Salad cucumber

Cucumis sativus - Marta

Cucumbers undoubtedly rank among the most popular types of vegetables. Pickling cucumbers or salad cucumbers are probably the most commonly grown vegetable variety. Everyone knows the long snake cucumbers. The fruits measure over thirty centimeters, are smooth, not bitter, and are suitable for cultivation in greenhouses and polytunnel covers. Cucumbers originate from India, where they have been cultivated for 3000 years. The plant grows up to 2 meters long and is climbing. It characteristically has large, deeply lobed, alternately growing leaves. Cucumbers produce large yellow unisexual male and female flowers, which are pollinated by insects. The fruit are cucumbers - berries.

Cucumbers contain the enzyme erepsin, which breaks down proteins. Vitamin E protects cells from free radicals. When consuming cucumbers, a feeling of satiety quickly sets in, which helps with weight loss diets.

Besides basic culinary preparations of cucumbers, such as salads or pickling, cucumbers can also be used to make various creamy salads, as well as cocktails and various smoothies.

How to Grow Cucumbers

• It is not advisable to plant cucumbers where potatoes or strawberries were previously grown. On the contrary, beds after peas, onions, beets, or beans are suitable. Cucumbers require a bright, warm location that is sheltered from wind. We keep the soil around the emerged seedlings loose and clean. Cucumbers are shallow-rooted, so we don't hoe deeply. We pinch plants in the six-leaf stage after the fifth leaf and later also pinch side shoots after fruit has set. Pinching accelerates harvest by at least fourteen days. Watering during sunny heat is not suitable, as plants suffer from scald and downy mildew. Leaves must be dry at night, so afternoon watering is completely unsuitable and we only water in the morning. For cucumber cultivation, it is advisable to use PVC film which protects seedlings from possible temperature drops. Black non-woven fabric is most suitable.

• Cucumber seeds can be sown directly into the bed around May 20th. Cucumbers are quite susceptible to temperature shocks, so temperatures should not fall below 8°C.

  Another option is pre-cultivation, which helps us avoid cucumber mildew. Sowing can be done from mid-April. We sow seeds into sowing substrate, one seed per pot or seed tray. We can pre-cultivate behind a window indoors or in a greenhouse. Seedlings are pre-cultivated for 12-16 days and the suitable temperature for seed germination is 15-18°C. Over-watering doesn't suit seeds or young seedlings very well, they could easily die. We again place seedlings at their final location only after May 20th.

• They require quality, well-fertilized, deeply worked soil.

• It is good to fertilize the site before planting with well-aged manure or well-composted compost. This should be left to settle for another 2 to 3 weeks. During the growing season, you can fertilize with diluted cow manure with fermented chicken manure. You can also use artificial fertilizer Cucumin, designed specifically for cucumbers. We can also apply Cererit or Floran.

• Sucking pests such as aphids, whiteflies or spider mites can significantly weaken our cultivated plants when heavily infested. Among fungal diseases, mainly mildews such as cucumber mildew, black fruit rot, powdery mildew. It is advisable to use ROCK EFFECT as prevention, not only against sucking pests, but also against fungal diseases. For treatment against fungal diseases, we can use products Acrobat MZ WG, Aliette 80 WG, Dithane DG Neotec, Champion 50 WP, Kuprikol 50, Ortiva, Previcur Energy, Ridomil Gold MZ Pepite and Plíseň STOP.

  Symptoms of cucumber mosaic virus can be observed in approximately one and a half month old plants. Greener irregular spots begin to form on the leaves, which turn yellow over time. Leaves wrinkle and deform. It is transmitted by pests such as aphids or whiteflies. Protection involves eliminating sucking pests that transmit the disease and destroying plants in case of infestation.

• We harvest cucumbers at least two to three times a week. During harvesting, we take care not to tear the cucumber seedlings and damage the shoots. We harvest mature fruits.