How to Grow Cucumber from Seed to Harvest

In this article I have explained How to Grow Cucumber from Seed to Harvest, which helps every farmer and home gardener to gain the knowledge on

Available verities of Cucumber.
Seed germination time.
Suitable soil and weather conditions.
Field preparation and planting distance.
Fertilizer and Water Management.
Required seed per acre and expected yield per acre.

Cucumber (Cucumis Sativas) is a short-duration crop compared to other vine vegetables. Apart from being used as a vegetable, it is also eaten raw (salad). Cucumber is in good demand in summer.

Weather:

Suitable for hot climates. Differences in temperature lead to large differences in the ratio of female to male flowers. At higher temperature more male flowers are produced.

Soils:

Suitable from alluvial soils to deep loamy soils

Verities:

There are two types of Yellow Cucumber, Keera Cucumber.

Yellow Cucumber:

10 Grams of seeds Contains approximately 3000 seeds
Cucumber Seed Germination time is 7 to 10 Days

RNSM-1: This variety released from Vegetable Research Station, Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University, Rajendranagar. Water stress tolerant and high yielding variety and perfect for summer too. Harvesting period: 130-140 days. Yield : 6.0-7.2 tones/a.

RNSM-3: This variety released from Vegetable Research Station, Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University, Rajendranagar. Water stress tolerant and high yielding variety and perfect for summer too. The variety is also resistant to powdery mildew and gray rot. Harvesting period : 130-140 days, Yield : 7.0-8.0 tones/a.

Keera Cucumber varieties:

Japanese Long Green: These fruits 30-40 cm long, green in color. Harvests quickly.

Straight Eight: These fruits are medium length, cylindrical with rounded ends, medium green in color.

Co-1: The leaves are light green in color and can be cut 7-8 days after flowering and used as ‘salad’ (Keera Cucumber) and 16 days after flowering (yellow-green fruits with green stripes) can be used as vegetable cucumber. The fruits are curved with a length of 60-65 cm. Harvesting period: 100 days. Keera Cucumber yield : 5.6 tones/a. Yellow cucumber yield: 10.0-11.2 tones/a.

Poosasayog: A hybrid variety released from New Delhi. Yield : 6.0 tones/a.

Planting Season:

Kharif : Sowing can be done from June to end of July. As a summer crop, it can be sown from the second half of December to the end of March.

Seed Per Acre:

Seed Rate: 1.0-1.4 tones/acre
Harvesting: 45 days after sowing the seeds
Yield: 2.8-8.0 tones/acre

Method of sowing:

80 cm wide canals should be made with a distance of 1.5-2.5 m between the two rows. Sow at a distance of 0.5 (summer) and 0.75 (kharif) cm between two pits in the canal.

Water management:

The seeds should be watered immediately after planting. Then water should be drained without water logging till the seeds germinate. After that water should be given at intervals of 7-10 days depending on the nature of the soil and the season.

Harvesting:

The first harvest takes place 45 days after sowing the seeds. The fruits should be harvested 7-8 days after plating for salad. Two cuttings can be taken per week.