Cucumber has been cultivated for several thousand years and comes from India. In Eastern Europe it is known from the 8th century, in Western - from the 13th-14th centuries, and in Poland it was cultivated from the 16th century. It came to us from Byzantium, with the name "angurion", which meant immature. The name is ongur, down to the cucumber we know. This vegetable, despite its undeniable taste, has no significant nutritional value, but it should be eaten, because it provides mineral s alts and supports digestion and accelerates the removal of excess water from the body. It also has deacidifying properties. it is worth eating whole, without peeling, because most of the ingredients are contained in the peel.They should not be eaten together with tomatoes and other vegetables rich in vitamin C, because cucumbers contain an enzyme that breaks down this vitamin and an enzyme that breaks down pectin. Therefore, in combination with tomatoes on a plate, they quickly give them a fresh look.
The place for growing cucumbers should be quiet, and the soil fertile, humus and permeable, with no tendency to crusting, but at the same time maintaining moisture with a pH close to neutral. However, it should be remembered that cucumbers are sensitive to fresh liming, therefore they should not be grown in freshly limed soil. They are also sensitive to too much nitrogen, the excess of which can lead to the formation of empty seed chambers, lack of firmness and noticeable bitterness in the fruit.
Cucumbers are thermophilic vegetables,and the most appropriate temperature for them ranges from 18 to 30 ° C. Temperature below 10 ° C is already harmful to plants, while at 5 ° C plants may die. These plants are also susceptible to rotation - they should not be grown in the same place not more often than every 3-4 years, and a good forecrop for them are legumes (beans, peas, broad beans) and early cruciferous vegetables.They respond well to a crop that is coordinated with spring onions, lettuce, kohlrabi or early cabbage.
Due to the production of a large amount of green mass, cucumbers leave a fairly clean stand that can be successfully used for the cultivation of species sensitive to weed infestation. These plants have a fairly high demand for water, depending on the growth phase (they are most sensitive to its deficiency during the emergence of seeds and during flowering, the lack of water in the substrate contributes to the fall of flowers and fruit buds), and they also have very high requirements. alimentary. They should be fed with organic and mineral fertilizers, also top dressing during plant growth, up to 3 times.
What is the best time to sow cucumbers and is balcony cultivation possible?
One of the most important factors regulating plant life cycles is temperature. Even slight fluctuations can cause significant changes in development processes.Cucumber is a thermophilic plant for which the minimum temperature for germination is 15 ° C. Therefore, the best time for sowing cucumbers into the ground is between the second half of May (after the last spring frosts) and the first half of June.
Small-scale balcony cultivation of cucumbers is possible. For this purpose, it is worth choosing a fertile variety with high resistance to diseases and providing it with appropriate conditions. In garden stores there are already cucumber varieties that have been bred for pot cultivation, such as Iznik F1 (salad).
- says Dr. Eng. Tomasz Mróz
Cucumber not equal to cucumber
Available varieties for field cultivation are usually divided into groups, from which we distinguish the following varieties: salad (e.g. M alta F1, Dar), fermented varieties (e.g. Andrus F1, Hubal F1, Basza F1), canned (Atlas F1, Bolko F1, Chrobry F1, Kmicic F1) and gherkins (e.g.Cancel F1, Rufus F1, Tytus F1). Field cucumbers usually have warts, and their fruit is usually 10-15 cm long. The exception are ground salad varieties, where fruit is also 15-20 cm long.
For cultivation under covers, salad cucumbers are usually used, producing long fruits (over 25 cm) with a smooth skin, without nodules, often referred to as greenhouse varieties (e.g. Atos F1, Karol F1, Milenium F1).
