HORDI Crop – Cucumber

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Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

Cucumber is a popular vegetable as a cooking type or salad type

Released Varieties

Climatic requirements/ Areas suitable for cultivation

Suitable to cultivate in wet zone in year round and dry zone in Maha season. Can be cultivated up to above 1000 m sea level. Optimum temperature is 30 O C.

Soil

Can be cultivated I with different soil types having better drainage and organic matter. Suitable pH is 5.5-7.5.

Seed requirement

1 kg/ha

Nursery Management

 No nursery needed direct planting is practiced

Land preparation

After cleaning to remove weeds, hills can be prepared as 30m x30m x 30m in size.

Planting

Direct seeding

Spacing

1m x 1m as a spacing for mono culture. Sometime this crop can be cultivated as mix crop.

Fertilizer

Time of application

Urea kg/ha

TSP kg/ha

MOP  kg/ha

Basal

75

200

60

After 4 weeks

75

60

After 5 weeks

75

60

Water supply

Apply sufficient amount of water, without lodging

Weed Control

Need to remove weeds at initial stage, better to use mulch to control weeds.

Harvesting

Yield

15-20 t/ha OP varieties

25-30 t/ha Hybrid varieties

Pest Management

This description will be available soon…
Till then, please access the Sinhala language page on insect control through below link.

Disease Management

  • Fungal diseases
Causal organism: Podosphaera xanthii Symptoms:
  • First appears as pale yellow spots on older leaves
  • These spots enlarge as the white, fluffy mycelium grows over leaves surfaces
  • Severely attacked leaves become brown and shrivelled and defoliation may occur
Management:
  • Use recommended fungicides at initial stage of disease development (Refer: Pesticide recommendation DOA, 2019)
  • Distraction of infected plant debris after harvest

 Causal organism: Pseudoperonospora cubensis 

Symptoms:

  • Angular yellow spots that are limited by the leaf veins on the upper surface of the leaves.
  • Leaves become chlorotic and finally necrotic and host plant cells die

Management:

  • Use recommended fungicides at initial stage of disease development (Refer: Pesticide recommendation DOA, 2019)
  • Distraction of infected plant debris after harvest

Causal organisms:  Sclerotium spp., Fusarium spp.

Symptoms:

  • Initially the plants show temporary wilting symptoms
  • The leaves yellowing, loose turgidity and show drooping
  • Eventually, the plant dies.
  • Vascular bundles in the collar region become yellow or brown.

Management:

  • Destroy infected plants with soil
  • Improved drainage
  • Use recommended fungicides at initial stage of disease development (Refer: Pesticide recommendation DOA, 2019)

Causal organisms: Didymella bryoniae

Symptoms:

  • Lesions on leaves and fruit usually begin as spreading water-soaked areas
  • The former these may have a chlorotic halo, become light brown and irregular in outline
  • Dark cracked sunken lesions on fruit
  • Plant collapse where sunken, girdling cankers
  • Spots on stems often elongate into streaks and gummy exudates may occur from cracks
  • Dark brown to black fruiting bodies (pycnidia) can be seen on fruit, stem, or leaf

Management:

  • Crop debris should be ploughed deeply immediately after harvest to reduce fungus survival
  • Use recommended fungicides at initial stage of disease development (Refer: Pesticide recommendation DOA, 2019)
  • Bacterial diseases
Causal organism: Ralstonia solanacearum Symptoms:
  • Sudden drooping of leaves
  • Whole plant finally wilts
  • Leaves become brown, dry
  • Vascular discoloration (Brown)
  • Permanent wilting
Spreading of pathogen by;
  • Infected soil,  water, plant debris, Nematodes and insects ,pruning, Weeds as host plants
Disease Diagnosis: slimy viscous Bacterial ooze comes out from cut end of affected parts when immersing in clear water. Management:
  • Destroy infected plants with soil
  • Crop rotation with non- susceptible crops (okra , maize)
  • Mixed cropping with cruciferae crops
  • Avoid movement of equipment from infected fields to non- infected fields
  • Viral diseases
Transmitted by white fly (Bemicia tabaci) Symptoms:
  • upward curling, shortening, and distortion of leaves
  • Plant stunted and fruits deformed.
Transmitted by aphids Symptoms:
  • Mosaic and mottling of leaves
  • leaf distortion
  • Malformation of fruits and reduction in fruit size
  • In severe infections, oily patches on the fruit surface

Transmission: Seed borne, through sap

Symptoms:

  • Green mottle, leaf deformation
  • Green spot on fruits, turn bright yellow and decaying fruit
  • fruit malformation.

Symptoms:

  • Stunting, yellowing, necrosis (occasionally), mosaic, leaf deformations (blisters, shoe stringing)
  • Fruit discolorations and deformations
  • Pytoplasma Disease
Disease symptoms
  • Smaller, thickened and yellowish green leaves
  • Shortened internodes and stunting of  plants
  • Witch’s broom symptom
  • Greening of flowers
Disease Transmission
  • Through leaf hoppers
  • Through infected seeds
Disease control
  • Remove infected plants
  • Control vectors (leaf hoppers) using a recommended insecticide