Cucumber "Schedrik" F1 (1+1=3)

* Cucumber is a crop that requires heat, soil and air humidity. Its seeds germinate only at temperatures above +12°C.
Cucumber shoots are very tender and when the temperature drops below +10°C they stop growing, turn yellow and die. Even slight frosts are fatal for them...
And yet, despite such increased requirements for growing conditions, cucumbers are grown even in the northern regions of Europe.
The full period of cultivation of cucumbers in beds fits into 100 days of the warm period of the year - from the end of May to the first days of September. Cucumbers bear fruit well in hot weather interspersed with rain.
The best place for cucumbers is a slope facing south, protected from cold winds. Cucumbers grow even better near a pond, if there is one on the site.
Cucumbers are the first crop in crop rotation after fresh manure, which is best added in the fall when digging the soil at a rate of 6-8 kg per 1 m2. Decomposing manure supplies plants with all the essential nutrients and also creates a favorable microclimate: plants receive additional heat and carbon dioxide.
Cucumbers are a crop that is undemanding to the intensity of direct sunlight, which makes it possible to grow them almost all year round: in early spring in greenhouses and hotbeds, in the summer in the garden, and in winter on the windowsill.
Sowing directly into the ground is carried out so that the first shoots appear after the end of frosts (in Estonia, this is the last week of May). But, to be on the safe side, cucumbers should be sown not in one go, but in three stages with five-day intervals. During the first period, cucumbers are sown only with dry seeds, since they resist rotting better than sprouted and even wet ones when the soil is still cool. During the second and third periods, sprouted seeds (with roots) are laid out in a furrow previously watered with water.
In all cases, the seeds must be preheated. This technique disinfects them and significantly reduces the incidence of plant diseases. Experienced vegetable growers warm up the seeds by hanging them in a gauze bag near a heating battery or near the stove. They do this two months before sowing, trying to maintain a temperature of more than +20 °C. Warming is especially necessary for "fresh" seeds, i.e. those grown in the previous year.
Warmed seeds undergo another treatment - they are kept in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes. Then they are thoroughly washed in clean cool water. This procedure also helps to disinfect the seeds. Cucumbers yield a higher yield when, in addition to manure, mineral fertilizers are added to the bed at the rate of: 10 g of urea, 30 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium salt per 1 m2. But it is better to add 200 g (four handfuls) of ash instead of superphosphate and potassium salt.
Care.
Cucumber shoots appear on average a week after sowing the seeds. As soon as the rows are marked, loosen the soil between them. Then repeat loosening after ten days. If necessary, weed at the same time. When two true leaves form, the plants are thinned out to the following distances: varieties with short lashes by 5 cm, with medium ones - by 12 cm, with long ones - by 20 cm (early ripening cucumbers of the "Muromsky" variety can be even closer: 4-5 cm from each other).
After thinning, the plants are fed and the spaces between the rows are loosened. It is better to use liquid manure or mullein as top dressing, as well as bird droppings, respectively diluted with water in a ratio of 4:1, 8:1 and 12:1.
For faster growth of lateral shoots, on which fruiting female flowers mainly develop, it is necessary to pinch the lashes. Plants are pinched above the third or fourth leaf, i.e. the apical buds are removed (broken out or cut out). Cucumber varieties with short lashes (for example, Muromsky) are not pinched.
In dry weather, cucumbers are watered frequently with mandatory subsequent loosening. As soon as the plants begin to bloom, watering is reduced and then increased again, promoting faster formation of fruits. When 4-5 true leaves appear, the plants are hilled with a hoe - this enhances the growth of adventitious roots and helps prevent rainwater from accumulating near the stem. At the same time, repeat the plant feeding. In early July, the soil is loosened again and weeds are removed.
Harvesting.
The first harvest of cucumbers, sown with seeds in the ground, begins in mid-July, approximately 55-60 days after sowing. Then fruiting intensifies, and at its height, the fruits need to be collected every other day or two.
Disorganized, rare collections significantly reduce the yield and quality of cucumbers. After picking a cucumber, each vine strives to grow new fruits as quickly as possible, which quickly acquire a marketable appearance. Therefore, a big mistake is made by the gardener who believes that by skipping a day or two, he will give the cucumbers the opportunity to grow more mass. On the contrary, the mass growth will slow down. It is better to collect cucumbers early in the morning. Fruits collected in the afternoon usually wither and are worse preserved than those picked in the morning.
The cucumber collection itself must be done carefully and skillfully. You should pick cucumbers by pressing the stalk with your thumb and under no circumstances lifting the vines. The vines must not be turned over and especially not trampled.
All cucumbers are collected in a row: both marketable and diseased, underdeveloped (crooked), overgrown, yellow. The latter greatly deplete the plant and, what is no less important, delay the formation of new ovaries. The final harvest of cucumbers is carried out after the first frost, approximately in the first ten days of September.