Parthenocarpic self-pollinated cucumber varieties are becoming increasingly popular among gardeners. These varieties, or rather hybrids, help to get rid of many problems. Modern hybrids can be grown in greenhouses and open beds, pickled and pickled. April variety refers to such hybrids, it is increasingly planted by summer residents in their gardens.
Table of contents
Characteristic and description of the April cucumber
This type of description is parthenocarpic,early with the predominance of female inflorescences. It does not require insects for pollination, which allows it to be grown in greenhouses, in sheltered beds. With the possibility of pollination, the crop increases significantly.
Cucumber on characteristics resistant to bad weather, cold and rain. Fruits in unison, the harvest is always good. The first greenhouses appear after a month and a half after germination.
Fruits grow long 15-25 centimetersThe surface is ribbed and knobby green with slight pubescence. Weight 200-250 g. The form is cylindrical. Not bitter, do not turn yellow and do not outgrow.
What is good April cucumber and whether it has disadvantages
Advantages:
- Self-pollinated, no need for pollinating insects, grows well in greenhouses.
- Early, from germination to active growth of Zelentsov passes less than 45 days.
- Adequate simultaneous fruiting, fruitful, from a square meter with proper care, get 25 kg.
- Easy to care.
- Resistant to all major diseases of cucumbers.
Disadvantages:
- Unanimous fruiting for one month. Uncomfortable for constant long-term consumption in the summer.
- This variety is easily exposed to bactericidal disease - white rot.
What soil is required
The best time for her device - the previous autumn. Purified manure or bird droppings, potash fertilizers, superphosphate are introduced. The soil is plowed up.
Cucumbers don't like sour soilIn this case, dolomite flour, ash or lime are added in the fall. In the spring, additional ridges are fertilized with nitrogen fertilizers. In the wells it is good to add humus or compost.
How to plant
For planting use seedlings or germinated seeds. Seedlings sown in April one month before landing on the garden.
If the bush grows in a greenhouse, the seeds are planted to a depth 1 cm. The distance between them is more than 30 cm, between the rows - 50 cm. The width of the ridge makes 1 meter. This distance between the bushes is convenient for care, the plants do not interfere with each other’s development, they do not obscure the neighbor.
If planted in open ground, seeds are laid by 2 cm in depth.The distances between them are similar, planted in a greenhouse.
Care
As with all garden crops, basic care includes watering, loosening, feeding, protection from harmful insects and diseases.
High temperatures are also undesirable. From the heat falls ovary, does not form a new, the fruits begin to taste bitter. Humidity is equally important, the cucumber vine does not like dry air.
A dry crust on the soil retards the entry of air to the roots, the plant begins to wither, leaves and fruits fall. Loosening provides access of air, and when watering penetration of moisture into the soil.
Without nutrition and fertilizing there will be no development, the harvest will be low. Feed cucumber seedlings begin two weeks after planting. It is necessary to use a complex fertilizer, which should include nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
At first, more nitrogen is added to increase the mass. Further, it is necessary to fertilize every week. The cucumber grows quickly, bears fruits together and requires a lot of nutrition.
He likes organic. Compost, rotted manure, diluted bird droppings - his favorite fertilizer. But mineral supplements, especially trace elements, are never superfluous.
When applying fertilizer, it is important to respect the correct dosage. These plants are well absorbed by all the elements obtained, overdose will lead to an increase in nitrates in the fruit, the appearance of ugly cucumbers.
Need time remove weeds from the ridges. Not only do they take away moisture and nutrition from the plant, it is a convenient place for the development of diseases and the life of pests. By removing weeds, you solve these three problems.
There are many means of protecting the culture without harm to people and birds. Phytosporin, a microbiological preparation based on live fungi, effective in combating bactericidal diseases of plants. To control pests use the drug fitoverm.
Another condition for the successful cultivation of cucumbers - bush formation. The plant is best grown vertically. The central stem is clamped at a trellis height, 5-6 nodes are left on the lateral ones, the higher the sprout is, the longer it is made.
There are errors in the formation. When growing bee pollinated varieties pinch the central shoot after the 5th node. The April hybrid main fruits are formed on the main runaway. Do not forget about it.
Diseases
The variety is resistant to all major cucumber diseases. The main trouble for him is white rot. This is a fungal disease that develops from disputes that live in the ground. First, the root part of the plant falls ill, then the rot goes up the stems.
Observe the microclimate in the greenhouse, eliminate high humidity and low temperature. To prevent disease, treat the wells with potassium permanganate. When rot appears, apply a mixture of potassium permanganate and chalk to the sore spots. Remove damaged shoots.
How to collect and store
The fruits of the April cucumber ripen in one month, friendly and early. Therefore, the harvest does not stretch for a long time.Zelentsy is better to shoot in the morning, until they are elastic and do not have time to heat the sun. To remove fruits accurately, without damaging a whip.
Cucumbers convenient to use for saltingmarinating. For salads, it can be used for a short time, since fructification ends quickly. Fresh fruits without processing can be stored in a cold place for no more than a week.
You met with an interesting variety of cucumbers - April. It has its own characteristics. Unpretentious in care, resistant to cold and disease. It is easy to care for him.
The variety is interesting for gardeners who grow vegetables for the market. This is facilitated by the simultaneous simultaneous ripening of fruits, a large number of which is convenient for sale. For personal use, you can use the April with other varieties.