How to grow cucumbers varieties "Ant F1"?

Cucumbers "Ant F1" is an ultra-early, parthenocarpic (self-pollinated), universal variety of cornish type, which is suitable for both canning and salads.You can grow them in the greenhouse, and on the garden, and even on the balcony or windowsill.

The variety of cucumbers "Ant F1" has the following advantages:

• high yield (up to 10–12 kg / sq. m);
• early maturity;
• self-pollinability, lack of male flowers;
• excellent taste in both fresh and canned form;
• unpretentiousness to adverse weather conditions, cold resistance;
• resistance to most common diseases of this garden crop;
• good keeping quality and preservation of the presentation during transportation.

Among the disadvantages of this variety of cucumbers are the following:

• small fruits;
• short period of fruiting;
• poor resistance to fungal diseases.

The variety "Ant F1" was bred by the domestic agricultural firm "Manul", included in the state register of breeding achievements of the Russian Federation in 2003 and recommended for cultivation in the European part of Russia from the North-West region to the North Caucasus.

The bush is compact, there are few side shoots. The variety is indeterminate, so the growth of the main shoot continues throughout the growing season. The leaves are dark green, slightly wrinkled with slightly wavy edges. Flowers exclusively female, arranged in nodes of 2-7 flowers in a bundle. Fruits are bright green with white stripes.

Gherkins have large tubercles with white spikes. The skin is thin, light green, juicy pulp of medium density, completely devoid of bitterness. The fruits are oval. The length of ripened cucumbers reaches 8–11 cm, diameter - up to 3.5 cm. Fruits of almost the same size and weight (100–110 grams).

In open ground, sowing of seeds is carried out in mid-May, when the soil warms up to +12 degrees, and air reaches + 18– + 20 degrees. Seeds are sown in prefab wells. They are filled with humus or peat-mineral fertilizer. Then they are sprinkled on top of a light fertile soil and watered with warm water. Until the end of the danger of frost necessarily film cover.

Seedlings are sown in seedlings at the end of April. Seeds are germinated at a temperature of +25 degrees. For growing seedlings should use a special nutrient mixture. After the appearance of 4–5 true leaves, seedlings are planted on the beds vertically under the film and watered abundantly. The number of plants on the bed is 3-5 pieces per square meter, and in the greenhouse - 2.5-3 pieces per square meter.

Cucumbers variety "Ant F1" unpretentious and easy to withstand short-term cooling. This variety brings crops in any weather, but for high yields (up to 12 kilograms from one square meter), careful care is required. It consists in watering, weeding, loosening and feeding mineral or organic fertilizers. Watering should be 1-2 times a day with warm water with a temperature of at least +25 degrees, watering with cold water leads to root rot and death of plants. Cucumbers are especially responsive to drip irrigation. You can make holes in a garden hose or use plastic bottles with water or fertilizer solution stuck in the neck into the ground. In the greenhouse it is obligatory to water the morning so that in the afternoon there is optimum humidity of the air.

Regular loosening gives air access to the roots and contributes to obtaining a large crop of high-quality fruits. To reduce the frequency of weeding, it is recommended to mulch the soil with straw, peat or sawdust. This will help keep the soil moist in any weather and contributes to the activity of earthworms.

During the period of plant growth, flowering and ripening of the fruit, 3-4 fertilizers should be applied with complex fertilizer with microelements. Supporters of organic farming can fertilize infusion of nettle, ash, mullein or bird droppings. Toproot feeding is also useful. For this, the plants are sprayed in the evening or early in the morning with a solution of mineral fertilizer or infusion of nettle. You can get a good harvest only with sufficient light, so the plants need to be tied up to the trellis.

Cucumbers "Ant F1" are resistant to most common for many other varieties of diseases, such as brown spot (cladosporia), ordinary virus mosaic and powdery mildew, as well as tolerance to peronosporoz (downy mildew). It is only necessary to avoid infection with fungi, which manifests itself as spots on the leaves or on ripening fruits, blackening of the stem, or drying of the leaves.

Cucumbers variety "Ant F1" begin to bear fruit on the 38–40 day after germination, 7–10 days earlier than other early varieties. Fruit ripening is friendly, small cucumbers are collected in bunches of 2–7 pieces each. In order for the new ovaries to have enough nutrients, ripe green stuff should be collected immediately. The fruiting period is short - about 1–1.5 months.

The variety "Ant F1" should take its rightful place on the beds and in the greenhouses of summer residents and small farmers, as well as on personal homestead farms. His description is very worthy. According to reviews of gardeners, it is distinguished by almost 100% germination of seeds, unpretentious and enduring when it is cold, it is resistant to diseases, in any weather conditions it will please with an abundance of beautiful, juicy and fragrant fruits. The hostesses are glad that they surprise the guests with strong and crunchy pickled gherkins.

In the next video, see an unusual way of sprouting cucumber seeds.