Today, few people can imagine any meal without universal starters - cucumbers. This tasty, juicy and healthy vegetable is a favorite of every family. It is used both fresh and pickled form.
Cucumber is one of the oldest cultures that have survived to the present day. The first mention of "crunchy stalk 'dates from the fifth century BC. How nice, taking a cucumber from the jar or cask, tuck his cheeks! :)
In addition, little vegetable is nutritious, but very useful. Consisting of almost 96% of water, cucumber contains a lot of nutrients:
- potassium, for the normal operation of the heart and kidneys;
- magnesium, normalizes the nervous system;
- iron, normalizes hemoglobin;
- sodium, to improve metabolism.
And also, the fruits of cucumber are rich in vitamin A. B6, B12, C, E, K, PP.
Why appear hollow cucumbers
Ideal cucumber should not be hollow, but often gardeners grow vegetables with voids inside. Why do these things happen? Try to understand.
The taste of the "bumps" is not affected, but is reflected in the taste of the brine.
Much depends on the cultivar and the method of pollination. The flowers are pollinated by insects are more prone to the formation of voids.
But the main reason is the too rapid growth of the vines, which give rise to this problem. Growth Intensity explained by too much moisture entering the root system. The plant grows rapidly at night, and at a temperature above 22 degrees fruits are very rapidly evolving, and this causes this effect.
Another reason - is untimely harvesting. The fact that it often happens that an overgrown cucumber begins to draw water resource from its own resources and, as a result, a cavity. Therefore, we must try as frequently as possible to produce the harvest of cucumbers.
Depending on the cultivar, the rate of growth of cucumbers may vary. As a rule, the fruit develops most intensively from the fifth to the fifteenth day after the formation of ovaries. At this time, the fruits swell intensively.
It is important to monitor the growth rate. Control the watering, humidity (if the cultivation takes place in greenhouses). If the grower grows cucumbers in the open ground, then, if possible, irrigation replace loosening. It is not in vain in the old saying: "Two loosening replace one watering".
But, as the weather conditions, we, to the deepest regret that we can not control. So we'll have to be patient, to trust in the weather and luck, as well as on their own hard work, and you will grow an excellent full-bodied, crisp cucumbers with a wonderful flavor.