Bush cucumber: characteristics, growing rules, gardening tips

Description of Kustovaya cucumbers

The Kustovaya cucumber is a hybrid variety that a team of Russian breeders worked on to create. The variety was bred in 1980. According to the ripening period, Kustovaya cucumbers belong to the mid-season varieties. The first harvest is harvested 45-50 days after the formation of the first shoots.

The bush cucumber variety f1 is famous for its versatility in the use of fruits: cucumbers are suitable for preparing salads, for canning and pickling.

Since Bush f1 cucumbers need pollination by insects, growing them in a greenhouse or greenhouse is quite difficult. However, gardeners suggest growing the variety under temporary shelter, which is made from film.

Characteristics of the variety:

• The bushes and vines of the plant are not tall: the plant grows up to 1.5 m, and the vines – up to 70 cm;
• The leaves of the bushes are small and colored rich green;
• Description of flowering: uniform flowering (female and male) of a rich yellow color is observed on the bushes;
• Cucumbers of the Bush f1 variety are medium-sized (12 cm);
• The peel of the fruit is thin with small tubercles and stripes, dark green;
• Description of the pulp: rich, crispy, dense, has no voids;
• Taste qualities of the variety: sweet, without bitterness.

general characteristics

The most notable properties of the bush cucumber include its compact bush. Unlike climbing cucumber crops, the stem length for these varieties is 30 cm.

Sometimes stems up to 60 cm long can be found, but these are isolated cases. General characteristics and description of the bush cucumber variety:

1. A small plant with a lush bush. The splendor of the bush is given by the abundance of ovaries and very large leaves.
2. Short internodes.
3. There are no side lashes.
4. Small fruit sizes.

Almost all known varieties are characterized by rapid fruit ripening and large yields. Growing bush cucumber allows you to save space in a small garden.

Pros and cons of the variety

Before you decide to grow any crop, you need to decide on its positive and negative sides. Experienced vegetable growers identify a number of advantages of the Kustovoy f1 variety and only one disadvantage. We suggest studying the description of the positive and negative qualities of the variety.

pros

1. High productivity (up to 8 kg of harvest per 1 m2);
2. Long-term fruiting variety;
3. Resistance of the variety to weather conditions;
4. The pulp contains seeds suitable for the next sowing;
5. The compact size of the plant, which resembles small eggplant bushes;
6. The variety has excellent taste;
7. The variety is characterized by strong immunity to many diseases;
8. Excellent presentation and shelf life of the product;
9. Versatility in product use;
10. Cucumbers are undemanding to agrotechnical procedures;
11. Early fruit ripening.

Minuses

The experience of cultivating the Kustovoy f1 variety allows us to talk about only one drawback: cucumbers cannot tolerate sultry heat and scorching sun.

Diseases and pests

Although bush cucumbers are little susceptible to disease, watering with cold water, excess humidity and proximity to infected plants lead to the development of diseases.

Most common:

• powdery mildew;
• gray, white and root rot;
• peronosporosis;
• anthracnose

In this case, the bushes and the ground around are treated with fungicides, and the diseased plant is removed and burned.

The most common pests are aphids, nematodes, and spider mites. For control, folk remedies and insecticides are used.

Important: a good remedy for diseases and pests is pre-planting soil treatment with copper sulfate.

Landing Features

Bush cucumbers are grown in two ways: sowing (seeds are sown immediately in open soil) and seedlings (ready seedlings are planted in open ground). In cooler regions, it is recommended to grow Bush f1 using the second method (seedlings) in order to obtain a good level of yield. Below is a description of recommendations for cultivating the Kustovaya variety.

Landing dates

Kustovaya cucumbers must be planted for seedlings from the 10th of May to the 10th of June. Seeds are sown in open ground at a time when the soil has warmed up to 20 degrees during the day and at least 10 degrees at night.

Site preparation

Bush cucumbers must be planted in a well-lit place without drafts. As a rule, choose a sunny area, which is shaded in the sultry heat.

It is necessary to prepare beds for planting the Kustovaya f1 variety in the fall, when the fruits of its predecessors are harvested. As a rule, the site is dug up, all weeds are removed and the soil is fed with mineral fertilizers: humus, compost, wood ash, or ammophos. In the spring, the soil is loosened, weeds are removed and fed with manure.

Experts strongly recommend not planting Kustovaya cucumbers in the same area for several years. Good predecessors of the variety are tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, peppers, or legumes. Extremely undesirable predecessors are cucumbers, zucchini and pumpkin.

Planting seeds

Before you plant seeds in the soil, they need to be germinated and processed. To germinate, the seeds are placed in a damp cloth (gauze) and placed in a cold place, for example, in a refrigerator, for a day. Afterwards, the seed needs to be processed: the seeds are soaked in a solution of manganese for half an hour.

Bush seedlings are grown in soil containing peat, humus, nutrient substrate, sand and soil from the garden bed where the variety will be planted. Place the seeds in small peat pots or in plastic glasses.

Place 2 seeds in each container, water thoroughly with warm water and roll with film. Next, the seedlings are placed in a warm, well-lit room with a temperature from 23 degrees Celsius to 27 degrees. After the first shoots form, the air temperature is reduced to 18 degrees. If you follow all the recommendations, Bush f1 seedlings are ready in 30 days.

Planting seedlings

Bushes are transplanted into open ground at a time when about 5 leaves have formed on them, and the ground has warmed up to 15 degrees Celsius. After transplanting, Kustovaya cucumbers must be shed with warm water and a film cover must be created so that the plant can easily adapt to the new location and get used to the air temperature.

During transplantation, special attention must be paid to the root system of the plant. If the roots are damaged, the bushes will begin to wither and die.

Planting scheme

Since Bush f1 cucumbers do not grow much and have short vines, they are planted close to each other: the distance between plants should not exceed 25 cm, and between rows - 45 cm.

Transplanting seedlings into the ground

Strong bushes with 3-4 bright green leaves are ready for transplanting into the ground. The earth should by this time warm up to 18° and above. The site should be chosen in a sunny place, protected from cold northern winds. To protect from the cold, use mobile shelters, arcs with film.

It is not recommended to plant in areas where pumpkins and cucumbers previously grew, but planting after potatoes, legumes, cabbage and tomatoes is a good option.

You may be interested in: The best varieties of cucumbers for 2022 for the Moscow region Favorable days for transplanting cucumbers in open ground Dates for planting cucumbers in May 2022 according to the lunar calendar

How to transplant:

• dig up the soil on the site in advance and add humus or compost (5-6 kg per 1 m²);
• holes, 15 cm deep, place at a distance of 40-50 cm, pour with warm water;
• a day before planting, water the seedlings;
• cut the glass and place the sprout, together with a lump of earth, vertically in the hole, cover it with earth, compacting it slightly (plant overgrown seedlings obliquely);
• water the plantings, mulch the soil with straw, hay, and leaves.

Care

Like the Artist variety, the amount of yield and the appearance of the fruit are influenced by agrotechnical processes that are carried out at the time of cultivation of the Kustovoy f1 variety. Despite the fact that cucumbers are undemanding in care, they need abundant watering, fertilizing and loosening the soil, forming and tying up the plant. Below is a description of all the above maintenance work.

Watering

Bush cucumbers need abundant watering. However, watering work should be systematic, but not excessive. Do not allow the soil to become too wet; it is necessary to allow the soil to dry out, since the roots of the plant are located along the earth's surface.

Watering work must be carried out once every 4 days. If there is severe drought, water the cucumbers once a day. Warm water is used for irrigation. As a rule, it is left to stand for a day in the sun, in barrels, or boiled over a fire. Water bush f1 cucumbers under the roots before sunrise or after sunset.

Garter and bush formation

Since Kustovaya cucumbers do not reach large sizes, they do not need to be shaped. The variety is tied with a strong rope to the trellises at a height of up to 2 m. To make the lashes curl upward, they are loosely tied with a rope and pulled up.

Top dressing

During the entire growing season, Kustovaya cucumbers need 3 feedings. For feeding, mineral (superphosphate, potassium, ammophosphate and urea) and organic (manure, bird droppings, infusion of nettles and weeds) fertilizers are used.

The first fertilizing of the Kustovaya f1 variety is carried out with organic fertilizers, since they contain nitrogen, which cucumbers need during the development of the plant and the formation of fruits.

The second feeding is carried out with mineral preparations, which contain potassium and phosphorus.

Hilling

Since cucumbers are a crop whose root system is located along the surface layer of the earth, they cannot be hilled. This is due to the fact that during hilling the roots of the plant can be damaged, after which the bushes begin to wither, stop developing and die.

However, experts recommend loosening the soil with a fork. As a rule, loosening is carried out after watering the plant. Loosening ensures the removal of a stagnant layer of soil, which does not allow the proper amount of moisture and oxygen to pass through to the root system of the bushes. In addition, loosening helps remove weeds.

Reviews

Marina, Ekaterinburg

– I tried growing bush cucumbers last year. We were interested in the unusual characteristics. At the end of May, I planted 4 bushes with seeds under the film, designing them as a decorative plot. When the bushes are hung with cucumbers, the view is stunning. I was pleased with the result - I love small crispy cucumbers. The family used them fresh, and I also made lightly salted ones. Lightly salted ones generally turn out great! Now I want to allocate a plot of land and plant more bushes. Maybe I’ll try the blanks too.

Evgenia, Pskov

-I grow bush cucumbers for summer consumption. I plant where there is space, but, of course, sunny. If there is room for one bush, I plant one bush; if there is more space, I plant 2-3 bushes. For now, I use humus and compost as fertilizers, because our soil is fertile, everything grows well. In the future I will try mineral supplements. I really like the compact bush - it’s easy to care for and water. Yes, since there is no separate place, I plant seedlings. Convenient for such landings. The harvest is not particularly abundant, but if you like the variety, then why not plant it just to enjoy eating.

Diseases and parasites

Cucumbers of the Kustovaya f1 variety have strong immunity to crop diseases such as olive spot, bacteriosis and powdery mildew. However, if plant care processes are not followed, the variety still succumbs to root rot, as well as the invasion of certain pests: spider mites and aphids. Below is a description of possible infections and methods to combat them.

Root rot

Root rot is a disease during which the lower leaves begin to wither and the upper foliage begins to wrinkle and turn brown. There is also a drop in the flowers of the plant and a stop in the development of gherkins. In addition, the stem of the plant also yellows. The base of the plant becomes thinner and begins to crack. To prevent root rot, vegetable growers suggest using the chemicals Previkur Energy, Fundazol, Tiram and Copper sulfate.

Aphid

Aphids are insect pests that are usually located on the lower part of the leaves. When an aphid invades, there is a change in the shape of the leaves, the falling of flowers and ovaries of the plant, as well as the appearance of ants. As a rule, aphids appear when growing a plant in a greenhouse or greenhouse. To combat aphids, experts suggest using chemical and biological preparations “Iskra-Bio”, “Aktara”, “Tanrek”, “Biotlin”, “Strela”, “Fitoverm” and “Karbofos”.

Spider mite

Spider mites are a pest that damages the entire crop of the Kustovoy f1 variety. The small pest is located on the leaves of the bushes, on which the formation of a white cobweb is observed. In addition, the leaves become yellow and the fruits develop slower. To get rid of spider mites, experts advise treating the plant with Neoron, Actellik and Apollo.

How to care for ground bush cucumbers

The methods of care also have their own characteristics. All care activities are traditional. But there are nuances in their execution.

Blooming bush cucumber

Video - cucumbers in open ground

Watering

If half a bucket of water is simply poured into the hole of a standard climbing cucumber as needed, then this will not work with watering bush cucumbers.

1. All cucumbers do not like waterlogging and react to it instantly with fungal and other diseases. But bush plants require more water than ordinary ones.
2. You need to water the bushes only with water heated in the sun or in the air (in summer) and settled.
3. You need to irrigate not only the ground around the bush, but also the leaf mass.

Watering cucumbers

Therefore, the best way to water bush cucumbers is drip or sprinkling. In automatic mode, or manually from a watering can - at the discretion of the gardener, in hot weather - daily.

By the way. Bush cucumbers must be weeded, not giving the weeds a chance to take away their nutrition. You also need to hill up the bushes from time to time, after watering.

Feeding

Bush cucumbers need them no less than long-stemmed ones. Before sowing in the fall, humus must be added to the area with the future borage. If this does not happen, it is introduced into the planting holes in the spring.

Harvest "kids"

During the growing season, fertilizing is carried out every two weeks. Nitrogen and mineral (potassium-containing) ones alternate. You can feed with complexes, but only if they do not contain sodium and chlorine.

Prices for mineral fertilizers

mineral fertilizers

Diseases and pests

Bush cucumbers have quite a lot of pests and diseases. It is not enough to monitor the plants to immediately notice signs of damage. Preventive preventive measures are necessary.

Advice. For preventive purposes, bushes are treated with colloidal sulfur and Bordeaux mixture, but no later than ten days before the harvest ripens. This means that treatment should be stopped already during flowering.

Powdery mildew

Spoils foliage and stems. Appears as a matte white spot. In climbing varieties, the lashes disappear. Bush ones have stems. Productivity is falling catastrophically.

This disease is a consequence of waterlogging, an abundance of weeds or dense planting. It also occurs if you water the bushes with cold water.

Powdery mildew

1. If signs are detected, you must immediately remove the affected parts and take them out of the garden.
2. Then, if the disease cannot be stopped, treatment is carried out with colloidal sulfur (30 g of powder per ten liters of water). This is a gentle option.
3. Stronger chemicals - Topaz, Oxychom.
4. If you don’t want to use chemicals, you can spray all the bushes completely with mullein solution.

Anthracnose

Yellow-brown spots on the leaves mean that the plants are infected with anthracnose. Soon the bushes will begin to die, and the fruits will shrink and fall off.

Treatment with Bordeaux mixture will help. It can be done every week, stopping a week before harvest.

Anthracnose

Bleach is also used. But this suspension can be treated no later than three weeks before harvesting the fruits and no more often than every ten days.

Cladosporiosis

It affects fruits, forming small spots on them, first watery, then enlarging and hardening. The surface of the cucumber cracks and it takes on a deformed shape.

Cladosporiosis of cucumber fruits

Bordeaux mixture will also help against this disease. It is also necessary to increase the dose of potassium sulfate in fertilizing.

Aphid

Its melon variety loves to destroy cucumbers, starting from the back of the leaf and right up to the ovary.

An eco-friendly way to remove a pest is a herbal tincture. Pour a kilogram of grass into a bucket of warm water, cover and leave for several days. The solution should ferment. Spray the bushes generously with it.

Aphids on cucumbers

They also use ash and soap diluted with water: 200 g of ash, 50 g of soap, water - a bucket.

If it is impossible to remove aphids using gentle methods, you will have to use Inta-Vir.

Mite

For spider mites, everything is the same - flower plants or garden vegetables. It settles on the back side of the leaf and begins to damage it. It can destroy entire ridges, especially if it is hot.

Spider mites on cucumbers

You can remove the pest with an infusion of onion or garlic peels, 10 g of which are soaked in a glass of water. You need to spray frequently, up to five times.

Advice. It is recommended to sow dill next to cucumbers. It will attract ladybugs, which will destroy not only the tick, but also other pests.

Healthy Harvest

Harvesting and storage

It is recommended to collect Bush f1 cucumbers every day so that the ripened fruits do not slow down the formation of new gherkins.

Bush cucumbers must be stored in a cool room, the temperature of which does not exceed 4 degrees Celsius. As a rule, the fruits of the variety are stored in the basement or cellar.

Cucumbers of the Kustovaya variety are placed in boxes. It is not recommended to store fruits in bags, since the cucumbers do not receive the necessary amount of oxygen, as a result of which the fruits begin to rot. If one of the cucumbers does rot, it must be immediately removed from the container along with its neighbors.

If the cucumbers are intended for fresh use, they are placed in the refrigerator, where they will remain for 7 days without loss of taste or appearance.

Fertilizer application

Bush cucumbers, like all representatives of this crop, deplete the soil. For active growth of the bush, ripening of fruits and increasing productivity, fertilizers must be added to the soil.

It is better to add humus to the soil on a prepared site in the fall. During the growing season, fertilizing is carried out once every two weeks. For cucumbers, you can find ready-made complex fertilizers in agrochemical stores.

Pre-sowing preparation of seeds and soil

Mandatory preventive treatment of seeds and soil will protect cucumbers from the development of diseases and increase the yield of the vegetable crop. Seed processing is carried out in stages:

1. 15 - 20 days before sowing, bags of seeds are placed next to the radiators for warming.
2. The heated material is calibrated: dense, clean grains are left, free of voids and damage.
3. After calibration, germination is checked: the seeds are dipped in salted water. Stir. After 3.5 hours, the floating grains are thrown away.
4. Seeds that have settled to the bottom are rinsed with warm water and disinfected: placed in a solution of Fitosporin for 6 hours or kept in a solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes.
5. To increase germination, disinfected seeds are placed in a solution of a growth stimulator (Epin, Zircon) for 10 hours.
6. The prepared material is sprouted between two layers of moistened gauze, which is regularly moistened. In a warm room, seedlings appear in 3 to 5 days.

The soil mixture is calcined for 20 minutes in the oven. The temperature is not set above 80 degrees so as not to destroy beneficial microorganisms along with phytopathogens. The cooled soil is watered with a fungicidal agent (Fitosporin, Fundazol or Topaz).

Additional Information! If the surface of the seeds is covered with a protective-nutrient mixture consisting of macro- and microelements, growth regulators, and pesticides, no additional pre-sowing treatment is carried out.

Hybrids

Bush cucumbers, marked with the F1 sign, appeared as a result of crossing maternal varieties. They don’t produce seeds, but they have many advantages: they are tasty and quickly bear fruit. They don't taste bitter. Resistant to sudden changes in weather, diseases and pest attacks. Even if they get sick, they recover easily. The disadvantage is the inability to provide planting material.

1. Baby F 1: planting height – 0.3 m. Early ripening type. The size of pimply dark green gherkins is 80 – 85 mm. Fruit production is friendly. The baby does not need stepsoning or installation of supports. Sometimes grown on the balcony.
2. Shorty F 1 : from germination to harvesting greens on the street - 45 - 50 days. Productivity – up to 3.5 kg per 1 m2. The shirt is covered with light light fluff. Not susceptible to cladosporiosis and powdery mildew.
3. Ant F 1 is a self-pollinating type for the greenhouse. Ultra early. Fruit production is abundant: even in areas with cold climates from 1 sq. m, almost 10 kg of lightly ribbed short (up to 80 mm) greens are harvested. Large pimples and slight pubescence are visible on the emerald shirt. Tolerant to sudden changes in weather, blackleg, and downy mildew.
4. Aladdin F1 - grows to 0.65 - 0.7 m. Elongated gherkins appear in bunches. Whitish stripes and pimples appear on the dark green skin. The aromatic pulp is not bitter.

Beyond the Urals, in Siberia, in the Far East, gardeners cultivate Chelyabinsk bush cucumber in greenhouses and beds. This highly productive hybrid begins to bear fruit 6 weeks after grain germination. Resistant to sudden cold weather and infections. During the season, 10–12 kg are removed from each seedling. Cylindrical dark green gherkins are fragrant and juicy, without bitterness. The thin, tuberous skin is moderately covered with pimples.

Popular varietal options

They form seeds that are used to propagate vegetable crops for 3–5 years. Among the best varieties of bush cucumbers are:

1. Kustovoy gave the name to the species. Having reached a height of 0.65 - 0.7 m, the central shoot stops development. Forms short (up to 0.45 - 0.55 m) branches. It is considered a variety for open ground, i.e. K. is pollinated by bees. From germination to fruiting it takes 6.5 - 7 weeks. Resistant to powdery mildew, olive spot. Does not tolerate temperature rises from +25℃ and above. Needs shelter from direct rays of the sun and cold snap. It manages to produce a lot of fruit until the third ten days of July, when the weather may worsen and diseases may appear. The yield is high: with proper care, they harvest up to 6 kg per 1 m2. The average weight of elongated-rounded cucumbers reaches 0.1 kg, length - up to 11 cm. The coarsely tuberous peel is covered with black thorns. Pale strokes are visible on a dark green background. Juicy greens are added to salads and canned.
2. Bush gift : when overgrown, gherkins do not turn yellow. They ripen 45–50 days after the emergence of seedlings. The shiny emerald skin has bumps and bright stripes. The height of the main stem is 0.55 – 0.6 m.
3. Microsha : ripens in 45 - 47 days, therefore it is often cultivated using the seedless method. It is convenient to plant in rows, retreating between plantings 0.2 - 0.25 m, between rows - 0.6 m. Cylindrical vegetables reach 0.12 m; weight – 0.09 – 0.1 kg. They do not turn yellow or become bitter. The skin is thin. They retain crispness in salads and preparations.

Possible difficulties when growing cucumbers

Plant diseases occur due to improper air exchange and moisture. Plants that grow too densely create favorable conditions for fungal growth. When the air becomes moist after rain, it encourages the development of plant pathogens, so farmers begin choosing varieties to plant by studying disease resistance.

If signs of infection occur: spots on the leaves, mold, uncharacteristic plaque, the crops are treated with fungicides. They are used according to the directions on the packaging.

Frequent pests of cucumbers are aphids and other sucking insects. Pests are difficult to detect; they are usually located on the underside of the leaf. But you can find traces of their vital activity: deformation of the leaves, spots on them. In this case, the crops are treated with insecticides.

General information about the variety

The bush cucumber was bred in the Krasnodar region about 40 years ago, but even now, with a huge variety of varieties, it does not lose popularity. It is suitable for almost all regions, and involves cultivation in open ground, with the exception of varieties intended for greenhouses.

Among the varieties for open ground, the most popular are “Dar”, “Korotyshka”, “Mikrosha”, “Kustovoy” and this is not a complete list. After harvesting the fruits, you can independently collect and prepare seeds for planting next year, but no one guarantees their high germination and productivity.

Hybrid or self-pollinating are intended for cultivation in closed ground and are designated F1. It means that the variety appeared through hand pollination or crossing several varieties. Self-pollinating varieties combine the best qualities, so they are more expensive than ordinary ones, but they have one drawback. It is impossible to obtain seeds from ripened fruits. Most often, gardeners plant the following varieties on the plot: “Baby Sturdy”, “Baby”, “Hector”, “Aladdin”, “Boy with a Thumb”.

Important! Hybrid cucumbers have many advantages over their parent varieties; they are more resilient, productive and have excellent taste.