Cucumber is a crop that is grown in every garden plot. Every year, breeders give summer residents new varieties that differ not only in yield and growing conditions, but also in originality. Chinese cold-resistant cucumber or Emperor is one of them.
Cucumber Chinese cold-resistant: description and characteristics
From the name it is clear that the homeland of the disease-resistant Chinese F1 cucumber is China. In our country, many varieties of this species are grown, but all fruits have a similar shape and size. The variety belongs to the pumpkin subspecies, which is why the taste differs from ordinary cucumbers and has some similarities with melon.
A distinctive feature of the variety is the size of the fruit, which ranges from 30-80 cm.When overgrowing, it is possible that the length can reach 1 m.
Among the benefits of Chinese cucumber are the following:
- high rate of disease resistance;
- simplicity and unpretentiousness in care;
- mainly female-type flowers develop on the bush, which excludes artificial pollination;
- the possibility of growing in shaded areas;
- unusual appearance of the fruit and unusual taste;
- cold resistance.
Hangs down from the lashes
It is also important that up to 32 kg of fruit can be obtained from one bush.
In addition to the advantages, the variety has some disadvantages:
- low rate of transportability: a day after the break, the fruits become soft, the skin shrivels;
- the variety is not suitable for canning and salting;
- low germination of seed;
- a long stem requires a garter.
Initially, this variety was bred for growing crops in greenhouses. But you can get a good harvest when planting a cucumber in the open field. A prerequisite is the air temperature not lower than 22 ° C.
Cucumber Chinese disease resistant f1: cultivation
The cultivation technique of this cucumber variety is no different from the cultivation of other varieties. When choosing a place, you need to take into account that the bushes grow up to 3 m, so you need a trellis. In addition, the distance between the bushes must be at least 50 cm.
Cucumbers can be grown both by seed and seedlings. Seeds need pre-sowing preparation. To do this, they are placed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 15-25 minutes, after which they are dried and powdered with Trichodermin. This ensures the disinfection of the seeds, which will subsequently help reduce the likelihood of infection with fungal or infectious diseases by 25%.
Seeds
The seeds are sown into the ground to a depth of no more than 1 cm. In order for the seeds to sprout faster, the temperature in the room must be at least 30 ° C. After the first shoots appear, it can be lowered to 23-25 ° C.
The potting soil should be watered as needed. Seedlings respond well to spraying. For this, settled water at room temperature is used.
Planting cucumber seedlings in the beds is performed after 3-4 leaves are formed on it. The soil in the beds must be prepared in advance. The soil is dug to the depth of the shovel bayonet, while plant residues and debris are carefully collected. In the aisles, it is recommended to make a groove no more than 30 cm wide and fill it with pine bark or straw, which should be covered with earth.
Experienced gardeners recommend watering the bushes after planting in the ground at least 2 times a week.Spraying plants will not be superfluous. Once a week, you need to carry out foliar feeding of cucumbers with a urea solution.
Garden beds
You can also grow cucumbers of this variety using a seedless method. At the end of May, seeds are sown in the ground, seedlings will appear in early summer. Before sowing, the bed is dug up, fertilizers are applied. Seeds are immersed in holes of 5-6 pcs. into each one. This will help shape beautiful shrubs and also make it easier to tie them to trellises. The depth of the holes should not exceed 2.5-3.0 cm.
After 4-5 leaves appear on young plants, they need to be thinned out. In this case, the plants will grow faster without shading each other. Secondary thinning is carried out after 10 days, while between the cucumbers there should be a distance of 25-30 cm. When thinning, the plants are not pulled out, but plucked out, since the possibility of damage to the root system of the plants that remain in the garden will be excluded.
After the second thinning, the plants need feeding. For this, it is better to use liquid chicken manure.
If there are few nitrogenous elements in the soil, this will lead to the fact that the fruits will grow in an irregular shape, for example, in the form of a hook. This will not change the taste, but presentability will be lost. If there is not enough boron in the soil, cucumbers will grow short and thin. Lack of potassium leads to round fruit. Cucumbers will lose their flavor if the soil is low in calcium.
Young shoots
To get a good harvest, the bush needs shaping. This procedure involves removing young shoots. When forming a bush, gardeners remove the 5 bottom sheets. Thus, it will be possible to avoid the development of late blight.
Chinese cucumber, like other varieties, is susceptible to infection by infectious or fungal diseases and attack by pests. The most dangerous for the plant are:
- spider mite that infects the leaves and stem of the bush;
- melon aphid, developing on flower buds, ovaries or leaves;
- powdery mildew;
- fungal anthracnose;
- bacteriosis;
- fusarium;
- brown spotting;
- growth fly;
- cucumber mosaic, etc.
You need to harvest every day. If this is not done, the cucumbers will outgrow and become unusable. For harvesting, it is better to choose morning or evening. It is recommended to store the fruits in a cool place.
Despite the fact that the Chinese cucumber was bred for growing in greenhouses, you can get a good harvest by cultivating in the open field. The cultivation of the variety gives the result regardless of the region of planting.
