Cucumber Production

Cucumber characteristics

Roots: initially, roots are tapering, meaning they consist of big roots that tend to go deep up to 80-90cm. Later, they tend to become sheaves of rootlets which tend to remain more on the surface.

Stem: cucumber is a crop with a climbing stem and of an herbaceous type, but it is also very robust and develops fast up to a 120-150 cm height. Moreover, it features some branches and some cirrus clouds (curls).

Leaves: they are thin, wide and green-colored, and they are covered with thin hair.

Flowers: they are yellow-colored and can feature male short-stemmed flowers compared to the female ones and they are placed on the leaf armpit; there can also be female flowers that, instead, are either alone or in pairs and develop on secondary branches. We can find cucumber varieties having both male and female flowers on their plant, varieties with flowers of one sex only and varieties with hermaphrodite flowers.

Fruit: the fruit has an elongated shape and, at full maturity, is dark green, although it can be of other colors, as well. Its peel is characterized by little sharp bulges. There are more or less long cucumbers; indeed, they can reach a length from 6 cm to 30-40 cm. Inside, they are pulpy and contain seeds.

Climate: Cucumber needs very high temperatures around 20°C. Temperatures above 30°C slow down the crop development.

Soil: Even though the crop adapts to various types of soil, it prefers medium-texture, deep and fertile soils and suffers more in clay soils.

Soil preparation: The soil preparation is done with a superficial ploughing of about 30cm, followed by a grubbing aiming at refining soil. Grubbing is very important, especially if you carry out a sowing in the field. When it comes to clay soils, you will make a two-layer processing (subsoiling) at 40cm and a superficial ploughing, and then you will refine the soil with a light harrowing or a milling.

Cucumber Needs

Cucumbers can be classified based on their precocity, color and fruit dimensions. They can usually be divided in two categories:

VARIETY FOR FRESH CONSUMPTION

They feature dark green-colored and uniform medium-long fruits both in their shape and color. Compared to the cucumbers for industry, they are later fruits with a more prolonged fruiting over time. Some of the varieties used for fresh consumption are “the Bianco Lungo”, “the Lungo Verde Degli Ortolani”, “Marketmore 76” and the “Lungo Della Cina”.

VARIETY FOR INDUSTRY

They have a reduced crop development, their fruits are small with uniform shape and colors. They are the classic gherkins, intended for industrial processing and aiming at preparing preserves in oil and/or pickles for drinks, side dishes, etc…

Among the varieties for industry, we can find the “Piccolo di Parigi” and the “Harmonie F1”.

How to irrigate cucumbers 

Cucumbers require a dosed amount of water, thus avoiding excess water that sometimes can be harmful to the crop. To achieve this goal, drip irrigation is an excellent irrigation technique that increases the crop yield and leads to water saving. So, you need to frequently irrigate the soil, but not too much in order to give cucumber a daily water amount calibrated to its needs.