Many vegetable growers grow good yields of cucumbers in their own gardens. Such growing vegetables does not require special skills, and even beginner gardeners can get a high yield. Among them, cucumber hybrids are very popular, the seeds of which were obtained by breeders under special conditions, and their yield is artificially increased several times compared to conventional varieties. Such fruitful hybrids include the early Claude F1 cucumbers.

Characterization and description of the variety

Claudine F1 cucumbers are a hybrid with a very early fruit ripening period. This hybrid is derived from the earlier hybrid cucumber variety Claudius F1. Selection work was carried out by the Dutch agricultural company Royal Sluis. Claudine F1 is designed for vegetation in greenhouses and in the open. The parthenocarpic hybrid, its flowers are only female in nature, therefore, for the formation of the ovary, they do not need pollinators (bees, flies, ants).The high yield of this hybrid is due to such an important characteristic as beam fruiting. The hybrid calmly reacts to high temperatures in closed structures, without dropping flowers or ovary. This hybrid is suitable for cultivation in the south, as well as in temperate climates. In the northern regions, it can be grown only under film shelters, optimally if the greenhouses are equipped with a heating system.

The overhead bush of the plant is powerful, the lashes are long, not too thick, but in sufficient quantity covered with leaves. The leaves are wide, rounded, divided into five segments. Painted in bright green. The lower and upper part of the sheet plate have a rough structure. Leaves are located on the main and side lashes often. In the sinus of each leaf, the plant forms a bunch of ovary, consisting of 5-6 green leaves.

Did you know? The fruits of cucumber are 90% water, so a vegetable eaten in the morning after an alcoholic party can help a person suffering from a severe hangover.

The plant blooms in large yellow flowers, with a diameter of up to 3 cm. Claudine F1 is relatively resistant to diseases such as powdery mildew and cucumber mosaic. The bush is slightly affected by cladiosporiosis. Without the compliance of the vegetable grower with disease prevention and proper cultivation farming techniques, the plant can still get sick.

Botanical description of the bush and fruits

Cucumber is a tropical perennial herb, the Latin name is Cucumis sativus. This plant belongs to the pumpkin family. Wild cucumber varieties have a stem with an unlimited growth point and a well-developed root system. The plant does not tolerate subzero temperatures, therefore, in the conditions of our country, the culture is grown as an annual.

In the cultural agriculture of many countries, crop varieties and hybrids of cucumber obtained by selection are grown. People eat only the young fruits of this culture. They are eaten fresh, salted, pickled, stewed and even fried.

Fruitfulness

Claudine F1 quickly grows small gherkins, the weight of a well-formed cucumber does not exceed 85 g. The peel on the fruits is dense, but elastic and thin, green in color, covered with small tubercles without thorns. The diameter of ripened fruits does not exceed 3.5 cm. The pulp of cucumbers is crisp, juicy, and has no bitterness.The fruits of this hybrid have a density, do not form voids in the pulp. Cucumbers differ in marketability, ugly or poorly formed fruits are no more than 5% of the total mass of the crop. Observing all the conditions of agricultural technology, the vegetable grower can collect up to 10 kg of fruit from each 1 m² of greenhouse. In open ground, the yield indicators are slightly lower and reach 9–9.5 kg per 1 m².

Ripening and flowering periods

This hybrid begins to bloom 30 days after the appearance of cucumber sprouts on the soil surface. Subject to the temperature conditions, the gardener can receive the first fruits after 38–40 days of the crop vegetation.

Despite the fact that Claudine F1 is resistant to temperature increase, which is important in greenhouses, a sharp decrease in the daily temperature can cause falling flowers and decay of the ovaries. The danger for cucumber ovaries and flowers comes already at a temperature of + 10 ° C.

Plus qualities and disadvantages of the variety

Hybrid cucumbers Claudine F1 is very popular among farmers and private vegetable growers who grow early products. The hybrid has many positive qualities.

• Grade advantages:
• high yield, facilitated by bundle ovary;
• small form of fruit;
• ability to store for 10-14 days;
• lack of tendency to overgrow fruit;
• resistance to the most common diseases of cucumbers.

• Cons of the variety:
• the need for annual seed purchase;
• high cost of seed.

Sowing and agricultural cultivation

This hybrid is ideal for growing in greenhouses and open field. But it is necessary to take into account the fact that cucumbers in the greenhouse ripen much earlier, their productivity increases significantly, since the fruiting time for the season increases. This is due to the fact that cucumber seedlings in the greenhouse can be planted in early spring. Cucumbers can be sown in open ground at the end of April; their vegetation will continue until mid-July.

Experienced vegetable growers recommend planting 2-3 cucumber plants per 1 m², such a density is necessary to maximize the use of land and achieve high fruiting from each bush. This culture does not tolerate low temperatures, already at air temperatures below + 10 ° C the plants stop growing and soon begin to hurt. Prior to fruiting in the greenhouse, it is important to maintain a certain regime of soil temperature: at least +10 ... + 12 ° C.

Important! Vegetable hybrids on the part of parents acquire almost all the positive characteristics, which explains their high yield. But the vegetable grower needs to remember that it is impossible to collect seeds for sowing next year from a hybrid of the first generation (F1), since they do not preserve parental qualities and partially remain barren.

Regardless of where the bed intended for cucumbers will be located (in the greenhouse or on the street), the soil must be properly prepared before planting seedlings or sowing seeds. It is very important to add nitrogen and calcium for cucumbers. Cattle manure can be used as nitrogen fertilizer, and wood ash can be used as calcium.For 1 m², 10 kg of manure and 200 ml of ash are enough. Manure is laid out on the surface of the soil, after which it is dug up as deep as possible with the soil. Ashes are introduced by sprinkling the excavated soil on top and mixing it with the soil with a rake.

In the open ground

Cucumbers are sown in the garden when steady heat is generated on the street and the soil temperature at a depth of 20 cm is at least + 12 ° C. In the middle lane, this period usually falls in mid-May, depending on what the weather is like. In the south, sowing is carried out a few weeks earlier. In the north, in the risky farming zone, cucumbers are sown only in early June.

Did you know? In the Middle Ages, European healers treated patients with cucumbers, since these fruits were considered a good diuretic and laxative.

Sowing seeds in the garden is as follows:

1. On the prepared bed make furrows for sowing seeds. Furrows are conveniently made using the lateral angle on the chopper blade. The depth of the furrows should not exceed 5 cm.
2. If the bed is wide, at least 120 cm wide, 2 rows of cucumbers can be sown on it. To do this, create 2 parallel furrows with a distance of 60 cm from each other. Only 1 row of cucumbers is sown on narrow beds.
3. Planting furrows are abundantly watered using at least 1 liter of water per meter of furrow.
4. After the water is absorbed into the ground, seeds are laid out along the center of the recess. On a narrow bed, where the plants will be grown in one row, the seeds are laid out at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other. When growing 2 rows of plants on a single bed, the seeds are laid out at a distance of 30 cm from each other.
5. Using a chopper or other gardening tool, the seeds cover the soil flush with the rest of the surface of the bed. The soil is slightly compacted, after which the crops are watered again (moderately).
6. So that the soil on the bed does not lose moisture so quickly, the soil surface is covered with spanbond, which will also take on the role of a warm "blanket" for sowing.

Cucumber seeds can be sown both dry and sprouted. Germination of seeds is done in order to accelerate the appearance of cucumber sprouts on the soil surface.

Important! For germinating cucumber seeds, only sawdust obtained from deciduous trees should be taken. Coniferous wood contains inhibitor substances that prevent the rapid germination of seeds.

How to germinate cucumber seeds:

1. Before germination, the seeds are disinfected in a solution of water and manganese (per 1 liter of water, 1 g of potassium permanganate), then lowered for 15 minutes in a growth stimulator. It can be either a home growth stimulator (warm water with honey, aloe juice) or acquired in a garden center (Epin, Emistim).
2. Next, the seeds are removed from the growth stimulator and wrapped in moist wool for a day.
3. At the end of the soaking period, the seeds are placed in a bag or container with moist wood chips. Seeds should be covered with sawdust on top and bottom. A bag of sawdust and seeds is placed in a warm place for 3 days.
4. When sowing, the germinated seeds are laid out on a wet furrow in the soil very carefully, trying not to break the fragile, barely formed sprouts and roots.

In the greenhouse

Indoors, cucumbers are grown in greenhouses (heated and unheated) and greenhouses. Growing in closed ground allows you to get an early crop of vegetables, sometimes a few weeks earlier than in a bed of open ground. Since it is a rather complicated and expensive process to heat such structures, gardeners prefer to plant adult seedlings in greenhouses.

Did you know? Medieval beauties with the help of cucumber pulp bleached the skin of the face and hands.

Growing cucumber seedlings takes place as follows:

1. White river sand, fertile black earth and humus or compost are mixed in equal parts. To these ingredients is added 0.5 L of sifted wood ash. All parts are well mixed, after which the soil mixture is ready for sowing.
2. The gardener needs to remember that cucumbers, like other representatives of the pumpkin family, do not tolerate when disturbing their root system. That is why the seedlings of these crops need to be grown in containers whose walls decompose in the ground. Seedlings are planted in a permanent place along with the pot in which it grows. Subsequently, the walls of the pot become moist in the soil and become permeable to growing roots. Pots from humus or peat are best suited for these purposes.
3. At the bottom of the planting pot there must be a hole for the drainage of water. If there is no where to drain the excess liquid left after watering, it will remain at the bottom of the pot in the root zone, which will cause them to rot.
4. Planting pots fill the soil only up to half the volume. Later, during the growing season of young cucumbers, the earth will periodically be sprinkled under the root of the plant until it reaches the edge of the landing container.
5. In the soil, in the center of each planting pot, make 2-3 recesses under the seeds. The depth of the planting hole under the seed is at least 1–1.5 cm. Several seeds are planted in each pot as a safety precaution against poor germination of seed. After the cucumbers rise, the strongest seedling is left in the container for growth, the rest are removed. Removal is best done with scissors so as not to damage the sprout left.
6. The soil with planted seeds is watered, after which the planting container is wrapped in a plastic bag. Until the first shoots in pots appear, they are kept warm. After emergence, the containers with seedlings are transferred to a bright place, for example, on the windowsill of the south or southeast window. You can also grow cucumber seedlings under a phytolamp.
7. Young seedlings are watered as necessary, as soon as the soil in the container dries to a depth of 2-3 cm. During cultivation in the room, you need to water young cucumbers as little as possible, because this can cause the development of fungal diseases. To reduce the need for watering, pots with plants can be covered with a transparent cling film. It does not reduce the quality of plant lighting, but prevents the evaporation of moisture from the ground.
8. After 10 days, the young seedlings begin to harden. The first hardening sessions are carried out directly in the room, opening the window. The duration of the first quenching procedures does not exceed 15 minutes, gradually increasing the duration. As soon as the weather permits on the street, seedlings of cucumbers are taken out to the greenhouse, to the street or to the balcony. During street hardening, the sun should not fall on the plants, as they can damage the cucumber leaves. The hardening time in the open air increases every day, until it reaches 8-10 hours.
9. Cucumber seedlings can not be outgrown, it should be planted in the ground when the age of the plants reaches 30 days. In the greenhouse, seedlings are planted in one or two rows. In this case, observe the distance in the row between plants 10-15 cm, the distance between rows - at least 50-60 cm. Seedlings in one row are planted in relation to seedlings in the other row in a checkerboard pattern.

2-3 weeks after transplanting the seedlings into the greenhouse or the greenhouse, the plants are tied to a vertical net or to support cords hanging from the ceiling.

Care Features

In order for the cucumbers to bear fruit well, they must be properly and timely fed, irrigated, tied, loosened and mulched. We must not forget about the protection of plants from diseases and pests.

Watering and fertilizing

Cucumber plants are very hygrophilous, therefore, to obtain high yields, the grower must take care of the timely supply of water to the garden. Cucumbers can not take a shower, they do not tolerate watering on the leaf, as this provokes the rapid development of fungal diseases. This culture is watered only at the root, so gardeners arrange irrigation ditches not far from the planted plants or lay out drip irrigation tubes along the plant rows.

The most successful solution is to mount a drip irrigation system, that is, in this case, the required amount of moisture will be applied under the root of each plant, and a low water supply rate will not allow the liquid to erode the soil root layer. For watering an adult plant, 2 liters of water 2 times a week is enough, or 5 liters of water weekly. As necessary, at the same time as irrigation, liquid fertilizers are supplied to the plant roots.This culture can be fertilized with liquid organics. The most suitable fertilizer for cucumber is fermented bird droppings, as it has a high nitrogen content. A barrel or bucket of fermenting organics is set next to a cucumber bed or in a greenhouse. Rotting organics delivers enough carbon dioxide to the air, which cucumbers are very fond of.

Important! The gardener needs to remember that fermented bird droppings are concentrated fertilizers that need to be diluted with water. For every 10 liters of pure water, add 500 ml of liquid concentrated fertilizer.

How to prepare liquid organic fertilizer at home:

1. It is necessary to find a large tank unnecessary in the farm with a lid. The tank is installed in a warm sunny place on the street or in a greenhouse, after which it is filled with bird droppings. You can take both dry and fresh litter. For these purposes, the excrement of pigeons, ducks, geese, ostriches, chickens.
2. Water is poured over the litter into the tank, making sure that its level does not reach the edge of the tank by 15–20 cm. This clearance is necessary for fluid fermentation. The contents of the tank are mixed with a long and strong mixer, after which the container is tightly closed with a lid. The solution of litter and water is left for fermentation for one or two weeks. The higher the air temperature, the faster the fermentation of the fertilizer in the tank.
3. The contents of the tank must be mixed daily in order to release carbon dioxide from the fermenting mixture. Bubbles will no longer appear on the surface of the finished liquid fertilizer.

The culture is fed during flowering and then throughout the fruiting period every 10 days. Fertilizer is served under the root of the plant, using at least 1 liter of fertilizing under each bush.

Garter and bush formation

Do not allow the fruits of the cucumber to come into contact with the soil in order to prevent their decay. Cucumber is a climbing vine, so it can be tied to a support. In open ground, plants are tied to a trellis or supporting stakes. In closed ground, cucumber bushes are tied to vertically fixed ropes or a support net.

Soil care

All summer the gardener must ensure that the soil between the rows of the cucumber is clean of weeds. As soon as seedlings of weeds appear, the bed needs to be weeded with a chopper or a Fokin plane cutter. After heavy rains, the soil can be compacted, so it must be loosened using the same garden tools. Weeding is carried out every 10 days, loosening - after heavy rains.

Pest and Disease Control

Cucumber plants are very sensitive to the attack of insects feeding on their juice, and to diseases caused by the fungus. Medicinal and prophylactic fluids are applied to the leaves of the plant using a garden sprayer. It should be equipped with a fine spray, creating a wet mist.A person treating plants with insecticides or other chemicals should protect his health from the effects of chemistry. Before starting work, he needs to wear special clothing that covers his arms, legs and head. Shoes should tightly cover the skin of the feet, and the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose should be reliably covered by a respirator.

Did you know? The Bible mentions cucumber as a vegetable grown on the lands of ancient Egypt. UchёSome say that people have been growing this crop for about 6,000 years.

The most common diseases and pests of cucumber:

1. Aphids - Numerous small insects living in large colonies of up to several thousand individuals. Aphid chitin stains can be black, green, or light gray. Body length - 1-2 mm. The female aphids are brought onto cucumber bushes by ants that live in symbiosis with these small insects. Ants play the role of shepherds for aphids and feed on “honey dew” - the sweet liquid that they secrete. Aphids feed on the juices and cells of the plants on which they live, which contributes to their death. If the cucumber plantation is slightly infected with aphids, the owner can try to clean the bed of insects manually: pick and bury the infected leaves or wash off the pests with a foam sponge and soapy water. Along with the destruction of aphids, the gardener should take care of the destruction of anthills located near cucumber beds. As a distraction of aphids from cucumbers, you can plant nasturtium next to the bed. It is also advisable to attract ladybugs to the cucumber bed - they are natural predators of aphids. With a large population of plants aphid a vegetable grower will have to use the treatment of cucumber bushes with insecticides. You can use drugs such as "Karate" or "Actara."
2. Red spider mite - adult beetles and young animals feed on the cellular juice of cucumber. Since spider mites are very small insects, it is difficult to notice them with the naked eye. And if adult spider mites can be seen as burgundy dots on the leaves, then young insects have a transparent body and are almost invisible. The presence of a spider mite on a cucumber can be detected by the web fixed in the internodes of the plant. As a fight, you can use the planting next to the bed of plants with a smell that repels insects: marigolds, garlic, onions, marigolds. You can destroy the spider mite with the help of insecticides or organic solutions (tobacco or pepper).
3. Fungal diseases (powdery mildew, anthracnose, peronosporosis) - These diseases are caused by spores of fungi. Particularly quickly, pathogenic fungi develop in hot and humid air or in wet and cold climates. As a preventative measure, to prevent fungal diseases, the gardener should: periodically thin out the leaves on the cucumber plantation, collect the fruits on time, prevent rotting fruits or ovaries on the plants, treat the plants with lactic acid products (whey, kefir) on the leaf, destroy last year's plant debris, to disinfect garden tools and containers for seedlings. The appearance of fungal diseases is indicated by the appearance on the leaves of spots of a different nature, the drying of leaves and the detection of dead sections of the main or lateral stems. Preventive and therapeutic treatment of plants with fungicides will help the gardener to cope with fungal diseases.
4. Viral diseases (cucumber and tobacco mosaic) - characterized by the appearance of mosaic spots on the leaves. The color of the spots varies from pale yellow to olive in color. Viruses are transmitted on seed, garden tools, and on the soles of gardener's shoes. As a preventive measure, it is recommended to treat the instruments with disinfectants. You can put a rug soaked in a disinfectant solution before entering the greenhouse. It is also necessary to disinfect suspicious seeds before planting (treat with boiling water or soak in a manganese solution). There is no medicine for plants against viral diseases, therefore it is easier to avoid the development of the disease than to lose a diseased cucumber plantation. After detecting signs of viral diseases, it is recommended to remove the plant from the garden along with the root, take it out of the area and burn it.

Harvesting and storage

In the greenhouse, cucumbers produce crops faster, in open space, the fruit harvest time may be longer, but as a result, the grower will collect 9-10 kg of gherkins from 1 m² of bed. The first crop of Claudine F1 cucumbers can be obtained already 38–40 days after planting the seeds in the soil. The fruits of this early hybrid are harvested at intervals of 2–3 days, since this time is sufficient for the set fruits to acquire a characteristic mass and size.

Delayed fruit intake results in a lost crop. Only one cucumber missed during the harvest and aged to yellow skin will reduce the yield of the bush by 50%. Several bushes of cucumbers Claudine F1 can provide the gardener and his family with crisp and fragrant cucumbers throughout the summer.