often, these vegetables are used both for salting and for preparing summer salads. But this variety differs from salad cucumbers in that under unfavorable weather conditions their taste worsens - they begin to taste bitter. To avoid such a nuisance, you should carefully study the packaging, since through the efforts of breeders, hybrids have already been created in which the ability to taste bitter is excluded at the genetic level. For example, these include hybrids Zozulya F1, Malyshok-sturdy F1, Pasadobl F1.
For those who like to crunch cucumbers
Another important detail to pay attention to when choosing pickled cucumber seeds is the ability of vegetables to maintain a dense consistency without the formation of voids, as well as a pleasant crunch. For this purpose, it is recommended to choose the Crunchy variety, the hybrids of Faithful Friends F1, Masha F1, Real Miracle Crunch F1, which, by the way, is also devoid of bitterness at the genetic level, are also suitable.
Greenhouse or open ground?
Another important nuance that should not be overlooked is where the cucumbers will be grown. This should be taken into account because there are both self-pollinating (parthenocarpic type) hybrids and varieties that depend on pollinating insects. The latter are undesirable to place in greenhouses. Otherwise, the gardener will also have to take the time to manually pollinate their plants. This is easy to do - you need to pick the male flower and transfer the pollen from it to the female ovary. However, this is also work, so it is better to foresee in advance what troubles certain nuances can cause and think over how they can be avoided.
Recommended:
A Dietary And Delicious Cucumber. Part 7
The gardener invests his strength and soul into the plants grown on the site, but suddenly various gluttonous pests invade his territory, viruses make their way through invisible paths, parasitic fungi living in the soil are creeping up to the roots, sometimes nullifying all the work
A Dietary And Delicious Cucumber. Part 6
Even wormwood tastes less bitter, because you don't expect anything else from it. But an appetizing green cucumber from its own garden, like a nettle will burn the tongue with unexpected bitterness and annoyance: "They looked after him, looked after him, and he was so ungrateful!"
A Dietary And Delicious Cucumber. Part 5
The appearance of the first leaves, the first flower, the first ovary evokes a feeling similar to the feeling of joy and delight of a mother when her child gives the first smile, the first word, the first step. Therefore, often the hand simply does not rise to remove this first flower or the first ovary. But, when growing cucumbers, there are no big victories without small losses
A Dietary And Delicious Cucumber. Part 4
So that cucumber lashes do not upset you with crumbling ovaries, decay of roots and stems and other unpleasant surprises, you should perform simple operations that help cucumbers grow strong, persistent and fertile
A Dietary And Delicious Cucumber. Part 3
The garden looks lonely without a cucumber patch. After all, one has only to approach such a manured cucumber bed, run your hand over its rough leaves, pick a fresh fragrant cucumber, and you will immediately believe in the existence of Paradise. After all, here He is, Paradise, next to you, on a simple man-made garden bed
