3. Introduction and Importance:
cucumbers are used as salad and for pickling. The fruits are also consumed
raw. Tender leaves are also used as vegetables.
It is the second most widely cultivated cucurbits after watermelon. In
temperate countries it is extensively grown in glasshouse. The fruit and seed
posses cooling properties.
The fruits as also used as an astringent and antipyretic. The seed oil is used as
an antipyretic . Fruits are good for people suffering from constipation, jaundice
and indigestion. Immature fruits are consumed as salad and sell at a premium
price in off season. Fruits vary in shape, size ,colour and are considered
nutritious. They contain 0.4% protein, 2.5% CHO, 1.5mg iron, 2mg vitamin c /
100g fresh weight.
4. • Botanical name: Cucumis sativus L.
• Family: Cucurbitaceae
• Chromosome number: 2n=14
• Origin: India
• Ancestor : Cucumis hardwickii
• Importance of crop Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an edible cucurbit popular
throughout the world for crisp texture and taste. Cucumber is a truly versatile
vegetable because of wide range of uses from salads to pickles and digestive aids to
beauty products. It is a very good source of potassium, an important intracellular
electrolyte. 100 g of cucumber provides 147 mg of potassium. Cucumbers contains
unique anti-oxidants in moderate ratios such as β-carotene and αcarotene, vitamin-
C, vitamin-A, zea-xanthin and lutein.
:CUCUMBER:
5. Basic information:
• DNP
• Thermophilic crop
• 2nd most widely cultivated cucurbit after watermelon
• 1st sequenced vegetable crop
• Prefers low temp. than WM
• Most common sex form : Monoecious
• Bitterness : Cucurbitacins
• New synthetic species: Cucumis × hytivus, 2n=2x=38.
• 1st gynoecious F1 hybrid, Pusa Sanyog, developed in India in 1971.
• Economic sex ratio of cucumber: 15:1.
• Induction of parthenocarpy in cucumber: Choloroflurenol
• Metaxenia: Effect of pollen on fruit shape and other fruit
characteristics
6. Soil and Climate :
Cucumbers prefer light textured soils that are well
drained, high in organic matter and have a pH of 6-6.8.
Adapted to a wide-range of soils, but will produce early
in sandy soils. Cucumbers are fairly tolerant to acid soils
(down to pH 5.5). Greenhouse cucumbers generally
grow quite well in a wide range of soil pH (5.5-7.5), but a
pH of 6.0-6.5 for mineral soils and a pH of 5.0-5.5 for
organic soils are generally accepted as optimum.
7. Climate:
Maximum growth occurs at a day and night temperature of about 28°C,
maximum fruit production is achieved with a night temperature of 19-
20°C and a day temperature of 20-22°C. The minimum temperature
should not be lower than 18ºC for sustained production. Prolonged
temperature above 35ºC should also be avoided as fruit production and
quality are affected at extremely higher temperatures.
Sowing:
Time – July-Sept Jan-Feb
Seed rate – 3-5 kg/ha
Spacing – 1.5 x 0.5 m or 1.5 x 1 m
8. Irrigation:
Drip irrigation Inline lateral lines may be installed in the middle of beds.
Distance between two drippers - 30 cm and its discharge rate is 2 L/hour.
Diameter of riser is 16mm
Fertilizer management :
Cucumber has a high nutrient requirement and grows rapidly when
supplied with sufficient nutrients.
Normally ; 200N: 125P: 125K kg/ha
As per VNMKV recommended : 100N:50K:50P kg/ha
9. Cultural practices :
1. Training & Pruning Basic principle in developing training system is to uniformly maximize the leaf
interception of sunlight throughout the house. Staking in cucumber has been found to be very effective
in getting maximum yield and better quality of fruits.
2. •Types of training
3. 1. Single stem training (60 x 45 cm)
4. 2. Umbrella system (60 x 60 cm)
5. 3. V-system (60 x 60 cm)
V system
10. Pruning
• Pruning improve fruit yield and quality
• As the plant grows up the string, remove all the lateral buds up to the sixth node (a node being where a leaf joins
the stem).
• Pruning the lateral buds allows the plant to become large enough to support continued healthy fruit development.
• In addition to the lateral buds, all the fruits should also be removed up to this point.
CULTIVARS
*Pusa Seedless Cucumber-6
Year of release : 2015-16 Characteristics :
•First extra early (40-45 days for first fruit harvest) improved variety of
parthenocarpic gynoecious cucumber suitable for cultivation in protected condition.
*Variety Pusa Sanyog
Breeding Method :Heterosis Pedigree/Parenta ge
Cross : Japanese Gyn. Line x Green Long Naples
Important Traits: Early maturing and high yielding, fruits long,
cylindrical and dark green with yellow stripes, flesh crisp
11. *Variety : Pusa Uday
Breeding Method: Selection Pedigree/Paren tage Selection from Indigenous material
Important Traits The plants (vines) are 1 to 1.5 m long.
The flowering behaviour is monoecious. The fruits are medium in size (13-15 cm long).
*Variety : Straight eight
Breeding Method : Introduction Pedigree/Parent age Introduction from USA
Important Traits :Fruits medium in length, straight and cylindrical with round ends,
skin medium green
*Variety : Japanese Long Green
Breeding Method : Introduction
Important Traits : Plants are early, prolific bearing, first picking starts in 45 days after sowing.
Fruits are yellowish green, 30-40 cm long, whitish green with light green and crisp flesh.
This variety essentially requires staking for straight fruits.
.
12. *Variety : Kalyanpur Green
Breeding Method : Selection
Important Traits : Fruits thick, green, tasty while brown at maturity.
This variety is suitable for cultivation in rainy season.
This variety has yield potential of 100-125 q/ha
*Variety : Phule Shubhangi (Sel 75-1-10)
Breeding Method : Pedgree Selection
Important Traits : Fruits green, colour of fruit remains after storage,
surface smooth with trichoms. Plants are tolerant to pod borer, anthracnose, leaf spot and leaf under field
condition.
Fruits are smooth and attractive green fruits with white strips at apical end.
*Variety : Phule Priyanka
Breeding Method :Hybridization Pedigree/Parentag e RHRB-5 x RHRBG4
Important Traits : Fruits dark green, highly prickled, 20 cm long, suitable for rainy and summer seasons,
tolerant to downey mildew, average yield 282.7 q/ha
13. Other varieties:
*Pant Sankar Khira-1
*Pant Khira-1
*Pant Parthenocarpic khira-2
*Parthenocarpic khira-3
*Himangni.
*CO 1
Vegetative propagation :
The side shoot/ laterals or suckers are used as planting material. Time of using these laterals as propagation material
depends largely on the purpose of taking advantage of staggered planting or relay cropping. The lateral shoots of 9 10 cm
are taken from plants, but atmost care is required to avoid the cutting from virus affected plants and it is always
recommended to sterilize the tools/ knife being used for making such operations either with bleaching powder or milk
powder. Cocopeat may be used as the rooting media. The seedlings may be transplanted 15 days later.
14. Harvesting
Generally, cucumber is ready for first harvesting in 30 to 40 days of planting depending upon climatic conditions and
crop management practices. Harvesting is done when fruits are more or less cylindrical and well filled and should be
carried out in early morning or late evening. The produce should immediately be moved to cool, shaded and ventilated
area. As fruits are harvested manually, so these should be clipped or snapped with a slight twist motion and should not
be pulled off the vines to minimize ‘pulled ends’. Fruits keep on developing as the plants grow and reach harvestable
stage in 10-14 days after flower opening.
Disease and pest management
1) Downy Mildew (Pseudoperonospora cubensis)
• Symptoms : Disease appears as irregular, numerous, small,
yellow areas surrounded by green tissues scattered all over the leaf lamina.
It appears just like in definite mosaic pattern particularly in cucumber.
Management •
*Crop should be grown with wide spacing in well-drained soil.
*Air movement and sunlight exposure helps in checking the disease initiation and development.
*Bower system of cropping reduces the disease incidence.
*use tolerant cucumber lines like Summer Prolific.
*Protective spray of Mancozeb @ 0.25% at seven days interval . In severe case one spray of Metalaxyl + Mancozeb @
0.2%
15. 2) Powdery Mildew : (Sphaerotheca fuligena and Erysiphe cichoracearum)
Symptoms :
• Disease appears on all foliar part as white to dull white, powdery growth.
This white growth quickly covers most of the leaf surface
and leads to heavy reduction in photosynthesis area.
Management :
• Foliar sprays of Penconazole @ 0.05% or Tridemorph @ 0.1% or Carbendazim @ 0.1%
, give very good control of the disease. • Use tolerant line
3) Anthracnose : Colletotrichum lagenarium,
It is a destructive disease of cucurbits occurring during warm and moist seasons
All aboveground plant parts can be infected
Leaf lesions begin as water soaked and then become yellowish circular spots
Management:
Choose anthracnose-resistant varieties if at all possible.
Resistant cucumber slicers include Dasher II, Slicemaster, and Poinsett 76.
Many pickling cucumbers are tolerant or resistant, Score and Premier..
Fungicides Among fungicides available are chlorothalonil (Bravo), benomyl (Benlate),
and mancozeb
16. Some other diseases:
* Fruit Rots : (Phytophthora cinnamomi, Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Phomopsis cucurbitae)
• Mosaic and Leaf Distortion
Some of the pests:
1) Fruit fly : Dacus ciliates , Dacus cucurbitae
Control measures : Clean cultivation
Spraying with 0.2% carbaryl, Spraying with 0.2% carbaryl,
spraying with 0.05% Malathion .
2) Red Pumpkin Beetle : Alucophora foveicollis
The grubs feed on the roots and underground portion of host plants
and fruits touching the soil, Infested parts start rotting due to secondary
infection by saprophytic fungi
Management: deep ploughing soon after the crop exposes and kill grubs and pupae.
Spray Malathion @ 2 ml /liter , Dusting with 5% Malathion, Apply Furadan 3G (Granule )
Other pests are :
*Serpentine Leaf Miner (Liriomyza trifolii Burgess)
• Red Spider Mite (Tetranychus neocaledonicus Andre)
• *Thrips (Thrips palmi Karny)
• Root-knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita)
17. Physiological disorders:
1) Bitterness : cool weather at high elevations
Open pollination and excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizer
2) Crooked fruit or crooking or curvature : imperfect pollination and fertilization.
High soil moisture ,poor nutrition and adverse temperature
3) Frost or low temperature injury : Freezing of cell sap results
in rupture of the cell membrane.
4) Pillow disorder - Calcium deficiency
5) Fruit splitting or cracking : Heavy rainfall or Rain after a long period of water
stress causes fruits to splits. Calcium deficiency aggravates the disorder.
18. 6) Light belly colour : Direct contract of the fruits with moisture ,
soil suppresses development of normal fruit color.
Delay in turning the fruits in field encourages this disorder.
7) Misshapen fruits : High plant population or dense plant canopy
Negligence in using growth hormones and herbicides
19. Post harvest , marketing and storage:
• There are well developed cucumber pickle industries are there around the world.
cities like USA, JAPAN, CHINA have good processing industries for cucumber pickle using
brine solution.
•rainy season crop or crop damaged by summer rains, fruit fly attacked fruits should be
removed before sending to the market.
•the crook necked fruits have less acceptance in market.
•cucumber do not stand much better for long transport so cucumber have to be sold in
nearby urban markets.
• cucumbers should be packed in baskets and transported.
•it is being highly perishable so the involvement of risk and losses is more so cultivation
is concentrated near metropolitan cities.
• some regions like Poona region of Maharashtra supply cucumber to distant markets.
Optimum storage temperature of cucumber fruits is -10 degree with 85% RH can be
stored for 10-14 days.
• chilling injury takes place below -10 degree.
