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