Content
Numerous breeders are working tirelessly to create new, more and more perfect plants for various purposes. Including they did not bypass their attention and national favorites - cucumbers. The subject of their labor activity is such fundamental characteristics as shortening the growing season, resistance to diseases, productivity, taste and consumer qualities.
For more than 10 years, the interest of ordinary gardeners in bush varieties of cucumbers... They vaguely resemble the popular mini banana brushes. The same small, neat and very tasty. They, of course, have their own characteristics, both in preparation for planting, and directly during cultivation and care. But their appearance, consumer qualities, early maturity and productivity do not leave anyone indifferent.
Bunch cucumbers. Joy or disappointment
First of all, bunch cucumbers - these are the same, familiar to everyone, zelents. They just have the ability to form several fruits from one node is genetically inherent... Thus, a kind of beam or brush is obtained. These, of course, are not cucumbers of the same size as Zozuli. Small cucumbers about 100 mm in size are formed. In a bundle, there can be from 3 to 9 pieces.
Depending on the selected variety, both the timing of fruiting and the complexity of caring for plants will differ. There is a direct dependence on the type of the selected variety of bunch cucumber:
- plant with strong branching. This type of cucumber is the most time consuming to care for, but at the same time it is the most productive. It has the longest growing season;
- cucumber with medium branching. Unlike the previous type of plant, medium branching is less laborious and has a shorter fruiting period. Its yield is not very different from that of the highly branched variety;
- with weak branching of the stem. This type of lash does not require significant labor costs in the ongoing care of it. It practically does not form lashes and grows in one stem. He has the shortest growing season and less, in contrast to the previous types of plants, productivity.
All varieties of bunch cucumbers intended for open ground are of the parthenocarpic type and are extremely light-requiring. In them, the bulk of the resulting flowers have female characteristics that do not require pollination. Such plants practically do not form male barren flowers.
A variety of varieties. Rejoice or be sad
It is necessary to select a variety of bunch cucumbers for certain growing conditions.
At the same time, one should not forget about the need for regular grooming. In some cases, you may have to abandon the variety you like and confine yourself to a less demanding specimen. This is especially true for cucumbers with a strong degree of branching.
The understanding that the formation of ovaries in a bunch directly depends on the growing conditions of the cucumber will help to choose a specific variety:
Early ripening variety "Blizzard"
Modern parthenocarpic hybrid. A plant with weak branching, which is almost absent in the lower part of the bush, which indicates a low laboriousness of its cultivation:
- an extremely early ripening version of a bunch cucumber. Bears fruit on the 35th day of its growth;
- up to 5 zelents are formed in one ovary;
- fruits are small in size (about 80 mm) and weighing close to 70 g;
- the yield exceeds 15 kg / m2;
- the variety is resistant to most traditional diseases, including powdery mildew;
- is the most suitable for climatic zones close to the conditions of Ukraine, where in early May it is possible to plant seeds in the ground;
- in central Russia, it is more convenient to grow this variety through seedlings. At the same time, it is necessary to plant seeds at the beginning of April.
Planting care is no different from the usual cultivation of cucumbers. It is only necessary to carefully remove the side shoots. It is supposed to use trellises for growing plants with a planting density of 40 cm.
Early ripe variety "Detinets"
Like the previous variety, it is a parthenocarpic hybrid. The plant is indeterminate with an average degree of branching. In this connection, the laboriousness of growing such a variety is somewhat higher than that of the Vyuga variety.
The characteristic features of this variety are expressed in the following:
- the beginning of fruiting begins on the 45th day of its growth;
- forms up to 5 ovaries in one bosom of a healthy leaf;
- fruits of medium size. Weighing 100 - 120 g, the length of a cucumber reaches 120 mm;
- yield - up to 15 kg / m2;
- the variety is extremely resistant to cladosporium disease;
- lays an early harvest in all leaf axils, except for the lower leaf;
- it is better to start growing seedlings from mid-April, so that by the time of planting in the ground, stable warm weather has time to be established.
The trellis growing method is recommended with a planting density of no more than 40 cm. The variety is very responsive to the use of micronutrient dressings and preventive spraying with fungicides against diseases.
Early variety "Okhotny Ryad"
The cultivar is a striking parthenocarpic hybrid of early fruiting. Enough 40 days for the first appearance of the ovaries. The degree of branching depends on the number of greens on the shoot. The more there are, the shorter the branch. The most abundant and high-quality harvest is expected at the beginning of fruiting.
The characteristic features of the variety are:
- the variety has a medium-sized greenery with a length of 100 - 120 mm;
- up to 6 ovaries are formed in each axil of leaves;
- all zelents of a beautiful, studded shape with excellent taste and consumer characteristics;
- the variety has universal application for procurement and storage;
- seedling growing method is recommended;
- this variety is resistant to most traditional diseases, except for downy mildew (downy mildew);
- it is distinguished by a long fruiting period both in open ground and in greenhouse conditions;
If the ovaries are not formed, while the plant has sufficient vegetative mass, the ends of the main shoots should be pinched off the plant.
Outdoor cucumbers - some helpful tips
Growing bunch cucumbers outdoors is similar to growing conventional varieties.
But some tips for growing them can still be given:
- 2 weeks before the expected planting of seedlings of bunch cucumbers, it is necessary to properly fertilize the planting site. It will be very useful to add up to 2 buckets of compost and a couple of spoons of mineral fertilizer for each square meter of land;
- the day before planting, water the beds abundantly with warm water;
- check the ground temperature at a depth of 100 mm. It must not be below 150... Plants should be planted at a distance of at least 400 mm from each other;
- immediately before planting, it is necessary to spill each well with a weak solution of ordinary potassium permanganate (1 g per bucket). After planting the seedlings, mulch it with a mixture of humus and peat;
- in anticipation of return frosts, the plantings should be covered with lutrasil stretched over arcs. When the weather is warm, when the danger of recurrent frosts has passed, we tie bundled cucumbers to the trellis;
- the growing shoots should be regularly shortened in strongly and moderately branched varieties. It is necessary to remove all female flowers in 1 x four axils along with regrown shoots;
- feeding is carried out once every 2 weeks. Urea - one and a half tablespoons per bucket, cow dung - dilute in a ratio of 1: 10. At the beginning of flowering and during its maximum phase - treat open field cucumbers with "Epin" or "Zircon". This treatment will increase the resistance of ground cucumbers to possible changes in conditions and activate the process of filling zelents.
New varieties of beam hybrids for open ground are able to please their zealous owners not only with a rich harvest. They have a great taste and good consumer characteristics. It should only be remembered, when choosing the variety you like, that the size of the yield itself will depend on the degree of branching of the variety. The higher this degree, the longer the fruiting period.
On the other hand, low-branching varieties, although they have a shorter period of growth of zelents, are the least laborious to care for, since they do not have lateral shoots. Thus, if a gardener is regularly with his plantings, his fate is 20 kg of greens from a bush and a lot of work. If such an order is impossible, then low-branching varieties are the only way out. But in any case, there will be a harvest.
