Content
Choosing cucumbers for open ground, each gardener tries to find varieties that are not only fruitful, but also resistant to various diseases. This culture is often exposed to fungal and viral diseases, which are accompanied by loss of yield, plus the plant itself also dies. To help gardeners deal with this complex problem a little, we will consider in this article common diseases of cucumbers and try to determine the most resistant varieties.
Overview of common cucumber diseases
Any diseases of cucumbers are expressed by characteristic spots on the plant, and sometimes even on the fruits. One of the reasons is nature itself. Sharp temperature changes from night coolness to daytime heat are destructive to the plant. Another reason, unknowingly, is the person himself. By pouring cold water on the beds with cucumber seedlings, the gardener creates favorable conditions for the development of various diseases.
Let's look at the most common diseases of cucumbers and take a quick look at the methods of struggle:
- Powdery mildew easy to spot by the white spots on the front of the cucumber leaves. At first they are small, but over time they grow rapidly, affecting all the leaves. You can save the plant at the initial stage of the development of spots. To do this, prepare a solution of two parts of chalk plus one part of colloidal sulfur and treat all plantings in the garden. After 7 days, and then with such frequency until cure, the plants are treated with a solution prepared from 10 liters of water and 15 g of sulfur. Instead of sulfur, 100 g of liquid soap and 7 g of copper sulfate can be added to the same amount of water.
- Downy mildew, scientifically peronosporosis, is expressed on the leaves of the plant with similar spots of only yellow color. Sometimes a gray or purple bloom may also appear on the back of the leaf. The drug "Ridomil" or "Ordan" can prevent such diseases. They are used according to the instructions included in the package.
- White rot spreads throughout the plant, from the stem at the ground, ending with the upper leaves. It is easy to determine the disease of a cucumber by a white slippery coating. This often occurs due to the untimely breakdown of old foliage. When the first signs are detected, the plants are immediately sprinkled with dusty lime or chalk. Can be treated with copper sulfate by dissolving 5 g of powder in 1 liter of water. The affected parts of the plant need only be removed, there is no other way out.
- Root rot develops on the lower part of the plant, affecting the stem and foliage. The cause of the cucumber's malaise is the cold water used from the well for irrigation. The plant begins to acquire a brown tint and gradually withers. Preventing the appearance of rot on a cucumber will help preventive watering with a solution of the drug "Previkur", at intervals of 14 days.
- Anthracnose it is expressed by yellow spots, turning into ulcers, on the stems and foliage of the plant. Over time, the fetus itself is affected by ulcers of a pinkish hue. For cure, Bordeaux liquid with a consistency of 1% or a solution of 40 g of copper oxychloride per 10 liters of water is suitable.
- Angular spotting or another name - bacteriosis. The disease is expressed by brown spots on the foliage of the plant and the defeat of the fruit with rotten sores of a brown hue.The methods of fighting are the same as with anthracnose.
- Mosaic affects mainly the young foliage of the cucumber, making it wrinkled with a brown-brown color. Such plants cannot be cured; it is better to destroy them. The disease can be prevented by the prevention of open ground. Copper sulfate is added once a year in autumn or spring.
- Olive spot covers the fruit with rotten sores. Spots of a similar brown color appear on the stems and foliage of the plant. After three days, the spots begin to turn black, increasing in diameter. This disease is more common in greenhouses due to lack of fresh air with low ventilation. Less commonly manifests itself on plants in open ground. To combat the planting of cucumbers, they are treated with the drug "Fundazol" or 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.
Even the most disease-resistant varieties can be affected by one of the ailments. To get a good harvest, it is important to identify the disease at the initial stage and remember about prevention.
The video shows tips for dealing with cucumber disease:
Choosing varieties of cucumbers that are optimally resistant to diseases
The easiest way for a summer resident to plant seedlings in the garden and in a month and a half to get the first harvest. Cucumbers from open ground, saturated with sunlight, are juicier and more aromatic than from a greenhouse. However, natural conditions often contribute to the development of many diseases. Of course, preventive measures and the ability to deal with ailments will help save the cucumber crop, but it is better if the plants themselves are disease-resistant.
Trying to sell his goods, the manufacturer writes enticing inscriptions as advertising on all packages with cucumbers, for example: "resistant to all diseases", "super early", "super fruitful", etc. In fact, an inexperienced gardener, succumbing to such advertising, gets the opposite picture. In order not to get screwed up, let's try to identify varieties that are more disease resistant and suitable for outdoor use.
Competitor
Many gardeners prefer the old varieties of cucumbers, considering them the best. One of them is "Competitor".
The bee-pollinated plant has worked well when grown outdoors. Medium-yielding high-yielding variety resistant to spotting as well as powdery mildew. Fruits up to 14 cm long and weighing 100 g ripen 53 days after germination. The peel of the cucumber is covered with large pimples with dark thorns. Cucumbers are ideal for cask pickling.
Goosebump F1
Since today we are choosing varieties that are resistant to most diseases, the advantage of this plant is in immunity to real and downy mildew.
Thanks to the work of breeders, hybrids are considered the most resistant to various diseases. The self-pollinating cucumber "Goosebump F1" is good for open ground. The hybrid is an early ripening variety, yielding about 45 days after germination. Fruits 12 cm long are covered with large pimples with dark thorns. According to gardeners, cucumbers do not have the ability to gain bitterness even in hot summer.
Spring F1
The dignity of the variety is its resistance to olive spot and anthracnose. Cucumbers do not taste bitter.
This hybrid is known even to old summer residents of the post-Soviet space. The popularity of the cucumber dates back to the 70s and continues to this day. A bee-pollinated plant can develop lashes up to 3 m long, on which bundle ovaries are formed. Fruits 12 cm long and 100 g in weight always grow even with small pimples covered with dark thorns.
"Delicacy"
This early maturing variety of cucumbers was specially bred for open beds. The plant tolerates temperature extremes, especially cold. This temper protects the cucumber from many diseases. Seedlings are planted with a maximum of four bushes per 1 m2... Fruits, tender with dense pulp, covered with small pimples, contain a lot of sugar. Cucumbers are delicious canned and also in salads.
"Erofei" and "April"
Two types of hybrids ideal for outdoor use bring early harvests. Cucumber varieties are resistant to cold weather, which allows planting seedlings in the southern regions from April. About 55 days after transplanting, ready-made fruits appear. The length of some cucumbers of the "Aprelsky" variety reaches 22 cm, and the weight does not exceed 250 g. But the "Erofei" cucumbers do not grow more than 7 cm.
"Son of the Regiment"
Fruits not harvested in time tend to outgrow and turn yellow, however, even overripe cucumbers do not lose their excellent taste.
The growing popularity of mini-fruit cucumber is a mid-season crop. Ripe cucumbers 8 cm long with white thorns can be picked 45 days after germination. The plant of medium branching is resistant to many diseases, in particular, to powdery mildew.
"Connie" and "Nezhinsky"
These two varieties of cucumbers are unique in that they can be planted even in Siberia, as they take root well in open and closed ground. Plants are immune to common diseases, insect pollinated, high-yielding. Small cucumber fruits with a maximum length of 12 cm are very juicy, crunchy and without bitterness.
New Seeds of Pest Resistant Hybrids
All varieties of cucumbers are more or less susceptible to disease. Most often, there are various kinds of rot and powdery mildew. Whitefly brings great harm to the plant, spider mite, aphid. The defeat of the cucumber usually occurs during rapid fruiting, somewhere in the middle of July. The main protection of the cucumber is its immunity, which is what new hybrids are trying to endow breeders with.
Such varieties of cucumbers are especially popular among gardeners. They bring high-quality and plentiful harvests, adapt to different weather conditions, the fruits are pleasant to the taste. When creating new hybrids, breeders work in different directions, trying to combine in one plant the basic qualities that satisfy the consumer: white thorns, yield, even forms, the presence of pimples, the absence of bitterness, adaptation to temperature changes and, of course, the cucumber's resistance to all possible diseases. Thanks to new developments, hybrids of cucumbers have been bred that tolerate low humidity and temperature.
Zhukovsky
A mid-season hybrid is distinguished by a developed root and leaf system. This quality allows the plant to bear fruit for a long period without fear of diseases such as VOM-1, brown spot, etc. Cucumber fruiting occurs 49 days after germination. Short cucumbers up to 12 cm long have a bright green color, large pimples with white thorns.
"Caprice"
An early hybrid bears ripe fruits 41 days after planting. The plant has a highly developed root system, large lashes with densely spaced dark green leaves. Small cucumber fruits up to 12 cm long are rarely covered with large pimples with black thorns. The hybrid is genetically inoculated with the absence of bitterness.
"Bunny"
A well-developed plant with medium weaving is resistant to almost all diseases. Fruits appear 41 days after germination. Cucumbers up to 14 cm long are rarely covered with large pimples with white thorns.
"Tanechka"
A plant with a strong root system is resistant to VOM-1, brown spot and other diseases.
An early hybrid bears its first fruits 44 days after germination. Light green fruits up to 10 cm long are covered with large pimples with white thorns. Cucumber perfectly tolerates waterlogging of the soil.
The video shows the cultivation of cucumbers in the open field:
Conclusion
Growing cucumbers in a vegetable garden is much easier than growing in a greenhouse. You just need to choose the right variety and provide the plant with proper care.
