Cucumber Balcony miracle F1: description with photos, cultivation

Content

1 Features of the variety
2 Description
3 Agricultural technology
4 Conclusion

Cucumber is a unique crop that is successfully grown not only in open beds, greenhouses, tunnels, but also on window sills and balconies. This unconventional method of cultivation allows you to obtain a harvest of fresh cucumbers in apartment conditions, regardless of the time of year. Breeders have developed a number of special indoor varieties, the root system of which is compact and undemanding to a large amount of soil. Such unique varieties include the “Balcony Miracle F1” cucumber. It is distinguished not only by its adaptability to growing on the window, but also by its high yield and excellent taste of the fruit.

Features of the variety

“Balcony Miracle F1” is a first-generation hybrid obtained by crossing two varietal cucumbers. This hybridity endows cucumbers of this variety with an excellent, sweetish taste, without any bitterness.

The cucumber is parthenocarpic and does not require the help of pollinating insects during the formation of ovaries. The flowering type of cucumbers is predominantly female. The combination of these factors gives the variety excellent yield, which can reach 9 kg/m².

Cucumber is perfectly adapted to partial shade conditions and does not require intense lighting. The plant is weakly climbing, medium-sized.The compact root system allows you to grow the crop in a pot or cache-pot, which is especially convenient for a room, balcony, or loggia. In addition to apartment conditions, cucumber is excellent for cultivation in open and protected beds.

The cucumber variety is easy to care for, unpretentious, resistant to drought and some diseases. This allows you to avoid treating the plant with special chemicals and grow an environmentally friendly crop without much hassle.

Description

The cucumber variety “Balcony Miracle F1” is represented by a vine up to 1.5 meters long. During the growth process, the plant produces abundant side shoots that need to be pinched. Cucumber leaves are bright green and small. A large number of nodes are observed along the trunk and shoots, in each of which 2-3 ovaries are formed.

The cucumber variety is characterized by an average ripening period. Mass fruiting of cucumbers occurs 50 days after sowing the seed. However, you can try the first cucumber harvest approximately 10 days ahead of schedule.

Cucumbers “Balcony Miracle F1” are classified as gherkins. The average length of a cucumber is 7-8 cm, its weight is approximately 60 g. The shape of the cucumber is cylindrical; small tubercles are observed on the surface of the vegetable. Zelentsy have a pronounced aroma and pleasant taste. Their flesh is medium dense and sweetish. Cucumber has a characteristic crunch and freshness. The vegetable is consumed both fresh and canned.

Agricultural technology

For all its “exoticism,” growing “Balcony Miracle F1” cucumbers is not particularly difficult even for a novice gardener.However, cultivating this variety of cucumbers in an apartment requires compliance with certain rules. Also, do not forget that the variety can be grown in the traditional way in garden beds.

The best time for sowing seeds

“Balcony miracle F1” is considered a heat-loving plant that does not tolerate temperatures below +15. ⁰C. Therefore, it is best to plant cucumbers of this variety in open ground at the end of May. The optimal time for planting cucumber seedlings in a greenhouse is the beginning of May. Having chosen a method for growing cucumbers of this variety, you should decide on the time of sowing the seeds for seedlings. To do this, subtract 20-25 days from the expected date of planting the plant in the ground.

Sowing cucumber seeds for cultivation at home can be done year-round. However, if it is necessary to obtain a harvest of fresh cucumbers by a certain date, for example, by the New Year, then the day of sowing the seed should be calculated. So, by sowing seeds from November 5 to 7, you can count on fresh cucumbers for the New Year's table.

Important! When calculating the period for sowing seeds, one should take into account the short duration of winter daylight, which will affect the ripening period of cucumbers, increasing it by about 10 days.

Seed processing and germination

Pre-treatment of cucumber seeds significantly affects the viability and productivity of the plant. Using certain procedures, harmful microorganisms are removed from the surface of the cucumber seed and the growth process is accelerated. Pre-treatment of cucumber seeds consists of the following steps:

warming up the seed. To do this, cucumber seeds can be dried in an oven preheated to 50⁰C or tie a bag of seeds to a hot radiator for several days;
for disinfection, the seeds are soaked for several hours in a weak manganese solution;
germination of seeds in damp cloth at a temperature of +27⁰C, will speed up the growth process of cucumber.

Important! Warming the seeds increases the number of female flowers and, as a result, the yield.

Germinating a seed is not only a plant growth accelerator, but also a sorting step. So, healthy, full cucumber seeds in a moist, warm environment should hatch in 2-3 days. Seeds that do not germinate during this period should be discarded. Germinated seeds can be sown in the ground.

Growing seedlings

Growing cucumber seedlings is used not only for subsequent cultivation in beds, but also for indoor conditions. This is due to the fact that small containers are easier to place in a lighted, warm place, the cucumber needs less watering, and the concentration of nutrients in a small amount of soil is optimal. To sow cucumber seeds for seedlings, you should prepare small containers and soil:

Small containers with a diameter of approximately 8 cm or peat cups should be used as containers. Plastic containers must have drainage holes;
soil for sowing cucumbers can be purchased ready-made or you can make it yourself by mixing peat, sand, humus and fertile soil in equal parts.

Germinated cucumber seeds are planted in the soil to a depth of 1-2 cm. It is necessary to place seedlings before the appearance of cotyledon leaves in conditions with a temperature range of +25-+27⁰C. After germination of cucumbers, seedlings need a lot of light and a temperature of +22⁰WITH.

Cucumber seedlings need daily watering and feeding. Feed cucumbers necessary with a solution prepared in a ratio of 1 teaspoon of urea per 3 liters of warm water.

Planting cucumber seedlings

Perhaps every gardener is familiar with planting cucumber seedlings in the garden. That said, growing in pots is new and can be challenging. So, when planting cucumber seedlings in a pot, you should adhere to the following rules:

container, the cucumber pot should be at least 5-8 liters in volume. Such containers can be cut plastic bottles, ceramic pots, bags;
drainage holes should be made in the container for growing cucumbers, broken brick or expanded clay should be placed at the bottom of the container;
to fill containers, it is recommended to use soil similar in composition to that which was used for sowing cucumber seedlings;
at the time of transplanting the cucumber, it is removed from the previous container as carefully as possible, keeping the lump of earth on the roots. There is no need to remove cucumber seedlings from peat pots; such material disintegrates in the soil.

Important! When planting cucumber seedlings, you can provide fertilizing. To do this, add a spoonful of nitrophoska and the same amount of urea to the new prepared soil.

Plant care, harvesting

The rules for caring for cucumbers of the “Balcony Miracle F1” variety are the same for indoor conditions and open ground. So for the successful cultivation of this variety of cucumbers you need:

Provide a garter. The cucumber has long vines, so the trellis or twine should allow the plant to climb to a height of 1.7 m. To do this, you can fix the twine on the ceiling on the balcony.It is also convenient to use a flowerpot in which the cucumber strands are twisted and do not require a garter at all.
Pinch the cucumber. This will allow the formation of lashes, prevent excessive growth of the cucumber, and speed up the process of fruit formation and ripening.
Feed the cucumber. It is recommended to fertilize once every 2 weeks. To do this, you can use organic matter, wood ash, tea infusion, eggshells or special fertilizers.
Water the plants once every 2 days. When watering cucumbers, you should use warm boiled or melt water.

Attention! Cucumbers of the “Balcony Miracle F1” variety are resistant to powdery mildew, cucumber mosaic and other ailments, so they do not require additional treatment with chemicals during the growing process.

You need to harvest cucumbers of the “balcony miracle F1” variety every day. This will allow the plant to quickly form new ovaries and fully nourish the small cucumbers.

You can learn more about the rules for growing the “Balcony Miracle F1” variety in an apartment, and also hear the opinion of an experienced farmer in the video:

Conclusion

The cucumber variety “Balcony Miracle F1” is a godsend for experimenters and connoisseurs of an environmentally friendly, fresh product grown with their own hands. With its help, you can not only get a good harvest of cucumbers in the off-season, but also decorate and make your balcony, loggia, or window sill original. Such natural beauty, carrying vitamins and fresh taste, is available to everyone, even an inexperienced farmer.