I am about sharing with you little techniques that make cucumber cultivation profitable. I bet with you that what you would read therein ...
I am about sharing with you
little techniques that make cucumber cultivation profitable. I bet with you
that what you would read therein isn’t just new, resourceful but also
practically based. We pride ourselves in providing through our farming
experiences, unique innovations and techniques.
Introduction
…But for the estimated profit;
I have come across many that develop great love for vegetable farming without
having neither in-depth understanding of the market/marketing techniques or the
skill of management practices that would ensure result. On paper, farming
veggies such as cucumber is the easiest endeavor one could take up but on the
field, it often turns out to be a different ball game.
In this article, I would love
to take you through the A-Z of cucumber farming that would surely guarantee you
success if appropriately and correctly applied.
1. Maximizing
plant population
In this part of the world,
many farmers pride themselves on the size of land rather than plant population.
I often come across people saying; “My farm is 10 acres”, “My veggies farm is
20 acres” but in reality people should rather be mentioning the average plant
population rather than land size. An acre of cucumber farm, for example could
contain an average of 10,000 to 12, 000 stands, while a farmer could have just
5000 stands scatter around his one acre farm, he would still pride himself
having an acre of cucumber.
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| 45cm x 45cm double rows spacing |
There are many plant spacing
patterns you could use: Double rows planting patterns like 60cm x 60cm, 60cm x 45cm
or One row planting patterns like 60cm(between plants) by 100cm(walkway),
45cm(between plants by 50cm(walkway). What determines your spacing patterns are
the available land size, amount of resources (inputs), time of the year, techniques
to be employed and your skill. For the newbies, I would advise that you go for
training at the very least.
You
may also read: How to calculate plant population
Going further, the closer your
plant stands, the more the competition for nutrients, sunlight and chances of
higher occurrence of diseases and possibly insect attacks. Quick one: To
maximize plant population by using congested spacing method, you may need to do
the following:
Staking: staking/trellising
your cucumber plant has many benefits attached. It increases air flow i.e.
ventilation thereby reducing disease incidence. It ensures good/well appealed
fruits which have little or no contact with the soil. This kind of fruits
attract premium price from buyers. Staking/trellising reduces competition for
sunlight and increases ease of working and walking through the farm. Weeds
management is also one outstanding benefit. Overall, harvesting is much easier
to do.
Feeding: To reduce stiff
competition between plant stands, you would need to increase amount of applied
soil fertilizer. However, note that target application is advised in order not
to burn you plant. For example, the rule of thumb is that you should apply
between 6-10g of NPK fertilizer per application. Increasing the amount does not
mean that you should apply 20g at a go but rather use target application i.e.
increase the number of cycle of application: Basal application or a week after
germination, 3 weeks after germination, at flowering stage and after first
harvest. Using target application also ensures that you maximize the use of
fertilizer that could have been subjected to leaching. Courtesy: www.hybridveggies.com
2. Nursery
planting/Replacement techniques
Do I hear somebody thinking:
“Nursery for cucumber”? Well, you may just be right. There is a need to
establish nursery for your cucumber. Cucumber falls among veggies that can be
planted directly on the field in the class of watermelon, squash, okra, green beans
etc. Even at that, 100% germination can never be guaranteed not even with the
use of best of seeds. So what happen to spaces left by those that do not
germination? Many seeds company would promise you 85% min. of germination. What
this translates to is that for every 1000 seeds you plant, you are guaranteed
that 850 seeds would germinate. That is just a promise. For many, it may not be
up to that. The space occupy by 150 seeds that do not germinate is so much and
has reduced your profit potential already. Also note that 850 seeds that
germinate would contain runts. So what are runts? Runts are seedlings that
germinate from distorted or incomplete cotyledons thereby have pre-matured
seedlings. These pre-matured seedlings would eventually produce matured plants
that have below par yield thereby reducing your overall yield potential.
In order to make up for all the
spaces left behind by the failed germinations and pre-matured seedlings, you
would need to raise nursery the same day you plant the field. Rule of thumb:
raise 30% seedlings on nursery of the whole number of seeds planted on the
field. This means if you plant 1000 seeds on the field, you may need to plant
300 seeds in the nursery.
To
understand the number of seeds/gram in cucumber seeds you buy; you may also
read: Hybrid seeds and seeds catalogue
Techniques in raising
seedlings for cucumber may be different from that of tomato, pepper, onions
etc. To raise cucumber seedlings, you are advised to use nursery bags or big
hole sized seedlings trays. Never plant cucumber directly on seed beds. The
reason for this is that; cucumber life span is very short. It takes only 6
weeks to maturity from planting (for hybrid seeds), due to this short period,
there is no room for transplanting shock normally experienced after seedlings
transplant. Using nursery bags would ensure the cucumber seedlings are not
disturb after transplanting therefore they would be able to match up with their
set directly planted on the field.
In addition, during the height
of raining season when it may be very difficult for cucumber seedlings to
germinate on the field due to heavy yet continuous rainfall, planting
everything in nursery bags meant to be transplanted may be a good idea. Finally,
when you have your transplants ready, transplant a week after the germination
and do it in twilight. Ensure you replace every empty space and runts. Moreover,
give them a lot of water for the next few days.
I trust you find this article
of help in one way or the other. The part 2 (Cucumber Cultivation Dictionary Part 2) shall cover topics like
soil/fertilizer management, water management, trellising methods, understanding
of cucumber flower pattern, factors that determine your choice of seeds, bees
& companies: why this is such an important factors in cucumber farming,
harvesting and storage, sorting and sales, marketing channels etc.
Courtesy: www.hybridveggies.com
Courtesy: www.hybridveggies.com
Should you have any question,
comment and critic, please be free to leave such behind. Cheers.
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