Cucumber Arctic

The Arctic variety was bred by South Korean specialists, and therefore it has been bred in Russia relatively recently. Gardeners were interested in the novelty with a long fruiting period and good yield.

The Arctic cucumber variety, also known as Arena, has good immunity to the most common pests and diseases: fusarium, tobacco mosaic, spider mites and aphids. It quite successfully adapts to temperature jumps, but does not tolerate overheating or waterlogging of the soil. The parthenocarpic hybrid thrives best under film cover, but can also be grown outdoors.

Arktika cucumber is a well-developed plant with powerful roots. The height of the main stem reaches 2-3 meters. Its shoots are abundantly covered with leaf blades of bright green color and medium size. On the surface of the heart-shaped leaves, sitting on long petioles, there are fluff and waxy bloom, which protects against a number of pests. With the help of a mustache, the plant clings to the support.

All greens of the plant are formed on the main stem, and no more than 3 ovaries can form in short internodes. Since the hybrid is self-pollinating, reproduction is carried out without the attraction of insects. Cylindrical cucumbers reach a length of 10-11 centimeters, and do not exceed 3-3.5 centimeters in diameter. Their dense, light green skin is covered with tubercles with small black thorns.

Juicy and dense flesh of Arctic cucumbers has a pleasant taste, devoid of bitterness. The fruit also has a pronounced cucumber odor. The available small seeds are in the stage of milky ripeness, and therefore are practically not felt during meals. The fruits tolerate transportation without any problems and are characterized by good keeping quality. Vegetables are suitable both for fresh consumption and for preparation.

The fruits of cucumbers ripen already 34-40 days after the emergence of seedlings, so the Arctic belongs to the early ripening hybrids. A big plus is the ability of plants to re-form greens in the lower part. In a heated greenhouse, harvesting is obtained from the first weeks of May. In an ordinary greenhouse, vegetables can ripen from the beginning of July and almost until the autumn frosts.

The yield in the Arctic is about 20 kilograms per square meter.

It is customary to plant seedlings of cucumbers in the Arctic since the second half of May, when the earth warms up to at least +15 degrees. Seeds are sent to the greenhouse from the end of April, and to open ground - not earlier than the second half of June. The culture will develop well only if it is protected from drafts and with good lighting. Cucumbers will be badly affected by the nearby groundwater, as well as lowlands in which precipitation and melt water accumulate. The best way to plant the Arctic is where legumes used to fill the soil with nitrogen, grains, tomatoes and cabbage.

Seeds, regardless of whether they go for seedlings or directly into the ground, are necessarily disinfected in a manganese solution and hardened in a freezer.It is better to grow seedlings in individual pots, on peat tablets or in cassettes, and then transplant them to their permanent habitat. The cucumber beds are formed in such a way that individual specimens can be staggered, maintaining a gap of 60 centimeters between them. As a rule, there are no more than 3-4 plants per 1 square meter.

Arktika cucumbers are very fond of moisture, and therefore they will have to be irrigated regularly, either early in the morning or not too late in the evening. The water must be warmed up so as not to provoke a sharp temperature jump. It is optimal to organize drip irrigation for irrigation, however, other methods are also possible, provided that moisture does not fall on the leaf blades. Until the plants begin to bloom, they will need to be irrigated 1-2 times a week, and then the frequency will increase to 3-4 times every 7 days. During fruiting, the culture needs moisture every day. In hot weather, each adult specimen should receive 7-8 liters of water. So that the liquid does not stagnate on the surface, and the earth does not stick together into a crust, watering should always be accompanied by loosening.

If the land on which the cucumbers are located has already been fertilized, then the first feeding is organized only before the flowering of the plants. During this period, solutions of mullein or bird droppings will be useful for cucumbers. After a couple of weeks, when green plants already appear on the bushes, the plants should be fertilized with a mixture of diluted manure and nitrophoska, or with ash diluted in water. In the future, until the end of the fruiting period, feeding cucumbers will be required every two weeks.

Instances growing both in the greenhouse and in the open field are usually fixed on trellises. The formation of the bush begins after the 7-8th full-fledged leaf appears in the cucumber. After fruit setting in the Arctic, the lower and yellowed leaf blades break off.