Cucumber Farming
Cucumber farming is one of profitable vegetable crop which is commonly grown by small scale and medium size farmers. Cucumbers are usually eaten in salads, or as accompaniments to various foods. They are grown in green houses and some people grow them in an open field.
They are frost sensitive and may be killed at 1 °C. Cucumbers has a minimum germination temperature of 16 °C, an optimum germination range of 16 °C to 35 °C, with an optimum germination temperature of 35 °C, and a maximum germination temperature of 40 °C.
Soil temperatures at Cucumber planting should be at least 10 °C for table cultivars and 13 °C for gherkin cultivars. To get high Cucumber yields, planting should be delayed until all danger of frost is past. Windbreaks are essential for early production.
The general Cucumber fruit shape is roughly cylindrical, elongated, with tapered ends and range from 12-38cm when ready for harvest.
Adaptability
Climatic requirements
The optimum germination temperature for cultivation of Cucumber ranges from 25 to 28°C, night temperature not lower than 20°C. The optimum growth temperature is known to be in the range of 25 to 30°C, night temperature not lower than 18°C.
Soil requirements
Cucumbers should be grown on a well drained loam to sandy loam soil with high organic matter with no frost pockets or problems with surface drainage. Wind protection, natural or artificial, is necessary during cultivation.
Optimum pH
Cucumbers do well under slight soil acidity. The optimum soil pH ranges from 5.5 to 7.0.
Culture and Management Practices
In typical commercial operations, cucumbers are grown in polyethylene-mulched beds with drip irrigation. Under this Cucumber cultivation technique, water and nutrient inputs are closely monitored and adjusted with drip irrigation.
The plastic mulch in your Cucumber field helps control weeds, maximizes effects of water and fertilizer, and reduces incidence of fruit rots. Cucumber should be procured from windbreak because susceptible to damage from wind.
Field preparation
Cucumber field requires plowing or subsoiling to break a hard pan. The field should then be disked and / or tilled to break up soil clods. Soils with poor drainage benefit from the 4 incorporation of manure or other organic matter materials into the soil.
If a soil amendment in your field such as lime is needed, broadcast it before plowing and incorporate at a depth of 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30cm) 8 to 12 weeks prior to planting. This allows the lime to react with the soil in your Cucumber field to correct pH assuming sufficient moisture is available in the soil.
If a nematicide is used in your field, you should apply at least 2 weeks prior to planting in light soils and 3 weeks prior to planting in heavy soils. Cover crops should be turned over 2 to 4 weeks (earlier for the ones that decompose faster) prior to planting cucumbers to allow for litter decomposition.
Propagation
Cucumbers are both direct seeded and transplanted. Proper soil temperatures for Cucumber seed germination range from 55 to 95°F (13 to 35°C). Thinning should be conducted in two operations for direct-seeded crops.
The first thinning should occur at the two-leaf stage leaving 4 to 5 plants per hill.The final thinning should take place about a month after seeding, leaving two plants per hill.
Cucumbers should be transplanted when adverse growing conditions are expected during the initial growing stages, when expensive seed is used, or for special operations such as hydroponic cultures. About 1 to 21b seeds is required per acre for direct-seeded cucumbers (there are about 1100 seeds per ounce).
Germination and transplanting
The optimum germination temperature for cucumber seed is 25°C to 28°C. Daytime temperatures should be maintained in your Cucumber field and should be between 23°C to 25°C and night temperature not lower than 18°C. Seedling should be kept moist, but not water soaked.
Planting spacing
The light availability, production system and trellising method will affect the exact spacing required in your Cucumber field. Generally, under good light conditions, 2.2 to 2.5 plants per square meter is sufficient. This ensures good air circulation and adequate light for fruit production. A well-ventilated tunnel in your field have lower disease pressure and also have easier access for spraying of pest and diseases.
In your fields rows should be spaced at 4 to 6 feet apart to allow space for spraying and harvesting in trellised fields. Plant spacing within the row should be 1 to 5 feet, depending on the number of plants per hill and on vine vigor of the particular cultivar.
Fertilizer recommendations
Fertilizer applications in your Cucumber field should be based on crop nutrient demands and stage of crop growth. Cucumbers respond better to nitrate than ammonium-N fertilizer. This results in greater Ca, Mg, and K levels in the fruit. The recommended fertilizer rates are 1500 to 2000 Ib/acre of 15-15-15 or similar N-P-K fertilizer.
If the soils in your Cucumber field is very low in phosphate, you should apply 1500 lb/acre of treble super phosphate (47 percent P) or 1500 lb/acre of monoammonium phosphate (11-52-0).
Trellising and Pruning
To obtain optimum cucumber yields in your field, a proper balance is needed between the vegetative growth and fruit load. This balance is achieved by constant pruning of shoots, foliage, fruit and flowers. If the canopy of leaves in your Cucumber field is too dense, it will shade fruits from sunlight, causing them to be pale or unevenly coloured.
If your Cucumber fruits in your field, are not pruned and too many are allowed to form at any one time, a large proportion may be aborted, malformed or poorly coloured because the plant may not have sufficient reserves.
Therefore, generally only one fruit should be allowed to develop in a leaf axil, although vigorous cultivars can sometimes mature more than one fruit at a node. Cucumbers are trellised on a string or wire system.
Various trellising methods are used by different Cucumber growers. The main aim should be to capture sunlight uniformly throughout the greenhouse.
Weeds Control
You can apply herbicides to eliminate weeds in your Cucumber field. Alternatively, you can also remove it through hoeing. Cucumbers should be planted to land where the annual weed seed population has been reduced by cultural procedures such as crop rotation, summer fallowing or stale seedbed.
Harvesting
Cucumbers are harvested as immature fruit when full length has been reached. They are hand harvested, normally 3 times per week, depending on the weather and growth stage of the Cucumber plant.