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For many years, growing cucumbers on the windowsill has become commonplace for those people who do not have a summer house or a personal plot. It should be noted that they can be grown not only on the windowsill, but also on a heated loggia, as an option for cucumbers, a glazed balcony may also be suitable. Many cultivars are designed specifically for home growing, mostly hybrid cucumber varieties that are pollinated without insect interference. The main part is occupied by parthenocarpic hybrids of cucumbers, which have female flowers, which are tied without pollination.
The benefits and conditions of home growing cucumbers
Growing cucumbers on the windowsill in winter is not only exciting, but also beautiful, from an aesthetic point of view. Young cucumbers grown on the windowsill are pleasing to the eye, and besides, they are environmentally friendly. And blooming on your windowsill in winter, they will remind you of a warm summer, and exude a pleasant aroma of summer cottages. In order to grow cucumbers on the windowsill in winter, a number of requirements must be met:
- It is necessary to provide cucumbers with additional illumination, artificial lighting is suitable for this, ideally you can use a fluorescent lamp. In the absence of such, cucumbers can be planted from mid-February, when there is more sunlight.
- The temperature in the room should be between 18 – 22 degrees, the window on the windowsill of which your cucumbers will stand should be facing south or southeast.
- To successfully grow cucumbers, you need to get rid of drafts, so choose the right place to plant.
Many lovers of fresh cucumbers in winter try to adjust the harvest to the New Year in order to surprise guests with fruits grown on their windowsill. If you also want to boast of such successes, you should plant varieties of cucumbers in early November. Naturally, not all varieties of cucumbers are suitable for this. Basically, these will be parthenocarpic varieties, which are recommended not only for growing on window sills, but also for greenhouses. In any case, all the detailed information can be read on the back of the package, most write whether such varieties can be grown on a windowsill or balcony.
Soil for seedlings
In addition to the conditions described above, it will not be superfluous to take care of the soil for your cucumbers grown on the windowsill. The ideal option for fertilizer can be called the use of a soil substrate, in the amount of at least 5 liters per adult cucumber bush. The root system in this case will receive everything necessary for growth.
The soil mixture can be prepared with your own hands, for this they usually use ordinary earth (garden), adding humus, sawdust, sand and ash to it in equal proportions.
The best varieties of winter cucumbers
There are a number of varieties that are designed specifically for growing in winter, these cucumbers are the best in terms of resistance to temperature extremes and increased shading.
Hybrid Hutorok
A variety with fast ripening fruits, after planting the seeds, the first cucumbers will appear after a month.
It is classified as pollinated by bees, but if desired, it can be pollinated by hand, for this you just need to pick the male flowers and run the stamens over the pistils of the female cucumbers. For a more convenient process of pollinating cucumbers, it is recommended to use a brush. The fruits of this variety have high palatability, the greens grow to a medium size of about 10 cm, with black spikes, which characterize the variety as universal, intended for pickling and eating raw.
Cucumber Shchedryk
On the best examples of these plants, up to twenty cucumbers of about 12 cm can be harvested in one picking period.
This hybrid can also be attributed to the early ripening cucumbers grown on the windowsill. The term of maturation does not exceed one and a half months. We can also say that this variety has one of the best fruiting characteristics of those grown on the windowsill. On one ovary, from 5 to 8 greens are formed, with a total small size of the bush.
Hybrid Khrustic
With proper care of the plant, even on the windowsill, the crop can be harvested in 40 – 45 cucumbers per seedling.
These cucumbers have a slightly longer ripening period, it is usually one and a half to two months, this variety is self-pollinating and high-yielding. Usually, from five to seven small greens are formed on one ovary.
Onega F1
An excellent self-pollinating hybrid for growing on a windowsill or balcony. He will delight you with fruits in the first week of the second month after the appearance of the leaves. The greens of this plant are slightly smaller than average in size, and they can be eaten in any way, both salted and fresh.
Hybrid Buyan F1
A small shrub causes an average yield of up to 8 kg of cucumbers, the variety is classified as universal, it is equally good for consumption both fresh and salted.
It has a fairly long ripening period, up to 50 days after planting, the disadvantages include the need for additional lighting in winter. The bred variety, tested by twenty years of good harvests, is used more often for growing in the winter on the windowsill.
Variety Emelya F1
The fruits of this variety are quite large, weighing up to 150 grams, and their ripening period is 40-50 days after planting.
Parthenocarpic hybrid of cucumbers, has high properties of resistance to cold. This gives it an advantage over other varieties that produce crops in winter, and therefore somewhat worse. It should be noted that most often this variety is used for growing in a greenhouse, but they take root perfectly on a balcony or on a spacious and well-lit windowsill. Initially, the variety was bred for fresh consumption, but it can be used for any purpose.
Hybrid Ant F1
On one ovary, from 3 to 7 greens are formed, growing up to 100 gr. And for the entire period of fruiting, you can collect about 4 kg.
It is usually recommended for use in closed or open ground, but practice has shown that it can also be grown on a windowsill. A distinctive characteristic of this variety of cucumbers is a fast ripening period, in winter it is from 38 to 40 days. Convenience adds to its belonging to the parthenocarpic species, which eliminates the process of manual pollination. Another important property for growing on a windowsill is the slight growth of the bush in width.
Babylon F1
Probably the longest ripening variety of cucumbers recommended for growing in winter. The ripening period reaches 70 days, this is subject to good lighting, and the absence of drafts.
The color is predominantly female, with 1 to 3 flowers per node. Zelenets is quite large, reaches a length of 28 cm, and weighs 240 grams. Prone to bundle formation of ovaries, and has a high yield.
Early hybrid Masha F1
This variety begins to bear fruit already after 40 days from the moment of planting, it also has a high resistance to various diseases.
An important nuance will be special care during the formation of the ovary. Of all the varieties grown on the windowsill or balcony, Masha F1 has the largest clustering of brushes, it reaches 7 cucumbers per ovary, this is partly due to the small size of the adult fruit, they do not exceed 10 cm in length. Cucumbers of this variety have a dark skin and high tuberosity, which indicates their belonging to the pickling family.
Variety with the talking name Miracle on the F1 window
The fruit of a cucumber grown on a windowsill reaches a maximum length of 8 cm, like all small cucumbers, they are distinguished by good taste.
The parthenocarpic variety of cucumbers shows high results in terms of yield per bush, in relation to other varieties. The fruiting period begins on average 40 to 45 days after planting.
Conclusion
Here are the best varieties, directly or indirectly, bred for window sill planting, most of them show excellent fruiting results in winter. Others require additional conditions for this, such as the absence of sudden changes in temperature or increased illumination, but in any case, choosing any of these varieties, subject to the necessary requirements, you will receive high results.