Stella cucumber

All commercial cucumber varieties can be divided into bee-pollinated and self-pollinated (parthenocarpic). The former are usually tastier. However, work is also underway to develop rich and scented parthenocarpic cucumbers. One suitable option is the Stella variety.

Stella is a parthenocarpic hybrid for farming. Bred in the Moscow region, by the Federal Scientific Center for Vegetable Growing. The variety was included in the State Register of Approved in 1984. The variety is little known to ordinary gardeners who prefer gherkins. Stella is a real marketable cucumber with large, mature fruits.

The bush is vigorous, actively growing. The lashes are long and numerous. The leaves are large, green, heart-shaped with geometrically accentuated corners.

Zelentsy are even, smooth, cylindrical, narrow, 21-25 cm long, very large, weighing more than 200 grams. Skin color is bright or dark green with barely noticeable stripes. There is a slight ribbing. The mounds are sparse and small.

The taste is good, the tasting score is 4.3 points. The skin is neither bitter nor coarse, it remains tender even in the largest fruits. The seeds are inconspicuous, the pulp is elastic and tender. A salad variety, very good for fresh consumption: salads, snacks, cocktails. It is convenient to prepare any kind of slicing from it. Due to the size of the cucumber, it is not canned for the winter. But from small cucumbers Stella is successfully made salted cucumbers.

The variety is medium early, ripens in 67 days after at least half of the sown seeds have sprung up.

The yield is excellent - an average of 23 kg per 1 sq. m. According to this indicator, the variety is ahead of the standard varieties. The starting response is good. For the first month of removal, up to 3.8 kg are collected from 1 sq. m. Marketability is very high - 98%. The fruits have an excellent caliber, all are even, uniform, neat in shape.

The variety is recommended for cultivation in the Kirov region and in Udmurtia. It can be grown in any other regions with a continental climate in the winter-spring circulation.

For 1 sq. m are planted in 2 plants. Between the plants they are kept 45 cm, in the aisles - 45-70 cm, at your discretion.

For the winter-spring turnover, which lasts from January to July, only the most hardy varieties of cucumbers are recommended. The Stella variety just meets these requirements. The plant is highly adaptable and flexible in greenhouse conditions. Outdoors, this plant can be demanding and capricious - like any large-fruited cucumber.

Seeds are sown on seedlings in January, supplementary lighting is used up to 6-8 hours a day. At the age of 25-28 days, the seedlings are ready for planting in greenhouses. The finished seedlings have 3-4 true leaves.

In private farms, the variety is sown for seedlings, or under film shelters in early May.

The variety is very fond of abundant watering. Watered only with warm water. Cold provokes disease. Watering in the evening or in the morning, in very hot periods, 2-time watering is permissible.

Top dressing will be helpful. The cucumber is fed 2-3 times a season with organic matter: a solution of mullein, bird droppings. If the cucumber is grown on a warm bed, foliar feeding is best. During the period of flowering and the formation of ovaries, they are sprayed with boric acid, then with an infusion of wood ash, which feeds the plants with potassium.Treatments on the leaf and other microelements are useful: the plant needs calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc. They all affect the quality and taste of the fruit.

In the spring-summer turnover, the level of nitrogenous fertilizers is carefully monitored. The Stella variety has very active whips, it needs 25% less nitrogenous fertilizers than the average varieties. In the winter-spring turnover, the plants branch out less.

The variety needs a cultivated, nutritious, loose soil. In the open ground, warm ridges are equipped. Slowly decomposing components are laid out below: tree branches, remains of stumps, boards, rags, sawdust. They rot in 4 years. In the middle, a layer of waste is laid out that decomposes faster - in 2 years. These are kitchen waste, tops of plants, leaves. A layer of manure is laid on top, which by the next season will turn into humus, suitable for planting other plants. The top layer is ordinary garden soil.

On such a ridge there is a natural bottom heating, the sensitive roots of cucumbers are always in comfortable conditions, regardless of the air temperature.

The variety is resistant to pests, ascochitosis and olive spot. Preventive treatments include spraying with an ash solution, milk whey, a solution of soda or iodine, "Fitosporin". The plants are treated so that the leaves are covered with a solution on both sides.

The variety was created in order to make up for the lack of vitamins in seasons when other vegetables are not yet available. It is little known to the owners of private household plots, but those who grew it were satisfied. The yield of the variety is excellent, the cucumbers are large and at the same time delicate in taste.