It was a pleasure to know that you have read part 1 and Part 2 of this series of articles. I am strongly convinced that you would find t...
1. 1. Choice
of seeds
In vegetable farming, the choice
of seeds definitely is among the first set of decisions you
must get rightly. For cucumber as well as other vegetable crops, there are tons of seeds varieties as there are many seeds companies. You must consider a lot of factors in deciding which seeds type (variety) to plant. That a particular seed type is doing well in one region is not enough to think that it would do well in your region as well. There are cucumbers seeds specifically breed for certain regions e.g. temperate region, tropical region: high land or low land. Your choice of seeds should be based on this first. There are other factors to be considered. There are basically three classes of seeds.
must get rightly. For cucumber as well as other vegetable crops, there are tons of seeds varieties as there are many seeds companies. You must consider a lot of factors in deciding which seeds type (variety) to plant. That a particular seed type is doing well in one region is not enough to think that it would do well in your region as well. There are cucumbers seeds specifically breed for certain regions e.g. temperate region, tropical region: high land or low land. Your choice of seeds should be based on this first. There are other factors to be considered. There are basically three classes of seeds.
Local seeds: These are indigenous seeds that are
common to your region. It varies from location to another. Local farmers are in
the habit of removing seeds from this season harvest and preserve such to be
used as seeds for the next planting season. I would advise you not to practice
this unless for an obvious reason such as planting a variety not available
again in the seeds markets.
Improve open pollinated seeds (OP): These are
indigenous seeds which seeds are produced by natural pollination through
successive generations. Don’t mind the terminology, it simply means they are
better than the local varieties in terms of yield, diseases resistance etc.
They are often sold as packaged seeds.
Hybrid seeds (F1): These are seeds that result
from controlled pollination involving at least two parental lines. Don’t mind
the biological slogan. These are seeds that have been worked on to improve their
resistance to diseases, increase yield, and improve shelf life among other
qualities. Just like a marriage between a tall woman and a dwarf man would most
likely produce an in-between. I would
suggest you choose this except for any obvious reason related to market
specification. The same effort could give you four times the produce you would
get from OP all things being equal.
GMO seeds (Genetically Modified Seeds): For no
reason known to us now, we aren’t cultivating nor promoting GMO seeds
You
may also read: Things you need to know when contemplating vegetable farming?
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| Light skin cucumber |
Fruit shape and appearance:
This is another factor determining your choice of seeds. Cucumber comes in
different shapes, appearances and colours: dark green cucumber, Light green
cucumber, Very light strip green cucumber, white skin cucumber, skinny shape
cucumber, plum shape cucumber etc. Your market first; your market must
determine your choice of shape and colour. If you produce a great type of cucumber
for a wrong market, believe me, you would never get value for your effort. On a
lighter note; a friend once produced beautifully looking light strip green
giant cucumber, he took 300kg (10 bags) to the market but not a dime was paid
for it. He was pressured to return his produce; he has to sneak away abandoning
the produce in order not to incur another cost of transportation. In Nigeria,
generally, the market gives premium to dark greenish cucumber.
 |
| Skinny type: Chinese cucumber |
Going forward, all local/OP
cucumber seeds are monoecious (please refer to part 2 of this article) while hybrid cucumber seeds can either be monoecious or
dioecious. Those dioecious are mostly breed to be predominantly exclusively
female plants while very few exclusive male plants would be produce from the
seeds. What this means is that potentially you are face with high yield since
it is unlikely for exclusively female plant to produce male flower. It is
essential to note that a monoecious cucumber plant could produce exclusively
male flowers in response to day-length, heat stress; period of the year etc. which
is tantamount to yield reduction. This abnormal behavious in cucumber has been
eliminated with the use of dioecious seeds.
Cucumber is prone to a lot of
diseases infestation just like any other vegetables. The most common diseases
known with cucumber crops are mildew, mosaic virus and damping off. The powdery
mildews (including other mildews) and the damping-off can be prevented with the
use of fungicide with following active ingredients: metalaxy, mancozeb, maneb,
propineb etc. You may want to apply every two weeks during wet season or once
or twice during dry season.
You
may also read: Spraying and Fertilizer protocol for vegetables
Ideally, it is advisable you
use preventive measures rather than curative measure for most diseases in
vegetables. Never wait to see any disease, protect your crop in advance. As for
the mosaic virus; if you are able to prevent whiteflies (mostly during dry
season) and aphids from occupying your cucumber crops, you have nearly won the
battle. Use appropriate insecticide that is environmental
friendly specifically manufactured for this purpose. You may wait to
see signs of insect before deciding which insecticide types to use.
Above all, apply chemical
responsibly by wearing protective clothe and observing pre-harvest interval
(Very important). For more on diseases diagnosis, prevention and cure, you may
visit:
(a) The
use of insecticide would readily come to your mind. You are correct! But not
all insecticide is allowed. Broad spectrum insecticide (You may read: Understanding the world of Insecticide: Part 1 and 2)
is not to be used once the cucumber starts flowering otherwise you would also
kill and or deter the activities of the beneficiary insects. Narrow spectrum
insecticides that would not affect beneficiary insects can be found with
agro-chemical dealers. You may look for narrow spectrum with active ingredients
such as Spirotetramate , Flubendiamide etc.
In addition,
only spray this chemical in the twilight. The reason being that beneficiary
insects especially bees are mostly active in the morning, therefore in order
not to disturb their activities, it is good you don’t spray in the morning.
(b) You
may also use some organic products containing growth hormones and stimulating enzymes
that enhance multiples flowers formation on your cucumber plants. Also this
products produce sweet aroma that will attracts bees, butterflies and other
insects responsible for pollinating your plants. Also, to attract bees, you may
mix 3 table spoons of sugar with 16L of water (completely diluted) and use it
to spray the flowering crops. This can also be mixed with the organic product
aforementioned.
(You may find the
detail of this through: http://www.hybridveggies.com/p/industrial-organic-fertilizer.html) #Fruit bloom.
I want to believe you find
this part 3 very interesting. We would appreciate your comments, critics and
contributions to improve the qualities of our articles. Please be kind to leave
such behind. The penultimate part would deal with staking/trellising methods
for cucumber, harvesting, sorting and storage and marketing channels of
cucumber fruits. Thanks again for reading. Cheers!
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