Chinese cucumbers are superior to ordinary cucumbers in all respects. They are super long, never bitter, and most importantly - bear fruit to the very frosts. We will learn how to plant and grow Chinese miracle cucumbers - further.
What is Chinese Cucumber?
In appearance, Chinese cucumbers are very similar to ordinary ones. It is difficult for an inexperienced gardener to find the difference between a familiar garden culture and a miracle cucumber. Chinese cucumbers are not a variety, but a whole variety of cucumbers - a herbaceous annual from the Pumpkin family.
Chinese cucumbers differ from ordinary cucumbers in size, taste, and biological characteristics. This culture is chosen by active experimental gardeners who are happy to grow unusual vegetables.
Appearance story
The homeland of Chinese cucumbers is China. In general, cucumbers, as a culture, trace their history for over 6,000 years. And this subspecies has appeared quite recently. It was bred in China, and very soon the unusual cucumbers spread throughout the world.
Every year, breeders develop new varieties that differ from each other in biological nuances, but have common agrotechnical characteristics.
Detailed description
The main difference between Chinese cucumbers is long, prickly fruits, reaching a length of 80-90 cm.Other cultural features:
- Bush. The plant looks like a liana, 3-4 fruits are formed on each layer. Bushes are powerful, with thick stems and large leaves;
- Fruit. The diameter is not more than 7-8 cm, the average length is 50-80 cm, there are no voids inside the fruits. Skin color - dark green, pimpled surface. Seeds are small, underdeveloped, soft, not coarse as the fruit grows;
- Flowers. Mostly female, collected in bunches of several pieces. There are a lot of ovaries on the plant.
Experienced gardeners advise using the fruits of Chinese cucumbers with light thorns for salads, and with dark ones for conservation.
Specifications
The plant is unpretentious, it grows on any soil, without requiring special growing conditions. It can grow both in the sun and in shading - illumination does not particularly affect yield. 3-4 plants are enough to provide seven fruits of Chinese cucumbers.
Main agrotechnical characteristics:
Specifications | Description |
Yield | 9-10 kg per bush, maximum 30-40 kg |
Disease resistance | high (resistant to major diseases of cucumbers) |
Drought tolerance | High (practically does not affect the yield, withstands temperatures up to + 40 ° C) |
Growing method | outdoors and in greenhouses |
Taste | sweetish (the peel has no bitterness in the taste; the pulp is firm, crunchy, does not coarse, does not contain voids) |
Scent | resembles a melon or watermelon |
Maturation | early ripening culture (fruits appear 35-40 days after germination) |
Fruiting | prolonged (the last fruits are removed before frosts) |
Marketable condition | excellent (even overgrown fruits are dense and attractive, they do not turn yellow and do not have large, hard seeds, like ordinary ripened cucumbers) |
What are the varieties?
Almost all Chinese cucumbers are hybrids. Previously, the seeds were imported from China. There were no domestic varieties, or they did not correspond to the general characteristics of the subspecies. Today, most of the varieties of Chinese cucumber on the market are still from China. Let's consider the most popular ones.
Flameproof
Mid-season hybrid. From germination to first fruits - 48-54 days. Plants are branched, vigorous, well leafy. Fruits to frost. It is well weaved on grids and lattices. Productivity - 15-20 kg per bush. Fruit weight - 100-120 g, length - 35-55 cm. The country of selection is Russia.
The fruit is cylindrical in shape, with large pimples. At the end there is a thickening. The skin is thin, dark green in color, with short whitish stripes at the top of the fruit. The taste of the pulp is sweet, it is tender, aromatic, crunchy.
The seeds are soft, underdeveloped. The hybrid is drought-resistant, withstands heat, bears fruit at high temperatures. Resistant to disease. The fruits are stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, they are eaten fresh or salted.
Farmer
Hybrid with an average ripening period. Fruits appear 48-54 days after germination. The plant is powerful, curly. Resistant and resilient to all environmental challenges. Productivity - up to 35 kg per bush. Weight - 250-300 g, length - 35-40 cm. Country of selection - China.
Fruits are smooth, dark green in color. Pulp with a delicate, sweet smell. The fruits taste sweet, crunchy, there is no bitterness and voids. Eat fresh, canned and salted, cut into slices.
For an overview of bagged outdoor Chinese farm cucumber, see the video below:
When grown in greenhouses, the yield of Chinese cucumber increases significantly.
Emperor
Early ripe hybrid. Ripens in 42-45 days. The length of the stems reaches 3.5 m. The yield is 25-30 kg per bush. Weight - 400-550 g, length –40-50 cm. Chinese selection. Resistant to diseases of cucumbers - powdery mildew, etc.
The fruits are long, dark green, with a shiny skin. It tastes a little watery, the aroma is pleasant.
Climbing
Late ripening variety. Ripens in 65-70 days. The fruits of Pletistoi are much smaller than those of other varieties. Pollination is cross-pollination, unlike most Chinese cucumbers, it needs the work of insects. Climbing is grown in open beds. Productivity - 20-25 kg per bush. Weight - 100-140 g, length –10-15 cm. Chinese selection.
The fruits are small, the skin has a wax coating, it is thin, sweetish. Differs in good transportability. It is resistant to diseases, tolerates cold well. The purpose is universal.
Cold resistant
This is an F1 hybrid of medium ripening. From the moment of germination to the first fruits - 50-55 days. The plants are vigorous and vigorous. Versatile - suitable for greenhouses, greenhouses and open ground. They require bandages on trellises.
Hardy to cold and drought, practically does not suffer from powdery mildew, fusarium and peronosporosis. Productivity - 20-30 kg per bush. Fruit weight - 135-155 g, length - 55-65 cm. Country of selection - Russia.
Fruits are cylindrical, often curved, with hard pimples and a short neck. Length - 30-50 cm. Fruit color - dark green, thin, with shine and dense pubescence. The thorns are light. The pulp corresponds to all the characteristics of Chinese cucumbers - juicy, sweet, fragrant, bitterness is completely absent. Can be eaten fresh and salted.
If you are late for harvesting the ripened fruits, they will outgrow - the flesh will become tasteless.
Chinese snakes
An early ripening variety. No need for pollination. Productivity - 8-9 kg per 1 sq. Km. m. With good care - up to 30 kg per 1 sq. Weight - 350-400 g, length –50-80 cm. The maximum diameter is 7 cm. One cucumber is enough for a large salad bowl.
The fruits are juicy, with a thin skin. They grow very quickly. You can preserve, salt, eat fresh. Resistant to powdery mildew and common mosaic. Can grow in shade, tolerates high temperatures easily.
Chinese miracle
A late variety of Chinese selection. Ripening period - 65-70 days. Weight - 500-650 g, length –40-65 cm.
Plant height - up to 4.5 m, fruiting until frost. The fruits are juicy, thick, the skin is pimply, not bitter. Eat fresh. Can be preserved, but always on the day of harvest.
An overview of cucumbers of the variety "Chinese Miracle" see in the video below:
Alligator
An early ripe hybrid F1 of Chinese selection. Ripening period - 45-50 days. Productivity - 14-16 kg per 1 sq. Weight - 300 g, length -35-40 cm. Fruiting until mid-autumn. Needs insect pollination.
Bushes are vigorous, the branches are tied to trellises. 6-8 fruits grow on one bush. Large-cucumber cucumbers - the skin is similar to alligator skin. The fruits are eaten fresh, used for harvesting.
Jin # 1
Medium late bee-pollinated hybrid. The selection is Chinese. Fruit length -30-40 cm. Cucumbers are dense, contain a lot of dry matter. The main advantage is increased resistance to fungal diseases.
The fruits are long, slightly ribbed, cylindrical. Grown by seeds and seedlings. The fruits are delicious fresh - in salads, and canned.
Comparative table with long-fruited varieties:
Variety | Productivity, kg per 1 square. m. | Fruit length, cm |
Chinese cucumbers | 30 | 30-90 |
Danila F1 | 15 | 10-15 |
Cupid F1 | 30-50 | 12-15 |
Herman F1 | 25 | 10-11 |
Prestige F1 | 28 | 9-12 |
Where is it recommended to grow a crop?
Chinese cucumbers prefer vertical growth. Plants can trail along the supports, both in the open field and in greenhouses - the main thing is to create suitable conditions for them. To get an early harvest, it is recommended to use greenhouse cultivation. With vertical weaving, the fruits grow long and even.
Due to changes in weather conditions, rain, daytime heat and nightly cold, the yield decreases, as negative factors affect flowering, the formation of ovaries.
In the south, Chinese cucumbers can be grown in open field. If you tie them to trellises, then long and even cucumbers will grow. This culture is strongly recommended to tie up, if the lashes lie on the ground, then the risk of diseases increases, and the fruits grow crooked - however, this does not affect the taste of Chinese cucumbers.
Advantages and disadvantages
Benefits of Chinese Cucumbers:
- high and stable productivity;
- prolonged fruiting;
- resistance to "cucumber" diseases and parasites;
- self-pollination;
- excellent product characteristics;
- the possibility of growing in shade conditions;
- withstand frost without compromising yield;
- compact - takes up little space;
- early maturity.
Minuses:
- poor preservation;
- only some varieties are suitable for salting;
- without garter, cucumbers grow uneven, hooked.
Landing features
Chinese cucumbers planted with seeds or seedlings. In the south, seeds are allowed to be planted without a film; in all other regions, cultivation in greenhouses is advisable.
The site is chosen protected from winds, flat or with a slight slope on the south side. A greenhouse or plot should be well lit by the sun. Shading is acceptable when grown outdoors. Swampy and clayey soils are not suitable for the culture.
How to prepare planting material?
We prepare seeds:
- We calibrate. Seeds are placed in water. After waiting half an hour, the floating seeds are removed.
- Etching. An infection often settles on the seeds. They are immersed for 0.5-1 hours in a dark purple solution of potassium permanganate.
- We treat it with a stimulant. Seeds can additionally withstand 10-12 hours in the stimulator. Epin will do. 4 drops of the drug are diluted in 100 ml. You can also immerse the seeds in sodium humate for 2-3 hours. For 1 liter - 0.5 g of humate.
- Sprouting. A moistened rag is placed on a plate, seeds are placed on it, and a second rag is placed on top.
Growth lasts 25-26 days. To plant cucumbers in early May, seeds are sown on April 15. Read more about how and when to plant cucumbers for seedlings here.
Growing seedlings:
- Select containers of suitable size. The glass is filled with soil mixture:
- peat - 6 parts;
- sand - 1 part;
- sawdust of deciduous trees - 1 part;
- humus - 2 parts.
- Each glass contains one seed. Embedding - 0.5-1 cm. The sprouts appear in 3-5 days.
Soil preparation
Under the autumn digging, humus, wood sawdust and black soil (1: 1: 2) are introduced. The soil in greenhouses is made two-layer. At the bottom there is manure, straw and leaves, then humus. Recommended composition:
- sod soil - 2 parts;
- peat - 3 parts;
- compost or humus - 3 parts.
For 10 kg of soil mixture, 15 g of superphosphate and 250 g of ash are added. Nitrogen is not added at the preparation stage, it is enough in the humus.
Landing in the ground
Seedlings are planted in a greenhouse or in open ground. In the latter case, disembarkation is carried out during a period when there is no danger of return frosts. The pick is carried out when the fourth leaf appears.
How to plant:
- Depending on the variety, the aisles are made from 50 to 90 cm.If the plant gives few lateral branches, the gap between adjacent bushes is 25-30 cm.
- Water the seedlings a day before planting - to make it easier to remove the soil lump.
- Prepare the holes on the beds, their size should be slightly larger than the glasses from under the seedlings.
- Pour a slightly warmed solution of potassium permanganate into the holes - to disinfect the soil, then pour ordinary water into the holes.
- Remove the plants, being careful not to destroy the earthy lump - so as not to damage the root system.
- Position the plant so that its root neck is 1-2 cm above the soil level. Gently tamp the ground.
In open ground, seedlings are planted at a temperature of + 20 ° C. Although Chinese cucumbers are cold-resistant, low temperatures adversely affect their growth and development.
Sowing with seeds in the ground
Chinese cucumbers are easier to plant with seeds in open ground - this method is practiced in the south at + 13-15 ° C.
Sowing subtleties:
- The interval between the pits is 5 cm. The row spacing is 50 cm. 3 seeds are placed in each hole.
- Planting depth - 3-4 cm, no more.
- When shoots appear, they break through. The distance between adjacent seedlings should be 10 cm.
- The second time the plants are thinned out, when several real leaves appear on them. Between adjacent bushes leave 25-30 cm.
Thinning seedlings, they must be cut or plucked out, pulling out can damage the roots of plants left for growth.
Care features
Care for Chinese cucumbers is almost the same as for ordinary cucumbers. This culture has a very long stem, and there are few side shoots. Therefore, they plant them with a greater frequency than usual, and be sure to tie them up.
Caring for Chinese cucumbers includes:
- regular watering;
- shallow loosening;
- weeding;
- tying lashes;
- top dressing.
Watering and feeding
Indoors, cucumbers are watered 2 times a week, outdoors - taking into account precipitation. It is recommended to spray plants daily with warm water. The watering rate for young plants is 0.5 liters, for adults - 1-1.5 liters. Water the cucumbers only with warm water.
In the open field, if fertilizers are applied in the fall, you will not have to feed the cucumbers. In greenhouses, the culture is fed twice:
- 2 weeks after planting, when flowering begins;
- during fruiting.
To increase productivity, it is recommended to spray the plants with a urea solution. They also use a special mixture of fertilizers that have a beneficial effect on the development of the plant:
- Boric acid (1 g), potassium permanganate (1 g), iron vitriol (1 g), copper sulfate (3 g), urea (100 g) are taken.
- Urea is dissolved in water, acid is separately diluted, mixed, and then vitriol with potassium permanganate is added.
- Plantings are sprayed every half a month, cucumbers can be collected 2 days after spraying.
In the open ground, cucumbers are fed as follows:
- When the plant has 5 leaves - infusion of mullein, take 1 liter for 10 liters of water.
- After 2 weeks, chicken droppings are introduced. For a bucket of water - 700 g of droppings.
- During flowering, watered with a solution of ash - a glass of 10 liters of water.
- When fruiting ends, they are watered again with chicken droppings. Or you can make complex fertilizer.
Loosening and mulching
The roots of cucumbers are located very close to the surface, so the loosening should be shallow - up to 5 cm. To prevent the soil from cracking and the moisture evaporating more slowly, a simple but effective agricultural technique is used - mulching.
The soil can be sprinkled with peat, crushed herbal mixture, sawdust. Thanks to the mulch, oxygen penetrates better into the soil, preventing it from compacting.
Forming a whip
While the plant is growing, the gardener establishes support for weaving in the open ground. It can be trellis, mesh or just taut ropes. In greenhouses, they are limited to a vertical support, to which a central stem is tied. Lateral shoots branch from the central stem. Having counted five branches from the root, cut them off.
Diseases and Pests
The culture is sprayed with fungicides as a preventive measure. The most common diseases are powdery mildew and anthracnose, pests are Putin's tick and melon aphid.
Disease and pest control measures of Chinese cucumbers:
Diseases / Pests | Signs of defeat | How to fight? |
Powdery mildew | A whitish bloom appears on the inside of the leaves. Then he goes to the outside. The leaves darken, the fruits grow crooked and tasteless. | In a bucket of water, 20 g of Oxychom are diluted. The plants are sprayed in the evenings every 2 weeks. Colloidal sulfur is also used. |
Anthracnose | On the stems there are elongated, depressed brown spots. The fruits are spoiled. | Sprayed with copper oxychloride or Oxychrome - 20 g per 10 liters. Re-processing after 10 days. |
Aphid | Small insects suck out juices from all terrestrial parts of the plant. Fruiting ceases. | Spray with Fitoverm - 4-6 ml per bucket of water. Re-spraying - after 2 weeks. |
Disease and pest prevention measures:
- Maintaining the minimum distance between plants.
- Prevention of stagnation of water in the soil.
- Sprinkling with mulch - this prevents weeds.
- Sick lashes are immediately removed and destroyed. And if the disease is incurable - for example, a mosaic, then they tear out the whole plant.
- Cucumbers are treated with garlic infusion and onion husks.
Gardeners reviews
Tamara O., 57 years old, amateur gardener, Krasnodar Territory. Chinese cucumbers were advised in the store - they promised that they would like them. Oddly enough, they did not lie. I planted them in July, 80% of the crops had risen in a week. We have very hot summers - up to 40 degrees in the shade, so the heat resistance of the variety is very helpful. Ordinary cucumbers disappear, wither and dry, but Chinese ones at least. Cucumbers grow to 45 cm, few seeds.
Veniamin I., 66 years old, summer resident, Vladimir region I plant Chinese cucumbers seedlings. Seeds in the soil do not germinate well. I pinch the whips when they grow to trellises. The variety practically does not branch out to the sides, so they can be planted tightly. The palatability is excellent and they are never bitter, even if it is very hot outside.
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Chinese cucumbers are actively crowding out traditional vegetables. Their unpretentiousness, endurance and productivity, combined with excellent taste, do not leave our gardeners indifferent. This crop is useful and beneficial, occupying only a few square meters, it can feed its owners until frost.
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Russia. City Novosibirsk
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