How Do You Seed a Cucumber

How Do You Seed a Cucumber

Cucumber

Botanical Name : Cucumis sativus  

Family : Cucurbitaceae 

Chromosome No. : 2n = 14, 28 

                                                                                       

Cucumber has a prominent and special place among the cucumber class vegetables. It is grown in both Zayed and Kharif seasons. Generally, the fruits of cucumber are used in raw form only. It is mainly used for making salad, raita, pickle and vegetables. Apart from these, it is also used in chaat. Pickle is added to small fruits. While big fruits are used for salad and vegetables. There is a huge demand for it in foreign countries, so it is exported to foreign countries. Foreign currency is earned from this.

Cucumber is a plant of the Cucurbitaceae family, its leaves have a petiole of 5 leaves, initially with sharp angles, but in the end it is heart-shaped. Cross-pollination occurs in cucumber. Cucumber has yellow flowers. From the botanical point of view, the fruit is Pepo. The plant is bisexual. That is, both male and female flowers grow on the same plant. The fruits are thick, long, cylindrical and of many colors, shapes and sizes. Fruits of some varieties are 25-38 cm long and 8 cm in diameter with a thick peel. The colour of the fruits is light green with a whitish tinge which turns yellow or brown when ripe.

India is considered to be the birthplace of cucumber. It is a major salad crop. It is grown in the plains and mountainous regions of northern and southern India. It contains 0.4% protein, 2.5% carbohydrate, 1.5 mg iron and 2 mg vitamin-C in 100 grams of food. Its fruits are good for people suffering from constipation, jaundice and indigestion. Its fruits are also used in cosmetics. In India, it is commercially produced in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, North Eastern states and Maharashtra.

Climate - Cucumber is grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Cucumber crop is short-term (60-80 days). It is unable to tolerate frost and its growth is adversely affected in extreme cold. Excessive rainfall, humidity and cloudiness increase the spread of pests and diseases. Cucumber is greatly affected by the fluctuations in light and temperature. With increase in light and temperature and long light period, male flowers are produced more and female flowers are reduced considerably, which adversely affects the yield. A long tap root system is found in cucumber.

  How To Seed Cucumbers 

Soil - Cucumber can be grown in different types of soils. For its successful production, loamy soil with proper drainage is considered the best. Light soils which get heated quickly are best for taking its early crop. The soil should have abundant organic matter. The soil should have a pH value of 5.5-6.8. The cucumber crop cannot tolerate a pH value higher than this. It is very beneficial to take its early crop in the soil near the river banks.

Improved Varieties

Indian and foreign varieties of cucumber are grown. The characteristics of the main varieties are mentioned below—

Japanese Long Green – This is an early variety, which starts bearing fruits in just 45 days. The fruits are 30-40 cm long and green in colour. The pulp is light green and crisp. This is a suitable variety for growing in mountainous areas and lower hills.

Poinsett - The fruits of this variety are 20-25 cm long and dark green in colour. This variety is resistant to Downy mildew, Powdery mildew, Anthracnose and Angular leaf spot.

Straight-8 - This is an early variety. Fruits are 25-30 cm long, thick, straight, cylindrical and green in colour.

Pusa Uday - Fruits are light green, 13-15 cm long and smooth. This variety can be grown in both spring-summer and rainy seasons. It gives 36 percent more yield than the variety called Poinsett and yields 10.5-11.0 tonnes per hectare.

Swarna Purna - This variety has been developed by Central Horticultural Testing Center Ranchi (Jharkhand). Fruits are medium sized, solid green in colour. This variety is tolerant to powdery mildew. It gives 300-350 quintals of yield per hectare.

Swarn Sheetal - This variety has been developed by Central Horticultural Testing Center Ranchi. Fruits are medium sized, green and solid. This variety is resistant to powdery mildew and black colour. It gives 250-300 quintals of yield per hectare.

Pusa Sanyog - This variety has been developed by hybridization of Japanese Kaga Aumaiga Pushi Navi and Italian variety Green Land Offapples. Fruits are 22-30 cm long, cylindrical and green in colour. Yellow thorns are found on them. The pulp is crisp. This is a hybrid variety which gets ready in 50 days. The yield is up to 200 quintals per hectare.

Priya - This variety was developed by Indo-America Hybrid Seed Company, Bangalore, Karnataka. This is a high-yielding hybrid variety.

Sheetal - This is a high yielding variety. It is an excellent variety for commercial cultivation in the Konkan region of Maharashtra.

Himangni - This is a high yielding variety which has been developed recently.

Kalyanpur Green - This variety has been developed by Vegetable Research Center Kalyanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. It is a high yielding variety.

Khira-75 - This is a high yielding variety which is suitable for cultivation in the hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh.

    How Do I Plant Cucumber

Khira-90 - This is also a high yielding variety which is suitable for cultivation in the hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh.

Land Preparation - First plough the field with a soil turning plough. After that plough 2-3 times with a cultivator or harrow. After every ploughing, use a leveller so that the soil becomes soft and level.

Manure and Fertilizer - According to Chaudhary (1977), a cucumber crop yielding 30 tonnes takes 55 kg nitrogen, 45 kg phosphorus and 85 kg potash from the soil per hectare.

According to Chadha (2001), an average crop requires 100 kg nitrogen, 50 kg phosphorus and 50 kg potash per hectare. To fulfil this requirement, 100 quintals of compost is added to the soil at the time of final ploughing and in addition to the manure given in the trays, 100 kg of urea is added as top dressing and mixed in the soil with the help of a hoe and later irrigation is done.

Sowing

Seed rate  -  2.5-4.5 kg of seeds per hectare is sufficient.

Seed treatment -  To protect the crop from fungal diseases, the seeds should be treated with Agrosan GN (2.5 gram medicine/kg of seed) before sowing. For quick germination of seeds, they should be soaked in water or ()-1% Bavistin solution for a few hours.

Time of sowing: In southern and central India, cucumber is sown in October-November. In the plains of north-eastern India, cucumber is sown from March to November. When the weather becomes relatively warm. In Maharashtra it is grown in January-February (summer crop) and June-July (kharif crop). In hilly areas it is grown in April-May.

In northern India cucumber is grown as summer and rainy season crop in February-March and June-July respectively. Rainy season crop gives higher yield.

Method of Sowing – In India three methods of production of cucumber are adopted namely furrow, bed and pits which can be deep, shallow and in the form of heaps. For sowing in the furrow, furrows are made at a distance of 1.0-1.5 meters. In this method seeds are sown on the upper surface of the furrow in which the vines are allowed to spread on the ground. This method is best for spring/summer crop because this method requires less water. Hills should be made at a distance of 0.5-0.75 meters. A small amount of linden dust should be sprinkled before making the hills. 5-6 seeds are sown in each pit at one place and later only two plants are left.

Irrigation - Irrigation of cucumber depends on many things. The main ones among them are the type of soil, climate, season of growing the crop. Summer crop requires more irrigation than Kharif crop. Generally, germinated seeds are sown for summer crop, hence it is very important to maintain sufficient moisture in the soil till the time they emerge. Generally, light irrigation should be done 1-2 days after sowing seeds in pits, beds and hills. Second irrigation should be done after 4-5 days. Crust should not be allowed to form on the soil. Generally, irrigation should be done after 5-6 days as per the temperature of the particular area. Both over irrigation and water shortage are harmful for cucumber. Pitcher irrigation is an effective method for irrigating cucumber. By making some improvements, 40 percent water can be saved by pitcher irrigation and soil salinity decreases as compared to the traditional method of irrigation.

    How Do You Grow A Cucumber

Use of plant regulators - Spraying naphthalene acetic acid 100 ppm, triiodo benzoic acid and ethrel in cucumber crop at 2-3 leaf stage leads to development of more female flowers. Fruits are ready 10-15 days earlier and yield is also higher.

Crop Protection

Weed control - Many weeds grow along with cucumber crop. Which adversely affect the development and growth of plants. Therefore, weeding should be done as per need to prevent them. By doing this, the growth and development of vines is good and the fruit yield is also good.

Insect control

Aphid (Aphis gossypii) - These are very small and green insects which suck the juice of the soft parts of the plants. The number of these insects increases rapidly, the leaves turn yellow and their vitality is adversely affected. These insects help in spreading virus diseases.

For their prevention, 0-2 percent Metasystox should be sprayed.

Fruit fly (Bacterocera cucurbitae) - The semi-ripe or ripe fruits rot due to this insect.

For the prevention of this insect, 0.05 percent Fenthion should be sprayed with 5% jaggery.

Thrips (Thrips - Thrips topaci, frankliniella sulphures) - Many thrips infestation eat the tender leaves and fold them inwards.

When these insects infestation occurs, 0.05 percent Demeton should be sprayed or before sowing seeds, 500 kg of Neem Cake should be put in the soil at the rate of per hectare.

Leaf eating caterpillar (Lasioptera margaronia indica) - The leaves are bright in colour and damage them by eating them. They are seen in Puma Silken Cabbage.

To control this insect, 0.05% Chlorpyrifos should be sprayed.

Red pumpkin beetle - Autacophora foveicollis, A lewisit) Yellowish brown beetles damage the leaves and the leaves become sieve-like. Its larvae cut the plants near the ground.

To control this, 0.05% quintal phos should be sprayed.

          How Do You Plant Cucumber

Disease control

Damping off - This disease is caused by a fungus called Rhizoctonia solani. Due to this disease, germination of seeds does not take place. When the plants get infected, the slightly bigger plants lie on the ground or their stems rot on the surface of the ground and become weak. This disease occurs more in conditions of high humidity.

To prevent this disease, the seeds should be treated with 0.25% Vitavax before sowing.

Downy mildew - This disease is caused by a fungus called Pseudoperonospora cubensis. Symptoms of the disease first appear on the upper surface of the leaves in the form of light yellow angular spots. Below these spots, on the lower surface of the leaves, the fungus appears purple in color like cotton. The infected plants remain dwarf. Due to the intensity of the disease, the leaves turn yellow and start drying up. Sometimes the entire plant dries up. The size of the fruit remains small. The fruits affected by the disease often fall down. The taste of the fruits also gets spoiled.

The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease -

- Do not grow cucumber type vegetables in the same field every year.

- After the crop is over, burn the crop residues and destroy them.

- The diseased vines should be cut and Mancozeb 2.5 kg / 1000 liters of water should be dissolved and sprayed on the standing crop at the rate of per hectare.

Fruit rot - This disease is caused by fungi called Choanephora cucurbitanum and Pythium aphanidermatum. Due to this disease, the flowers first rot and after some time, a cotton-like web of fungus starts appearing on the flowers. Later, this disease spreads to the fruits and rots them. The growth of fungus on the affected parts appears purple-black in colour like cotton. The disease is more prevalent when there is high humidity and high temperature. The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease -

- Proper arrangement of water drainage should be made.

- Vines should be given support to climb.

- While plucking the fruits or while taking them from the field to home or market for marketing, care should be taken that the fruits do not get any wounds or scratches.

- The remains of the affected plants should be burnt or buried in the soil away from the field.

          How Big Do Pickling Cucumbers Get

Powdery mildew - This disease is caused by fungi Erysiphe cichorarum and Spharotheca fuliginea. The disease attacks 16-23 days old leaves more, while the disease does not affect the newest leaves quickly. This disease spreads from one place to another through air. White spots appear on the lower surface of old leaves. Gradually the number and size of these spots increase and later powdery growth appears on both sides of the leaves. The normal growth of these leaves stops and they turn yellow. The leaves become chlorotic and the plant dies.

The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease -

- Wild plants of the cucumber family present near the field should be uprooted and destroyed.

- The remains of the diseased plants should be collected and destroyed. - As soon as the symptoms of the disease appear, Sulfex 2 kg, Calexin 1 liter or Karathane 600 ml should be dissolved in 1000 liters of water and sprayed at the rate of per hectare.

How Do You Seed a Cucumber

Anthracnose - This disease is caused by a fungus called Colletotrichun lagenerium. This fungus survives on the remains of the infected plants, soil and seeds. The disease spreads in the fields through water, agricultural equipment and beetles. Due to this disease, spots spread on the entire leaves. The leaves die after the attack. Long irregular spots appear on the leaf stalk and stem. Water-soaked small round, oval, round or elongated spots appear on the fruits. These later grow and merge with each other. Due to which the fruit starts rotting.

The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease-

- While sowing the seeds, they should be treated by mixing thiram, carbendazim or vitavax at the rate of 2.5 grams per kg of seed.

- On the standing crop, 2.5 kg of mancozeb or 3 kg of copper oxychloride should be sprayed at the rate of per hectare by making a solution in 1000 liters of water.

- Wild plants of cucurbits should be destroyed.

- Follow crop rotation.

Harvesting of fruits – The harvesting of fruits starts about 50 days after sowing. Fruits are harvested shortly before they attain full growth. Cucumbers are harvested at an interval of 2 or 3 days. 10-15 harvests are done during the crop period.

Yield – The yield of cucumber depends on many things, the main ones among which are the fertility of the land, the variety grown and the care of the crop. Rainy season crops give more yield than summer/spring crops. Hybrid varieties give more yield than local varieties. 150-200 quintals of fruits are obtained per hectare.