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The presence of a balcony, especially insulated and with panoramic windows, is an important, but not the main prerequisite for creating a tiny corner of wildlife. The main reason is the indomitable desire for garden creativity and creation. When even household chores are ready to make room for him. When the first living sprout, breaking into the light of day, causes a unique delight and tenderness.
Pleasant worries and joys of creativity
The sad time of late autumn, when already “the fields are compressed and the groves are almost bare”, involuntarily brings sad thoughts about the imminent move to winter apartments. All summer residents and gardeners are completing the preparation of plots for winter. They burn old tops and insulate compost heaps. There was nothing to grow. All that was left was cleaning, pruning and sheltering plants for the winter. Summed up the summer season and sent deep into the cellar.
And only true enthusiasts of garden creativity tirelessly prepare planting soil and place orders for seeds of balcony plants. Cucumbers are not the last on this list. A piece of the garden, taken with you to the city on the balcony, does not make any commercial sense. Only the joy of communicating with a beautiful corner of nature and pleasant worries when growing your favorite plants. Let only about cucumbers on the balcony from seeds.
Before moving to a winter apartment, you need to make sure that all bills for the Internet are paid. Otherwise, preparation for the creation of a balcony-garden miracle will be more difficult.
Beginning of the balcony field season
You can endlessly indulge in thoughts about the eternal and only the good, but right now you need to think about everything. Think and take action. And as the famous classic of scientific communism stated, planning and accounting are the basis of any serious business.
To this end, you should take up the culture of production: remove all unnecessary items from the territory of the balcony, wash the glass, take out the garbage, check the suitability of the places for installing trellises for plants.
It is necessary to simultaneously deal with the means of production. First of all, check the means of labor: make sure that the electrical wiring is in good condition, that infrared heaters, lamps or phytolamps, and oil radiators are working. Take into account low-value household items: count the existing pots with a volume of at least 5 liters, if there is a shortage, buy new containers or make it yourself. You should also make sure that there are cups to plant the seeds, as well as check the serviceability of the blinds or the suitability of the curtains.
From the means of production it is necessary: to start and prepare the necessary amount of soil mixture for growing cucumbers on the balcony.
If it is impossible to complete the previous task, you need to buy a ready-made soil composition for cucumbers. The amount of soil is determined at the rate of 3 pots of cucumbers per 1 m2 balcony. The acidity of the soil should be close to pH = 6,6 units.
Pay enough attention to agricultural technology. It is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of the possibilities for maintaining the required climatic values when growing cucumbers.
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To finally resolve the issue with the seeds of current varieties of cucumbers: select the seeds of the desired variety, make sure that the agrotechnical requirements are met when growing cucumbers. After that, order cucumber seeds by the scheduled date and plant them.
Significant assistance will be provided by gadgets such as a programmable outlet, a temperature controller and phytolamps of the required glow. And, of course, seeds with a stress-resistant character.
Good seeds are half the battle
Choosing seeds for growing cucumbers on the balcony is a simple matter, but at the same time difficult. A simple lesson, since the choice of varieties for growing cucumbers on the balcony is large enough. But choosing a variety of cucumbers suitable for specific growing conditions is not entirely simple; it is necessary to decide in advance which one to prefer for growing;
- parthenocarpic cucumbers. When grown, they do not need pollination, they do not form seeds;
- self-pollinated varieties. In this variety, the flowers are bisexual – they are simultaneously endowed with both pistils and stamens, form seeds during pollination, are distinguished by yield during cultivation and disease resistance;
- insect-pollinated varieties. When grown, they need pollination by bees, they require replanting pollinator varieties, they are more compact compared to parthenocarpic and self-pollinated varieties, they are superior in taste to both previous types of cucumbers.
Without the best seeds, there is no good harvest.
Good seeds of modern cucumbers are not a panacea for a bad harvest. But it would be wrong not to say that they are the main component of the overall success in the struggle for it. For balcony cultivation, parthenocarpic and self-pollinating varieties will be most suitable.
Which of them to choose depends on the conditions created for this and the personal preferences of the grower:
Parthenocarpic plants:
number p / p | Characteristics of a variety | Variety name | |||||
Variety Balagan | Variety Banzai | Variety King of the market | Variety Quick start | Variety Baby Mini | Variety Anzor | ||
1 | Type of plant | Determ. | Indeter. | Indeter. | Determ. | Determ. | Determ. |
2 | Maturation | Early | Average | Average | Early | Average | Early |
3 | Fruiting start time | After emergence on the 40th day | on the 50th day after germination | on the 50th day after germination | on the 40th day after germination | on the 51th day after germination | on the 42th day after germination |
4 | Productivity | Up to 16 kg/m2 | Up to 9 kg/m2 | Up to 15 kg/m2 | Up to 12 kg/m2 | Up to 16 kg/m2 | Up to 10 kg/m2 |
5 | Zelenets sizes | Up to 14 cm long and about 100 g in weight | Up to 40 cm long and about 350 g in weight | Up to 15 cm long and about 140 g in weight | Up to 14 cm long and about 130 g in weight | Up to 9 cm long and about 150 g in weight | up to 9 cm long and about 150 g in weight |
6 | ovaries | In nodes form up to 10 pcs. | — | — | up to 30 ovaries at the same time. | In nodes form up to 3 pcs. | In nodes form up to 4 pcs. |
7 | Variety resistance to diseases | Resistant to most | Resistant to mosaic and cladosporiosis | Resistant to rot and cladosporiosis | Resistant to rot and cladosporiosis | Resistant to most | Resistant to most |
8 | Taste characteristics | Cucumbers are dense, crispy with tubercles | They have a pleasant taste and aroma, with tubercles | They have a pleasant taste and aroma, with tubercles | They have a good taste, do not bitter, with tubercles | They have a bright taste, thin skin, not bitter, with tubercles |
|
9 | Application | Universal | Salad | Salad | Salted | Salad | Universal |
10 | Note |
| Shelf life is short | plant as 50 × 40 cm. | Has a short lateral branch | High resistance to stress |
|
self pollinating plants
number p / p | Characteristics of a variety | Variety name | |||
Variety Matilda | Cuckoo variety | Variety Zyatek | Variety Emelya | ||
1 | Type of plant | Determ. | Indeter. | Determ. | Determ. |
2 | Maturation | Average | Early | Average | Early |
3 | Fruiting start time | After emergence on the 50th day | After emergence on the 40th day | on the 48th day after germination | on the 30th day after germination |
4 | Productivity | Up to 16 kg/m2 | Up to 12 kg/m2 | Up to 7 kg/m2 | Up to 15 kg/m2 |
5 | Zelenets sizes | Up to 12 cm long and about 110 g in weight | Up to 40 cm long and about 350 g in weight | Up to 10 cm gherkin type | Up to 15 cm long and about 120 g in weight |
6 | ovaries | In nodes form up to 7 pcs. | — | In nodes form up to 12 pcs. | Up to 7 ovaries at the same time. |
7 | Stability to diseases | To the majority | To the majority | To the majority | To the majority |
8 | Taste characteristics | Cucumbers have a bright taste, smooth, not bitter, with tubercles | Cucumbers have a bright taste, smooth, not bitter, with small tubercles | Cucumbers have a bright taste, smooth, juicy and crispy, with tubercles | Cucumbers have a bright taste, smooth, not bitter, with tubercles |
9 | Application | Universal | Universal | Universal | Universal |
10 | Note | High stress resistance | Most popular variety | Plant as 50 × 40 cm. | Has a short lateral branch |
All listed varieties of cucumbers are distinguished by excellent taste and good disease resistance. All are well-behaved and give good harvests. Which cucumbers to choose for your balcony is a matter of personal taste and the conditions created for growing.