Description
The cucumber is an annual plant of the cucurbitaceae family whose leaves are acuminate and have 3 to 5 triangular lobes. It can be differentiated well from melon because they are more angled. The fruits are oblong cylindrical peponids, with the epicarp usually green and the pulp white, although there are some varieties with yellow and white skin.
In Spain about 7,500 hectares are cultivated, of which approximately 70% are cultivated in green houses. The production of that 70% under plastic can reach 650.000 tons, being Almería, Granada and Las Palmas the provinces with the highest production volume in Spain.
Soil
They prefer medium, rich and deep soils. They are more tolerant than melon at acidic pH (up to 5.5), but they support less excess salinity, reaching high losses if the salinity of the soil is not controlled. Sss
PH
Salinity
Quality
Temperature
Cucumber is a plant when the optimum temperature range is above average. Requires melon-like temperatures. Its optimum in germination is 24-32ºC, between 18-24ºC in growth and not exceed 35-40ºC to avoid production loss.
Irrigation
Like most cucurbits cucumber is a demanding plant in water, especially during the fruit fattening stage. In this case, as the flowering and fruit setting stage of the cucumber is long, it is recommended to not have any lack of water in that long period of time to ensure good production.
Irrigation properties
Varieties
Most of the cultivars used In Spain are hybrids (F1) of different varieties. Short-fruited Hay (gherkin) such as Keto F1, long-fruited Spanish type (Serena F1), French (Bellando F1), or Dutch (Alaska F1).
Fertilization recommendations
| Soil preparation | Vegetative Growth | Flowering | Fruit growth | Fruit ripening | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High efficiency Nutritional Correctors | |||||
| Biostimulants, Amino acids of vegetable origin and Seaweed extracts | elfer® Biosoil | ||||
| Soil Bioactivators, Water and phytosanitary broths Conditionners | |||||
| Specialties and Technical products | |||||
| High performance NPK Foliar fertilizers | |||||
| elfer® organic products |
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