Main features of the variety
Cucumbers City Cucumber f1 is a stress-resistant parthenocarpic variety belonging to the mid-season group - cultivation takes 40-42 days. The cucumber itself is small: its length is 9-11 cm, its diameter is 2.8-3.1 cm, its weight is 85-90 g. The average yield in protected ground is 12-13 kg/sq.m. m. City Cucumber f1 has the following features:
- The bush of the variety is tall, powerful, weakly leafy, but with long, strong vines that can support a lot of greens.
- The leaf is small, neat, heart-shaped, almost does not ripple, and is sparsely covered with whitish down.
- The cucumber is small, with aligned sides, an elongated cylindrical shape, slightly thicker at the bottom. The ovary of the City Cucumber f1 is bunched; 7-9 ovaries can ripen in one bunch.
- The skin is shiny, thin, but strong; the cucumber retains moisture well. The color is dark green with thin light stripes on top.
The pulp of the variety is refreshing, sweet, crispy, aromatic, and not bitter. Cucumber is suitable for pickles and vegetable salads. City Cucumber f1, unlike varieties such as Prokofiev f1, tolerates shade well, which allows it to be grown on the balcony.
Landing rules
Hybrid Urban Cucumber f1 takes root well in a small, semi-shaded area. The analyzed cucumber can withstand minor frosts, but requires highly nutritious supplements.
Soil preparation
This variety feels best in loose and mineral-rich chernozem and sandy loam soils. In the first half of September, the ground under the City Cucumber f1 is cleaned, removing plant debris, dug into a shovel, calcined with boiling water and covered with ash. 3-4 days before planting, the area for the cucumber is weeded, removing all the roots, loosened to 25 cm, and then fed with compost mixed with hay.
Germination of seedlings
Seed material City Cucumber f1 is laid for germination in the second half of April. The seeds of the variety are buried one at a time in pots 25-30 cm high, to a depth of 1.6-1.7 cm. The soil is warmed up to 18°-19°C before application.
Before the first shoots appear, the air temperature under the cucumber remains 26°-27°C, then it drops to 25°C. Irrigation of Urban Cucumber f1 seedlings is carried out every morning through a spray bottle.
Planting bushes
Seedlings of this variety ripen for transplanting in early May, when the crops are 25-26 days old. On mature bushes, City Cucumber f1 blooms with 3-5 leaves. The hybrid variety is planted in warm weather, in pre-heated holes 8-9 cm deep. The planting density in the greenhouse is 2 plants, in an open bed - up to 3. The recommended width of the distance between bushes is 35-40 cm. Row spacing for cucumbers is measured at 55-60 cm.
Cucumbers on the balcony, loggia and windowsill - growing step by step
Growing cucumbers on the balcony in summer or winter is not as difficult as it seems. To do this, you do not need to have an agronomic education, be an avid gardener with extensive experience, or even have any skills in growing plants.
All you need is a lot of desire and patience.
Cucumbers on the balcony.
First of all, you need to understand that not all balconies are suitable for year-round cultivation of cucumbers:
- A loggia or balcony must be well-glazed, because cucumbers cannot tolerate drafts, cold air, or even short-term hypothermia. If there is a constant wind or low temperature on the balcony, then you will only have to dream about the harvest;
- Cucumbers need a lot of light, so it’s ideal if your balcony faces south. But even if the windows face north, then it’s okay, there will be a harvest, although not in the same quantities and quality as in the first case.
If you do not understand growing cucumbers and have never done this, then you need to approach the process of selecting seeds with special responsibility.
Oddly enough, today in a specialized store you can buy seeds that are intended specifically for balcony and apartment cultivation. These varieties were specially bred and are resistant to large amounts of shade, so they cannot boast of large-sized fruits. These varieties also do not require pollination, so they can be grown at any time of the year.
Such varieties are usually called hybrid. The most common hybrid varieties:
- Showcase;
- Balcony;
- City pickle;
- Berendey;
- Courage, etc.
The most optimal time for sowing cucumber seeds is the end of April-beginning of May. If the seeds of a hybrid variety are planted earlier (for example, in March), then buds will begin to form on them much earlier than the time when they can be taken out to the open balcony.
You can plant earlier, or rather at any time, it all depends on the microclimate and lighting on your balcony.
Preparatory process
Seeds of a hybrid variety for growing on the balcony can be planted in plastic bottles or containers. Such containers are designed for planting indoor flowers. But you don’t have to bother and plant cucumbers in cut-off plastic bottles (such varieties tolerate such conditions remarkably well). It is a common belief that plastic bottles produce small cucumbers, but we don’t need any more, because hybrid varieties will never be able to produce large fruits.
You can even grow it this way in large bottles.
Of course, choosing a suitable container for growing cucumbers is a very important matter, but special attention should be paid to the choice of soil. It is necessary to remember that cucumbers will grow actively and produce more or less good fruits only if the gardener uses fertile land.
You shouldn't go outside and poke around on the lawn. It is best to visit a specialized store and purchase suitable soil there.
By suitable soil we mean a universal type, which is designed for growing all kinds of vegetable crops with an acidity level in the range of 6.3-6.8. It’s very good if you have a summer house nearby and you can bring some land from there. It is recommended to mix this soil with purchased soil and perlite (4 parts soil, 1 part soil, 1 part perlite). Before planting seeds, it is recommended to additionally treat the soil with a fungicide. You can also warm up all the prepared soil in the microwave.
Cucumber seed sprouts are quite fragile, so they must be handled delicately. In the case when the purchased seeds have an unnatural appearance, such as colored, this will indicate that they were processed in a factory and do not need protection from pests.
If the seeds are ordinary, then it is recommended to keep them for some time (15 - 20 minutes) in potassium permanganate, rinsing them with clean water.
The prepared seeds must be planted in a container: we make holes, keeping a distance of 30-40 cm between them, and plant a seed in each hole (if you want to play it safe, you can plant two seeds in one hole at once). Planting depth - no more than 2.5 cm. As soon as all the seeds are planted, the container must be covered with a plastic bag and left in a sunny place (for example, on a windowsill), where the average temperature during the day is approximately 25 degrees.
Features of cultivation
City Cucumber f1 requires a lot of attention and work from the vegetable grower. Such a cucumber must be tied early on to a net or trellis - a lot of greens ripen on its vines, they need support. In closed ground, the cucumber is formed mainly from the main stem, blinding up to the 2nd leaf. The variety is loosened every 4 days and weeded clean weekly.
Watering
Irrigation of the hybrid Urban Cucumber f1 is carried out at intervals of 2 days. It is best to leave watering this variety until late in the evening. 1 plant requires 3.5 liters of heated (within 25°-27°) and well-settled water. Watering is carried out using the drip method, alternating with sprinkling during drought. Cucumber ripens successfully only in soil moistened to 7-9 cm.
Fertilizer
Planting Urban Cucumber f1 is based on phosphorus and organic mixtures. Feeding begins on the 4th day after transferring the bushes to the beds. Cucumbers respond best to the following fertilizers:
- monophosphate;
- sodium sulfate;
- superphosphate;
- urea solution;
- humus;
- nitrophoska.
The mixtures are introduced at the root, 10 minutes after the next irrigation. At the fruiting stage, only organic additives are allowed. At the first sign of any infection, all feeding must be stopped.
How to grow cucumbers in an apartment: step-by-step instructions
Landing dates
The timing depends on the selected cucumber variety and growing conditions. They take into account the area of the room, the ability to provide optimal temperature and light conditions, air humidity, and climate zone.
Cucumbers planted at the end of October will be ready for the New Year's table. Plantings in January begin to be harvested in March. The average time for fruiting to begin from the appearance of the first shoots is 40-50 days. February seedlings ripen in time for the May holidays.
Soil preparation
In the store you buy universal soil or a mixture for growing pumpkin crops.
Prepare yourself according to proven recipes:
- Equal shares of peat, humus. A glass of wood ash in a bucket of mixture.
- 1/3 part of turf, garden soil, compost with the addition of a small amount of calcined river sand, ash, rotted sawdust.
The earth is disinfected in one of the following ways:
- Steamed.
- Spill with a hot (+ 90°C) dark pink solution of potassium permanganate.
- Warm up in the oven.
- Treated with special industrial preparations.
- Apply nitrophoska or complete complex fertilizer. Pour into containers, pour generously, and leave for a day to compact.
Sowing
- Cucumber seeds are pickled for 20-30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Rinse. Dry it. Leave for 2-3 days to swell in a saucer with warm water, wrap in damp gauze, and place on cotton pads. Read more about preparing seeds before planting.
- Hatched cucumber seeds are sown to a depth of about a centimeter. Plant 1-2 seeds per volume of one liter at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other. Watered.
- Place it in a bright place. Maintain temperature + 22-25°C during the day, + 16-18°C at night.
- To maintain the required humidity, cover with film or glass.
- When cucumber shoots appear, the cover is removed. Remove the weak sprout. Additional illumination begins.
Advice! To eliminate the danger of overcooling the root system of cucumbers, place a sheet of foam plastic, drywall, or thick plywood under the containers with plantings.
Lighting
It is impossible to grow cucumbers at home in winter without lighting. Daylight hours should last 12-14 hours. In the central zone of Russia, in the Urals, in Siberia, from December to February, additional illumination is carried out from 16 to 20 hours.
Lighting devices for additional illumination (energy-saving, fluorescent, LED) are mounted at a distance of 30-40 cm.
To enhance the effect, install sheets of foil and mirrors that reflect light.
Temperature
Until the plants form lashes, the temperature is maintained no higher than +16°C. After the formation of lashes, the temperature on sunny days is maintained at + 24-26 ° C, in cloudy weather and at night + 18-20 ° C.
Watering
Water daily in sunny weather, every other day in cloudy weather. The water must be settled and brought to room temperature. Water several times a season with a weak pinkish solution of potassium permanganate.
It is useful to spray the plants twice a day, but the leaves should dry out by night. Watering cucumbers is carried out at the root or water is poured into trays.
Advice! To increase the humidity in the room, cover the heating radiators with damp towels. Place a bowl of water next to the cucumber bushes. Humidifiers are turned on.
Support
Home-grown lashes reach a height of up to two meters and require a garter. The garter is made using a sliding loop. Use twine or nylon cord.
Bush formation
After the fifth true leaf appears, pinch the top to form a bush with two stems. When the next five leaves grow, the procedure is repeated.
Pinching of the side lashes is carried out in the lower lateral nodes above the 1-2-3 leaf.
Top dressing
The first feeding is carried out after the appearance of two true leaves. Feed with a solution of 3-4 g of nitrophoska per liter of water. The consumption rate per plant is a glass.
You can use a solution of one teaspoon of urea in 5 liters of water. Feed once every 2 weeks.
With the appearance of greens, the plant is fed every week, alternating mineral and organic fertilizers. 20% solutions of chicken manure or superphosphate are used as organic additives. For minerals, dissolve 30-40 g of nitrophoska in a bucket of water, add a teaspoon of Agrolife or 2 caps of the drug Rost along with watering.
As an alternative, after a week, the cucumbers are fed with vermicomposting agents. Spray the bushes twice with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Advice! An excellent organic solution is a solution of fermented crushed banana peels and rye bread.
Diseases and parasites
Hybrid Urban Cucumber f1 has good immunity, protecting against most diseases. This cucumber does not suffer from mosaic, brown spot and cladosporiosis. The main danger to the variety is pests.
Anthracnose
The copperhead often infects filmy cucumbers at high humidity in hot summers. The disease is recognized by reddish-brown marks on young vines and leaves of City Cucumber f1. You can get rid of anthracnose by spraying the variety with Polyram or Bordeaux mixture. Prevention of copperhead is frequent and clean weeding and ventilation of the greenhouse.
Whitefly
A butterfly with grayish-white wings is a frequent visitor to the closed beds of the hybrid Urban Cucumber f1. Its larvae drink juices from green shoots and foliage of the variety. Spraying with a solution of Admiral fungicides, or Actellik, with the addition of crushed laundry soap helps fight against whiteflies.
Prevention is done by planting calendula, celandine, or marigolds around the cucumber area.
Root nematode
The smallest pest settles at the roots and eats them up, depriving the City Cucumber f1 of normal nutrition. Nematode attacks are provoked by not digging the soil deeply enough. Plantings can be cured by cultivating the soil near bushes of the Nematorin or Bassamil variety. If the number of nematodes is small, immersing the root of the diseased plant in hot (48°-50°C) water for 5-8 minutes helps.
