Other Name: Khira

Botanical Name: Cucumis sativus

Family: Cucurbitaceae

Chromosome number: 2n=14

Origin: India

Important Points

• The cucumber is the second most widely cultivated cucurbit after watermelon.
• It is thermophilic and susceptible to frost.
• GA₃ and AgNO₃ induce male flowers in gynoecious cultivars
• Open-pollinated varieties of cucumber are monoecious.
• Anthesis is influenced by light intensity and day length.
• The aroma containing the compound in cucumber is Nonadienal.

Area and production

Source: NHB Database 2018

Table: State-wise area and production in 2018

Source: NHB database 2018

Economic importance

• Fruits are good for people suffering from constipation, jaundice, and indigestion.
• It is rich in vitamins B and C as well as minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, iron, and potassium. Fruits contain 0.4% protein, 2.5% CHOs, 1.5mg iron and 2 mg of vitamin C per 100g fresh weight.
• Immature fruits of cucumber and gherkin are used as salad and for pickling.
• The seed oil is also used as an antipyretic.
• Cucumber is characterized by the presence of bitter principle called cucurbitacins, which are tetracyclic triterpenes.

Varieties

1. Introduction:

2. Selection:

Sheetal

3. Hybrids:

• Himangi: Poinsett X Kalyanpur Ageti, Resistant to Bronzing.
• Phule Subhangi: Poinsett X Kalyanpur Ageti, Resistant to Bronzing
• Pusa Sanyog: use of gynoecious female parents.
• Priya
• Solan Hybrid

4. Other varieties

• Swarna Poorna
• Swarna Sheeta
• Sheetal
• AAUC 2
• Poinsett: Resistant to Powdery Mildew, Downy Mildew, Anthracnose, Angular Leaf Spot.
• Suitable for temperate regions: Japanese Long Green, Straight Eight, Pusa Sanyog, K 90.
• Mosaic Resistant varieties: Table Green, Tokyo Green, Winscrimson, Chinese Long.

Climate

It is essentially a warm-season crop but is successfully grown in tropical, subtropical, and temperature regions. This is very susceptible to frost. The optimum temperature is 26.4⁰C. If the temperature goes above 30⁰C, the production is reduced considerably. Seeds of cucumber germinate well if the day temperature is 20- 30⁰C. Excess humidity promotes diseases like Powdery Mildew, Downy Mildew, anthracnose & pests such as fruit flies.

Soil

The cucumber is grown in well-drained sandy loam soil. The soil PH should be 5.5 to 6.7. Lighter soils that warm quickly in spring are usually used for early yields. In heavier soils, vine growth will be greater and fruits mature late. Cucumber is sensitive to acid soils.

Season

• In South and central India where winter is mild cucumber is grown almost throughout the year.
• In the hills, the sowing season starts from April-May.
• In summer it is sown from January to February and for rainy-season crops, it is sown from June to July.

Preparation of land

Land should be thoroughly prepared in order to get fine tilth for seed beds.

Seed Rate

2.5 kg seeds are required for a hectare area.

Sowing

Sowing of cucumber is done by two methods:-

1 Furrow method:

Seeds are directly sown in the soil. In some cases where the early crop is desired, seeds can be sown in Poly ethylene bags (10X15cm) of 100-200 gauges and germinated under cover to protect them from low temperatures. In furrow, the general row distance is kept at 1.5 -2.5 m.

2 Hill method: 

Hills are prepared at 60 to 90 cm. by adding well-rotten organic manure and a number of seeds are sown in each hill.

Manures and Fertilizers:

Fertilizers should be given as per the availability of nutrients in the soil after soil testing.

Table. The recommended quantity of NPK in various parts of India

The full dose of phosphorus and potash & half of the nitrogen should be applied as basal dose and the remaining 50% N should be incorporated into the soil after 30- 40 days of sowing with earthing up.

Irrigation

Frequent irrigation is very important in the spring-summer crops, while in the rainy season, crop irrigation may not be necessary at all if the rainfall is well distributed between July-Sep. Over-irrigation should be avoided, as cucumbers cannot withstand underwater logging conditions.

Weeding

For successful growing of cucumber, early stages of crop growth to be kept from weeds. At the time of top dressing with N fertilizer, weeding and earthing up are done. Herbicide Flochloralin at 1.20 kg /ha (pre-plant), and Flochloralin 0.48 kg + nitrogen at 0.5 kg/ha (pre-emergence) could be applied to control the weeds in cucumber.

Use of Growth regulators

• Application of Ethrel (150-200 ppm) increases the number of flowers, and fruit set and in turn increases the yield.
• GA (1500-2000 ppm) and silver nitrate (200-300 ppm) induce male flowers on gynocecious cucumber.
• Soil drenching of paclobutrazol 75 ppm increases the yield.
• These chemicals/plant growth regulators may be applied at 2 true-leaf stages and repeat the spray at 4 true-leaf stages.

Pruning

Pruning of all the primary branches after 2 nodes gives the highest yield compared to unpruned ones.

Thinning

When the plants are sown in the hills, the plants should be thinned so that not more than three plants are left standing on each hill.

Harvesting

Picking fruits at the right edible maturity stage is dependent upon the varieties. In a salad or slicing cucumber, dark-green skin colour should not turn into brownish yellow, and white spine color will also be a useful indication of edible maturity. The optimum length of the fruit will be around 20-25cm at the edible maturing stage, depending upon the cultivar in the case of slicing cucumber. In small-fruited types, which have pale green skin colour, the length of the fruit should be around 8-12 cm. Here also fruits turning yellow will be over-mature. Once harvesting starts, the fruits are generally picked at 2-4 days intervals, depending on the weather.

Yield

About 8-12t/ha is obtained from open conditions by using monoecious variety. This yield could be doubled by using tropical gynoecious variety. Under green house conditions, about 200 t/ha yield is obtained using tropical gynoecious hybrids.