Growing Vegetable Cucumber or Sambar Cucumber without Soil Using Simplified Hydroponics

Growing Vegetable Cucumber or Sambar Cucumber without Soil Using Simplified Hydroponics by Pritham 'Metal Farmer' D'Souza

Vegetable Cucumber also known as Sambar Cucumber is an all time favorite vegetable crop grown in coastal Karnataka esp Mangalore. It was a challenge to grow SC in hydroponics as the crop requires a lot of care and patience in the field as it is gets easily damaged by excess irrigation, high soil temperatures and attack from fruit boring insect Dacus dorsalis fly.


Seedlings germinated within 2 days

• Sow the seeds in seed trays and later transplant when 3 leaf stage is seen

21 days later, growth affected by red pumpkin beetle attack, immediate control using neem sprays

• In the field, integrated pest management using organic neem sprays and Dimethoate Rogar is used to reduces pest attack of red pumpkin beetle which feed on the young and tender leaves of the plant
• here since i do not use any chemical pesticides, i let the plant take the insect assault for a few days till i applied organic neem spray
  

3 days later, after using Neem Sprays, lush green growth seen and pest attack neutralized.

• Neem spray applied when there is pest incidence proved excellent and the results speak for themselves.
  
• no blanket sprays required. hence no wasting
  

21 days later formation of fruit buds

• tiny fruit buds appear and its best to switch from grow nutrients to bloom nutrients
  

15 days later size of fruit increased considerably

• the young and growing fruit buds need to be protected from extreme heat which was bouncing off the hard concrete flooring. hence i had placed old gunny bags on the ground and the vines were growing over it. so no direct contact with the hot floor
  

to prevent attack of fruit boring Dacus dorsalis, i used a plastic bowl as cover

• this was not a good idea as the growing fruit needs light and breeze. but fortunately for me, the idea of covering the growing fruit with whatever i could find (here a plastic tray) worked.
• The next time, i will use a net cover
  

the protected fruit without any attack

• not a scratch on the fruit
  

Fruit ready for harvest after it changes color from green to orange

• depending on individual tastes, generally fruits are harvested when they change their color from dark green to light green or brown and in some cases orange.
• for long distance transporting green fruits are harvested.
  

another fruit protected

• if you look closely, the fruit has an abnormal twisted appearance.
  
• its probably because the growing fruit didnt rest on the gunny bag which i had kept but was growing on the concrete flooring which gets hot when the temperatures are high. hence the fruit could have gotten disfigured, but its still tasty
  

Ripe Vegetable Cucumber excellent to extract seeds

• The orange color indicates the fruit is over ripe and is excellent for extracting the seeds.
  

All pics and data by Pritham 'Metal Farmer' D'Souza

Vegetable Cucumber farming

Vegatable Cucumber belongs to the family of cucumbers (Cucumis sps) is widely cultivated & used in curry's in south india coastal belt, esp Mangalore.

Land selection & preparation
well drained loamy soils is best suited for sowing. It is necessary the soils must be fertile & supplemented with rich organic manure. it prefers pH of 5.5 to 6.5. However it cannot tolerate salt concentration.
clear weeds, unwanted plant material on the site of sowing the seeds. stones must be removed as germination is affected. in the monsoons , raised beds are made & seeds sown on them as shown in the above photo. the raised seed beds help prevent excess water from damaging the seeds. for quick germination, light, temperature & moisture play important role. when field condition is optimum, germination can be seen within a week after sowing. (see photo below )

above photo shows germination , 4 days after sowing


third week after germination

It is very important to constantly remove all weeds as it affects the main crop adversely. weeds act as a host to variety of insects which damage the tender leaves of the young plant.

Manuring & Fertilizer

responds well to NPK application. at 5th week, top dressing , earthing up & inter culture operations like weeding, should be performed. foliar sprays show better absorption of nutrients than soil application.

above 2 photos show crop stage after 5th week of sowing seeds.

well rotted farm yard manure should be applied to the base of the raised beds & top dressing is done. care must be taken to see that the farm yard manure is well rotted. if its fresh, it contains toxic ammonia gas, which gets released slowly, and it will damage the plant, even causing death.

Irrigation

since the vines grew long, it requires adequate water in the summer. here instead of raised beds, long rows are made, & the seeds sowed in them. light irrigation is recommended when the seedlings are still young and tender. too much moisture can cause fungal infections. at all times , crust formation should be checked & avoided.

during monsoon, irrigation is not necessary, but adequate height of the raised seed beds will ensure that water does not stagnate near the roots or it will kill the plant. proper channeling between the rows must be done to ensure flow of excess water away from the roots of the plant.


above photo shows crop stage after top dressing with farm yard manure 6 weeks from date of sowing. flower formation starts. plant hormones like NAA can be sprayed @1 ml per litre. this will increase the number of female flowers.


harvesting and post harvesting

green coloured vegetable cucumbers with white stripes turn yellow & this is a common harvest index. the fruits must be plucked at an interval of 2 days. seed formation takes place usually nearly a month after pollination. & the cucumbers selected for seeds must be tied using thread or strips of cloth, for identification purpose & must be harvested at much later stages.


above photo shows the vegetable cucumber in a semi ripe condition.


above photo shows the change in strip color to yellow, which means its ready for harvesting. the keeping quality of the fruit depends on the use of fertilizer inputs. in farms which practice organic methods, it is known to have a shelf life of more than 3 months.

semi ripe fruits are sometimes harvested, when the stripes are still green, & these fruits are used in salads & also in preparation of sweets.

Photos and content by Pritham 'Heavy metal farmer' denzil dsouza