Cucumber Parisian gherkin: characteristics and description of the variety, cultivation with photo

Cucumber "Paris Gherkin" refers to hybrid varieties with a short growing season (within forty days). Since the plant produces predominantly female flowers, growing 'Paris Gherkin' in a greenhouse must allow access to bees. The yield of this variety of cucumbers, given their small size, is very high, subject to agrotechnical standards - within 3.5 kg per 1 m2^{2 of planting area.}

Variety description

In all sources, the description of the variety "Parisian gherkin" emphasizes the high palatability of gherkins, which greatly benefit when preserved as a whole.

When ripe, cucumbers have a neutral taste, do not taste bitter and, according to reviews, do not form hollow cavities in the pulp even when harvested belatedly. Other benefits of the Parisian Gherkin variety include:

• small size cucumbers (up to 10 cm and weighing about 80 g);
• variety resistance to lack of moisture;
• resistance of cucumber varieties to certain diseases, for example, cladosporiosis, mosaic virus;
• excellent "keeping quality" of the harvested cucumber crop, which allows even long-distance transportation of fruits;
• a small amount of seeds inside the gherkins;
• simultaneous germination of cucumbers;
• possibility of artificial pollination of cucumbers, which significantly increases the yield of the variety.

For people who do not have their own land, the lack of a vegetable garden is not an obstacle to agronomic experiments with short cucumbers, because growing gherkins is possible even on the balcony.

As in a greenhouse, the microclimate of the glazed balcony allows picking cucumbers until October, and the description of this technology will hardly differ from the standard one. There are even testimonials citing the main advantage of this sociable growing as very small neat gherkins dotting the stem in abundance.

Agricultural technology for growing gherkins

When buying gherkin seeds, you need to pay attention to the degree of their readiness for immediate germination, that is, the presence or absence of factory seed processing.

Information about this must be on the bag with planting material in the "seed characteristics" section.

Seed planting

Cucumber seeds that have been glazed in special disinfecting compounds and growth activators have the highest germination and fruiting. Such cucumber seeds can be sown directly into the ground, however, the timing of planting seeds will depend on the technical equipment of the garden:

• when there are capital greenhouses, gherkin seeds are introduced into the soil in early May;
• if it is planned to fix cellophane protection over plantings, then the planting dates for cucumbers of this variety are shifted to mid-May;
• lack of any shelter means late sowing of gherkins, in the last days of May.

French cucumbers of this variety are not too sprawling, so three bushes are allowed per 1 m². Seeds of gherkins are planted to a depth of no more than 2 cm, and the location of each seed is marked.

Untreated cucumber seeds are best used for germination at home, after holding them in saline or a pale pink solution of manganese crystals. A characteristic of he althy gherkin seeds will be their sinkability - the floating seeds must be collected from the surface of the water and discarded.

Seedling cultivation

After selecting he althy full-weight seeds of cucumbers, they need to be disinfected within an hour with an infusion of chopped small part of garlic (pulp), at the rate of 30 g of slurry per 0.5 cup of tap water.

Then the seeds are washed well and laid out on a moistened gauze substrate for 48 hours. At the same time, germination of cucumber seeds is not required - they should only swell and be activated for further growth. At the end of the preparation, it is required to harden the planting material a little, for which a saucer with gherkin seeds laid out in one layer is put on the top shelf of the refrigerator for 16-20 hours.

According to the recommendations of those experienced gardeners who planted gherkins repeatedly, the period for planting cucumber seeds for seedlings should be determined in accordance with the geographical latitude of residence. In central Russia, this is approximately in mid-April, and, accordingly, it will be possible to grow cucumber seedlings only in mid-May.

To germinate gherkin seeds, a mixture of old sawdust, humus and peat (1:2:2) is prepared in advance and a container from 8-11 cm high with a drainage hole in the bottom. One prepared cucumber seed is lowered into one container, crushed with soil mixture and watered.

After a month, gherkin seedlings with 2-3 true leaves should rise in each pot, ready to continue developing in the open field. At this stage, a single feeding of the plant with nitrophoska added in the amount of 1 tbsp is required. spoons in a 3-liter jar of heated water.

Proper care of gherkins

It is necessary to form a landing area for beds 24 hours before planting cucumbers of this variety. Watering immediately follows with a solution of copper sulphate (0.5 tablespoons of the substance per bucket of hot water) with a liquid flow rate per 1 m2 - easy loosening.

Holes of the right size can be easily obtained by lightly pressing a shovel handle into the soil - the depth of each hole should be 3-4 cm, with a distance between seedlings of 50-55 cm. If planting is done with seedlings, then it is necessary make sure that the cucumber bushes do not lie on the ground and are not tilted.

Despite the fact that there are reviews of the futility of loosening in the first two weeks after planting the gherkins, the rules of agricultural technology call for the procedure to be performed at least 1 time in 3 days in the first month of seedlings or seeds taking root, and later, to fluff the soil, although once every 7-8 days.You should also carefully consider watering, as their regularity will certainly affect the grown cucumbers. Before the appearance of flowers, the beds are watered once a week and twice as often - during the period of the onset of the ovary. It should be remembered that the Parisian Gherkin cucumber variety does not tolerate dampness - only the soil around the bushes is moistened.

As a feeding base, gherkins tolerate both ready-made mixtures, for example: "Ideal" or "Breadwinner", and homemade humic compounds.

Growing cucumbers "Paris Gherkins" can be a worthy replacement for the usual varieties of corked and lettuce fruits, especially since the procedure for forming a bush does not require special skills and consists only in a single pinching of the top of the plant and timely tying up the cucumber stem. Even a novice gardener will be able to master the process, and the result in the form of a bountiful harvest of cucumbers will pay for all the troubles associated with obtaining the first agricultural experience.

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