Cucumber Aquarius

Bee-pollinated varieties of cucumbers are becoming less and less in demand every year, which cannot be said about Aquarius. Despite such a requirement in cultivation, the crop is capable of producing bountiful yields.

Aquarius was introduced in 1989 and still easily competes with newer hybrids. The pluses include:

• high productivity;
• early fruiting;
• long periods of harvesting;
• friendly ripening of fruits;
• excellent taste;
• attractive appearance;
• tolerates transportation well;
• the collected seeds can be used for sowing next year.

Despite its significant advantages, the variety also has certain disadvantages:

• bee-pollinated variety;
• reacts negatively to temperature fluctuations.

The plant is of a determinant type, half-stemmed, which determines its limited growth. The maximum length of the main shoot varies from 65 to 100 cm. There are 2–4 first-order scourges.

The branching is medium, the shoots are not very thick, but tough, allowing them to withstand the load and not break. Leaves are pentagonal, medium dissected, green. The leaf plate is rough, slightly corrugated, with rigid veins.

Zelentsy are small, on average 12-14 cm and weighing 108-121 g. Their shape is elongated-oval, with a tuberous surface and a sparse arrangement of tubercles, with white and brown spines. The color of the cucumbers is green. The skin is glossy, thin, but strong.

Possesses pleasant sweet taste without bitterness, characteristic cucumber aroma. When overripe, the fruits do not turn yellow. The flesh of the cucumber is crispy, juicy when cut, without voids, white in color.

Cucumbers are suitable for use both fresh and for canning, pickling, pickling. The skin retains its integrity during heat treatment.

Early ripening variety. From the moment the first shoots appear until the beginning of the harvest, 58 days pass. Harvesting begins in early July and continues until the end of August.

The culture is high-yielding. From 1 sq. m receive from 2.5 to 3 kg of greenery or 222 kg / ha, which is a good result for determinant varieties.

Aquarius can be grown in almost all regions of the country. The variety shows the highest yield indicators in the Central, Volgo-Vyatka, Central Black Earth, North Caucasian and Middle Volga regions.

The manufacturer recommends cultivating the variety by seedling or planting seeds in the ground. The seedling method allows you to harvest 2 weeks earlier.

Seeds are planted for seedlings in late March - early April. Cucumber is a thermophilic culture. Sowing seeds in open ground and planting sprouted seedlings begin in late May - early June, when the threat of frost has completely passed, and the soil warms up to optimal + 12 °.

Before planting, the seeds are soaked, wrapped in a damp cloth, and left in the refrigerator for a day. After that, they are treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. The finished planting material is planted in a greenhouse or in separate peat pots.

You need to plant cucumbers in the sunniest area. When carrying out planting work, it is necessary to adhere to the scheme 30X70 cm in the calculation that for 1 sq. m plant no more than 4-5 plants. Zelentsy begin to germinate at a temperature of + 20 ... + 22 °. You need to take care of good ventilation in the greenhouse, the plant does not tolerate air stagnation.

Sprinkle seedlings every evening with a little warm water. After transferring them to a permanent place, you need to monitor the condition of the soil, which should not be waterlogged and overdried. Watering is carried out regularly in the morning and evening. Avoid getting water on the leaves to avoid scalding.

To achieve greater climbing ability, 3-4 lateral shoots are formed from first-order lashes. This will allow the variety not to waste a lot of energy and direct them to the early formation of fruits. The plant is fed 4 times per season:

• after the appearance of 3-4 leaves, they are fed with nitrogen;
• after 3 weeks, the soil is enriched with phosphorus and potassium;
• after another 14 days, compost or rotted humus is added;
• with the onset of fruiting, Aquarius needs ammonium nitrate.

The maximum yield indicators for the variety when grown on medium loamy air-permeable soils.

It has good immunity to powdery mildew and downy mildew, root rot and cladosporiosis. But, unfortunately, there is practically no resistance to most of the diseases inherent in culture. For preventive purposes, plants are periodically treated with special preparations or wood ash.