In 2007, breeders from the Netherlands created a hybrid cucumber variety, Alex. Thanks to its merits, it quickly gained the favor of gardeners throughout Europe, where it is grown both in greenhouse conditions and outdoors. Why Alex cucumbers are so attractive, how to grow a rich crop using this variety - read on.

Characterization and description of the variety

Variety Alex F1 has the following characteristics:

• refers to parthenocarpic, therefore, dispenses with pollinating insects;
• type of flowering - female;
• germination - 40–45 days after planting;
• universality: cucumbers are consumed both fresh and pickled;
• the fruits are rarely prone to overgrowth;
• be transported: while 94% of the fruits retain their presentation.

External description of fruits and bush

Bushes of the Alex variety are medium in size (up to 1.5 m tall), for them an uncharacteristically dense weaving. The main shoot, covered with small leaves, is not limited in growth.

Did you know? For the first time, cucumbers were grown as an agricultural crop in India more than 4 thousand years ago.

Usually, 1-3 cucumbers are formed in deciduous sinuses, which are:

• covered with finely tuberous peel of saturated green color with rare short yellow stripes;
• have light spikes with dense pubescence;
• grow to 9–11 cm;
• weigh from 70 to 90 g;
• have a dense core without voids with small seeds;
• have a sweet taste without bitterness.

Productivity

Harvest varieties Alex directly depends on the quality of care for crops and shrubs. Subject to all the necessary recommendations from 1 m² receive up to 5 kg of products.

The timing of flowering and fruit ripening

Flowering on cucumber bushes appears 50–55 days after planting seeds. Fruits ripen on average in 75–80 days. Under suitable conditions, the bushes bear fruit until October, stopping only with the first frost.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

• Experienced gardeners, comparing the Alex variety with other varieties of cucumbers, note the following advantages:
• early ripening;
• high productivity;
• great taste;
• persistent immunity to common diseases of cucumbers;
• excellent keeping quality;
• universality of application;
• friendly ripening of fruits.

Did you know? In ancient times, doctors used cucumbers to treat various diseases. Hippocrates even noted their healing properties.

Sowing and growing technology

Alex seeds are grown both through seed planting and seedlings. The first method is easier to work, but the second allows you to harvest 1.5–2 weeks earlier.If the seed was bought in specialized stores, then there is no need to soak it before planting, since it undergoes special treatment from pests.

In the open ground

The time for planting seeds in open ground depends on the climatic conditions of the region, because planting is carried out only after making sure that there will be no frosts. As a prevention of pests, it is recommended to pre-prepare the land on the beds.

A week before planting, it is worth pouring boiling water over the soil well, and then cover it with a film until the day of planting. They lower the seeds to a depth of 2 cm in a well-heated soil, while adhering to the scheme: no more than 3 plants per 1 m². If there is a threat of cooling, then at night you need to cover the crops with a warm cloth.

In the greenhouse

The process of growing cucumber seedlings is as follows:

1. First, seeds are germinated on a piece of cotton fabric until the first roots appear.
2. Then they are planted to a depth of 1.5–2 cm in containers with organic mixtures.
3. Before emergence of seedlings, crops should be watered once every 5 days with heated water.
4. As soon as the sprouts hatch, the soil is additionally fed with complex fertilizers.

You can continue growing cucumbers in greenhouse conditions. But it is worth considering that, unlike cucumber beds on open ground, Alex bushes in greenhouses need to be formed in a trellis way.

Important! If you plan a transplant to fresh air, then it is carried out as soon as the seedlings grow to 10–15 cm

Care Features

Another plus of the variety Alex is called unpretentiousness in care. However, here there are some peculiarities that must be observed.

Watering and fertilizing

Cucumbers are 95% structured fluid, so timely watering is very important for them.

Spend it according to the following rules:

• irrigation is done only with warm water (it can be heated during the day in the sun or specially heated);
• the best time to moisten the bushes is morning or evening;
• for better productivity, watering should be done every 2 days, but in moderate amounts (moisten the soil every day with drought);
• irrigation methods suitable for cucumbers: sprinkling and irrigation on furrows - in open ground, in the greenhouse - under the root.

Important! Although cucumbers are moisture-loving plants, water under the bushes should not be allowed to accumulate: this is fraught with rotting of the roots.

He likes the Alex variety and regular feeding, which is carried out every week. First, use organic matter (compost) and nitrogen fertilizers, contributing to the collection of green mass by bushes.

When flowering begins, mineral dressings are used:

• superphosphate;
• potassium salt;
• ammonium nitrate;
• urea, etc.

Garter and bush formation

Given that Alex belongs to medium-sized varieties, when growing cucumbers in the fresh air there is no strict recommendation on the formation and garter of bushes, so many gardeners grow them using the horizontal method. In this case, pinching is carried out on the lateral shoots above the 2-3rd leaf.

Did you know? Christopher Columbus, during sea expeditions, always added fresh and pickled cucumbers to his sailors ’diet as a preventative measure of scurvy.

In the greenhouse, cultivation is carried out using trellis:

1. To do this, they are installed even before planting seeds along the planned rows. The height of the supports is 1.5–2 m.
2. When sprouts appear, twine is knitted over each bush, the lower end of which is looped between the 2nd and 3rd sheet (approximately at a height of 10-15 cm from the ground). Forming a grip, you must leave a tolerance, since a too tightly tightened loop will hamper the access of beneficial substances to the plant.
3. Since the variety Alex belongs to hybrids, it is necessary to pinch the stem, as soon as about ten full-fledged sheets appear on it.
4. Then remove side shoots and inflorescences in the first 3 leaf sinuses.
5. The remaining shoots pinch over the 3rd sheet.

Soil care

Fresh air and light are vital for cucumbers, so a rich harvest is impossible without:

• loosening the soil - it is desirable to carry out after each watering;
• weeding - this procedure is carried out as weeds appear (and even better - once a week for preventive purposes) so that they do not block the light of cucumbers and do not deprive them of nutrients;
• mulching - many gardeners miss this stage, although covering the topsoil under the bush has a positive effect on plant productivity, mulching is especially useful to strengthen seedlings immediately after transplantation (grass, sawdust, compost, agrofibre are suitable materials for this).

Pest and Disease Control

Variety Alex has high resistance to various diseases. However, if there are affected specimens nearby, then cucumber bushes can become infected.

The threat in the form of harmful insects is:

1. Whitefly At the first signs of its appearance, it is worth washing the leaves with soap and water. If the pest does not disappear, the cucumber bushes are treated with garlic infusion (pour 100 ml of chopped garlic in 500 ml of boiling water, let it brew for 5 days, then add 5 ml of the concentrate obtained in 1 liter of water and spray the infected specimens with a solution). If you wish, you can use chemical agents (Confidor, Actellik, etc.).
2. Spider mite. In the fight against this pest, quality prevention is important (alternating crops on the site, digging the soil before sowing, eliminating weeds). If the problem could not be prevented, only insecticides (Iskra, Fitoferm, etc.) will help to eliminate it.
3. Thrips. These small insects do not tolerate the smell of garlic, so garlic infusion will be effective against them. If there are few pests, traps in the form of adhesive tapes will help to neutralize them. In difficult cases, it is better to resort to the help of chemicals (Intavir, Karbofos, etc.).

Special attention is required to the spread of pathogenic microflora:

1. Powdery Mildew In the fight against this disease, experienced gardeners use a manganese solution (1.5 g of potassium permanganate, diluted in 10 liters of water), some prefer to spray diseased bushes with kefir diluted in water (1: 1). Of the chemicals, it’s worth using the “Topaz” or “Skor” weapons.
2. Peronosporosis. If signs of downy mildew on plants are found, you should first stop watering and feeding cucumbers. Then you can use Bordeaux liquid (100 g of copper sulphate and freshly slaked lime diluted in 10 liters of warm water) for spraying or use purchased drugs (Ordan, Ridomil, etc.).
3. White rot. In order to prevent the spread of the disease, first of all, the affected areas are cut, and the sections are treated with crushed charcoal.
4. Copper (Anthracnose). Spraying a plant from it will help with spraying with a 1% Bordeaux mixture or 0.5% solution of copper sulfate, after which ulcerous areas are sprinkled with charcoal or lime.

Harvesting and storage

A feature of the cucumber as a culture is the fact that these vegetables are harvested unripe, because in ripe form they are suitable only for seeds. Each gardener decides for himself when the crop on the cucumber beds is ready for harvest.

For maximum yield, it is recommended to pick vegetables every 2 days. It is better to do this early in the morning or late in the evening, when the cucumbers are the most resilient, cutting them off with a knife. The harvested crop must first be hidden from the sun, covering it with something (just not a film) or folded in a cool place.

Did you know? Cucumbers spread around the world from the subtropical regions of India, where they still grow in the wild at the foot of the Himalayas.

These vegetables are not kept fresh for long: on the second day after harvesting their taste will become worse if you leave the cucumbers at room temperature. They can be stored in the cellar or refrigerator for up to 1–1.5 weeks, however, you must make sure that the packaging is not airtight, otherwise the greens will suffocate. Cucumber grade Alex will appeal to both beginners and experienced gardeners.It is unpretentious to growing conditions, has a good fruit taste and high yield. This is a high-quality hybrid with stable immunity to most pests and diseases that are inherent in cucumber varieties. However, all its positive properties will manifest itself only if preventive measures are taken to ensure that it has healthy conditions for development and fruiting.

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