Cucumber

Family - Pumpkin. Homeland - Northern India, where cucumbers were widely cultivated for 3 thousand years before our era. Currently, this culture is widespread around the globe.

Cucumber is an annual herb, mostly monoecious. Stem creeping or climbing, pubescent with small colorless hairs, its size reaches 1 - 2 meters. Leaves are regular, whole with jagged edges. Flowers 3-4 cm, yellow, same-sex. In most varieties, female and male flowers are located on the same plant. Starting from 3 to 4 leaves in the leaf axils, the antennae are formed, with the help of which the plant is strengthened on the supports. Fruit is a false berry.

The cucumber has parthenocarpic varieties, which form only female flowers. Fruits are formed without pollination, but in this case no seeds are formed. At the present time, semi-bush and bush cucumbers are bred. Cucumbers are moisture-loving and exceptionally light-loving plants. Very demanding on heat and soil fertility. Optimal soil moisture during cultivation of cucumbers is 75 - 85%, and air 85 - 90%.

Cucumber fruits have high taste and dietary qualities, rich in mineral salts and enzymes, a small amount of vitamins( C, B, A).

In apartments, cucumbers easily work, especially after breeding varieties suitable for growing in indoor conditions. The best among them is Rytovsky. The plant is compact, beautiful, easy to climb up the supports.

Cucumber NK-mini - ultra-ripped, bee-dusted variety. The size of the bush is no more than 25-40 cm. In the sinuses of each leaf there are 2 - 3 female buds, forming small fruits up to 10 cm. The yield is 30-40 fruits from one plant. In the rooms requires manual pollination. If the seeds are planted in early April, in June it is already possible to harvest the fruits.

Regatta cucumber is an early, parthenocarpic, self-pollinated variety with a fruit mass of 150 g. Fruits are characterized by high taste qualities. Excellent work on the windowsills, closed loggias, verandas. Yield up to 30 - 40 fruits from one plant. It is resistant to disease.

For room conditions, we recommend also the grade Photon. Early maturing, fruit begins in 40 - 50 days after emergence. The fruit is 8-10 cm long. It has high resistance to mealy and false-mildew. With a single plant with good care can be collected 40-45 fruits. The following parthenocarpic varieties work well in the rooms: April, Stella, Zozulya, Debut, Kukaracha, Gribovchanka and others.

♦ Accommodation. In the room, cucumbers are best grown on the windowsills of the windows facing the south, southeast or east side. There is a lot of light and yield can be the highest. At late sowing periods( May - the end of June) we recommend to put pots or boxes with cucumbers on the western and even northern windows, balconies and loggias.

It should be remembered that cucumbers do not tolerate drafts and frequent temperature changes. Therefore, when ventilating premises young, just planted plants, and also seedlings are covered with a newspaper or thick paper.

♦ Planting and care. Grow in the room conditions of cucumbers should be in large clay pots, tubs, buckets with a capacity of 8 - 10 liters. The best substrate for growing cucumbers is a mixture consisting of humus, low peat, common vegetable garden and coarse sand in a ratio of 4: 4: 2: 1.High yields of cucumbers can be obtained with the use of the ready soil "Rose", with a high content of humus and a neutral medium.

For cultivation of cucumbers it is best to use a seedling method. When planting plants on a permanent place, they should have 4-5 well developed leaves and a strong root system. Usually it occurs 25-30 days after emergence. With lack of heat and light, seedlings can be prepared only after 32-45 days. Seeds are sown in peat pots or small containers. After the emergence of seedlings, they gently transplanted. Before landing in a container for a few centimeters, drainage from small pebbles is poured. Plant planted in the center in such a way that it was 2 - 3 cm above the soil,

Immediately after planting cucumbers poured in a steady, warm water( 22 - 24 ° C).Pots are placed on a permanent place( shelves, tables, window sills) and pulled from a thin twine trellis, which are sent to climbing whips.

With the appearance of the third real leaf, the tip of the shoot together with the kidney is plucked. This is done to accelerate the appearance of lateral shoots, which are the main carriers of female flowers, ovaries and fruits. With the appearance of 5-6 leaves, remove the tops of each whip. Thus, a real trellis is formed. Parthenocarpic short-bodied plants are formed in the same way as ordinary cucumbers. Pour cucumbers necessarily with standing water at room temperature. On sunny days watered at least 2 times a day, and in cloudy weather - 2 - 3 times a week. We recommend watering only in the morning or in the evening. In hot days obligatory reception is humidification of air by means of room spray.

Feed cucumbers with mineral fertilizers. Very high results are obtained by fertilizing plants with organic fertilizers. If possible, it is best to use an infusion of mullein, diluted with water 10 times, or bird droppings, diluted 15-fold. It is good to feed with liquid concentrated fertilizers for indoor flowers "Rainbow" or granular fertilizer "Flower".Feed cucumbers for the first time in 12-15 days after planting. The subsequent top dressing is best done once every 10 to 12 days. The interval between top dressing depends on the season and the phase of cucumber development.

To obtain a high yield of cucumbers, it is necessary to carry out manual pollination during the flowering period. Usually it is done this way: tear off the male flower, remove the corolla from it and insert it into the bell of the female flower. Pollination is best spent in good weather, in the morning hours( 6-10 am).

♦ Pests and diseases - spider mite, melon aphid, sprout fly. Of the diseases, the greatest damage to cucumbers is caused by anthracnose, powdery mildew, mildew, root rot and fusarium wilt. It is very important to monitor the temperature regime, avoiding strong temperature changes and drafts.

♦ Reproduction - by seeds. Germination of seeds lasts 5 years, but the fruits are best obtained from seeds of 1 - 2 years of age.

To accelerate the germination of seeds and the destruction of some fungal diseases, seeds are soaked for 20 to 30 minutes in a solution of humate or 1% solution of manganese-potassium hydroxide. After washing, the seeds are put in warm water( +25 - + 27 ° C).Then they are laid out for germination on a small plate, on a filter paper or gauze. The temperature at germination of seeds should be not below +22 - + 25 ° С.After a day, the seeds germinate and they are placed in seedlings.

Application

Cucumber salad

1 large cucumber, 2-3 tablespoons water with vinegar, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, salt, a little sugar.

Cucumber chop or cut and sprinkle with vinegar. Then add salt, a little sugar and a little vegetable oil. You can add salt, dill, green onion, grated apple. Mix everything.

Cucumber stuffed with meat

4 small cucumbers, 250 grams of meat( better than veal), 1 onion, bay leaf, 1 egg, black pepper, 50 grams of flour, 50 grams of bacon. Cucumbers cleaned, cut into 2 halves and take out the grains. Cook the meat with onions and spices until soft and let it through the meat grinder. Cucumbers stuff this mass, combine the halves, tie with a thread. Stew on the bacground.

Cucumbers with a candle

This is an ancient way to keep cucumbers fresh. The freshly picked cucumbers are carefully wiped with a cloth. A three-liter can is well washed and sterilized for at least 20 minutes. In a prepared dry jar put an ordinary candle and put cucumbers to the top. After that, the candle is lit for 10 minutes, and then, after extinguishing it, the jar is clogged with an iron lid. Now on your table all winter will be perfectly preserved fresh cucumbers.

Lightly salted cucumbers

They are prepared for quick consumption, pouring brine at the rate of 400 - 500 g salt per 10 liters of water. To speed up pickling, the tips of cucumbers should be cut. To get lightly salted cucumber in a few hours, they are poured hot brine.

In the century BC.e.about cucumbers is mentioned in ancient Indian literature. For 2000 years BC.e. Cucumbers were common in ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece.

Ancient Roman writer and agronomist Columella in his treatise described in detail ways of growing cucumbers and their use. He wrote that at this time cucumbers were also widely cultivated in African countries.