Growing Cucumber

There are two kinds of cucumber: one is for preserving and the other is for serving raw as salad. The one for serving is short and plump with white or black spikes, dark green in color that turns whitish at the ends. If the spikes are white, these turn yellow or white as they mature. If the spikes are black, this turns reddish when mature from end to end and has white spikes.

Manner of Planting

1. Cucumber seeds for planting are taken from matured plants. The more mature, the more seeds will germinate.
2. Cucumber grows in any kind of soil but it likes best loose, sandy soil enriched with compost. it does not like sticky soil.
3. Loose soil makes cucumber germinate and grow fast, but it must be maintained with watering as it dries up quickly especially in Summer.
4. Growth and development of cucumber is good in long summer days.

How to grow Cucumber

Preparation of Land

1. If the area for planting is small, a hoe will be enough for tilling the soil; but if it is wide, plow is necessary.
2. Make hills 6 ft. apart and 8 ft. away from one another. The farther apart , the more productive in fruits the plants will be. if they are close to one another, some fruits will be left unseen during harvest time as these will be obscured by the vine ends.
3. lso, if the plants are far apart, danger of infection and diseases is lessened when the rain comes.
4. Plant 5-6 seeds in every hill and reduce it to 3 plants when they grow. When the seed germinate, culture the soil around each plant, but take care not to hurt the roots of the plant. Similarly in reducing the newly germinating plants, avoid hurting the plants to be retained.
5. Cucumber like moderate watering.
   Apply fertilizer to increase the fruits.
6. Put up trellises to prevent the plants being bushy. It can also be made to crawl on the ground, but the quality of the fruits will not be as good. To have straight and fruits of the same color for salad, trellises are necessary. It can also be made to climb the side of the fence.
7. Avoid pests and diseases through smoking and spraying pesticide.

Harvesting

1. After 55-65 days, cucumber can be harvested if these will be used as salad or preserved.
2. Cut with a knife from the stem so as not to disturb much the vine from where it is gathered.

Source: http://www.elgu2.ncc.gov.ph; Photo: en.wikipedia.org