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The Ladies' Man F1 cucumber will ripen just 1.5 months after the sprouts appear. The variety from the well-known agricultural company Poisk from the Moscow region was included in the State Register in 2015. The salad cucumber is high-yielding and requires nutritious soil and regular watering.
Detailed description of the variety
A hybrid of medium vigor, the vine reaches 1.5-2 m in length, branches wildly. The root system develops well in nutritious soil and provides the vine and fruits with the substances necessary for growth. The vines are medium leafy. In parthenocarpic cucumbers, the main crop is formed on the central shoot, as opposed to conventional varieties, in which male flowers are concentrated on the leading shoot. With good agricultural technology, the side vines of the Ladies' Man cucumber also produce enough greens. Opening buds of the female flowering type do not require pollination. The variety is suitable for growing in greenhouses, on balconies or window sills, and in gardens without shelter.
Description of fruits
Salad cucumbers of a new variety are of a regular shape, short and thick. The length of marketable fruits is from 8 to 10 cm, width is 3-4 cm, weight is 80-85 g.Small gherkins are proportionally smaller and of the same shape. The fruits are distinctly ribbed, with longitudinal light stripes along the edges, with a rich dark green base and a lighter top. The peel is dark green, pubescent, pimply, with many small tubercles with white blunt spines.
The light green pulp of the variety is juicy, crispy, with a characteristic cucumber aroma and a dense, plastic structure. The seed chamber is small, without voids. Seeds are not formed, so they are not noticeable when eaten. Cucumbers have a pleasant, expected fresh taste, without bitterness. According to reviews, Ladies' Man F1 cucumbers, due to the plasticity of the pulp, do not lose their shape, crunch and density after pickling. Greens are consumed fresh; due to their excellent taste characteristics, the fruits are suitable for pickling, pickling and as a compound raw material for other home-canned food.
Main characteristics of the variety
Cucumbers love light, moisture and warmth. For the Ladies' Man variety, create an appropriate atmosphere in the greenhouse, with a temperature during the day from 23 °C to 29-30 °C, at night not lower than 16-18 °C. The declared quality of fruits without bitterness is ensured by regular watering. Manufacturers are positioning the new variety as growing and bearing fruit equally well in indoor and open ground. Gardeners, on the contrary, are accustomed to thinking that parthenocarpic cucumbers are intended only for greenhouses. But the varieties of the new generation, to which the Ladies' Man cucumber belongs, planted without shelter, show almost identical yields compared to greenhouse ones. Of course, it is necessary to take into account unfavorable weather conditions for the cucumber crop as such.
Productivity
Ladies' man is one of the earliest ripening varieties. Individual first fruits appear on the 38-40th day of whip development. Mass harvest of cucumbers begins from 45-46 days. Each node of an early variety vine generates 4-5 ovaries, which are not all preserved when grown on a windowsill. It is possible for two greens to ripen simultaneously on one node. With proper care, the variety's vines live and bear fruit until autumn.
According to reviews, one hybrid cucumber vine can produce up to 4 kg of fruit over the summer. From 1 sq. m of planting of the Ladies' Man variety, 12-15 kg of fruits are collected per season. The yield of a hybrid depends on:
- compliance with agrotechnical practices for heat and lighting;
- high levels of nutrients in the soil;
- regular watering;
- whip formation.
Resistance to pests and diseases
The Ladies' Man cucumber is not affected by diseases, which have recently significantly reduced the harvest of greens:
- cucumber mosaic;
- olive spot.
Folk remedies or systemic fungicides are used against other pathogens at the initial stage of development. Pests are controlled with solutions of soap, soda, and mustard. Preventatively, you can protect cucumbers from the appearance of insects or mites by following the rules of agricultural technology in the greenhouse and in the garden.
Pros and cons of the variety
The Ladies' Man variety has an impressive list of advantages:
- high productivity;
- early ripeness;
- commercial quality of products;
- excellent taste;
- versatility of purpose;
- does not require pollination;
- vines of medium vigor;
- unpretentiousness to soil and growing environment.
Gardeners do not note any obvious disadvantages of the new variety, except for the specific property: they only buy the seeds.
Growing rules
Ladies' man f1 cucumbers are usually planted through seedlings in order to ensure the earliest possible production. In the south, the variety is sown in holes directly in the garden.
Sowing time
Cucumbers are sown in open ground when the soil temperature at a depth of 3-4 cm warms up to + 14-15 °C. The air at this time reaches + 23-26 °C. If there is a sudden cold snap to + 12 °C, the seeds may die. In the same way, a temperature of + 3 °C is detrimental to sprouts, because irreversible changes will occur in the tissues of a heat-loving crop. Each gardener, guided by the weather of his area, chooses the timing of planting seeds of the valuable early variety of cucumbers, Ladies' Man.
It is better to plant ready-made seedlings grown independently in a greenhouse. Caring for cucumber sprouts is not very difficult, the main thing is to follow the advice regarding heat, moistening the substrate and the amount of light. Cucumbers are grown only in separate pots, because their root system is very sensitive and does not tolerate transplantation. The development period of seedlings is 1 month. Cucumber seeds are sown to a depth of 2 cm in April and May, when there is sufficient sunlight. The container with pots is placed on a bright southern window and turned twice a day so that the sprouts of cucumbers with succulent leaves do not lean to one side.
Selecting a location and preparing beds
The variety is planted in a sunny place, taking into account crop rotation:
- It is better to choose an area where potatoes or legumes grew, but not beans;
- do not place after pumpkin and zucchini;
- Good neighbors of cucumbers will be spicy plants - fennel, celery, basil, dill.
The future site for cucumber varieties that love nutritious soil is prepared in the fall, laying out 5 kg of humus or compost per 1 square meter before plowing. m. In the greenhouse, the soil is spilled with a solution of copper sulfate and fertilizers with a sanitary effect - “Gumi”, “Fitosporin”. In spring, a nutrient mixture is also added to the holes:
- 5 parts each of turf soil, peat, humus;
- 1 part sand;
Place on each bucket of substrate:
- 3 tbsp. l. wood ash;
- 1 tbsp. l. nitrophoska;
- 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate.
How to plant correctly
The optimal time for transferring cucumber seedlings of the early-ripening Ladies' Man variety is the end of May, the beginning of June. Before transplanting, the seedlings are hardened off for a week, taken out of the room. Cucumber plants with 3-4 leaves are transferred to a permanent place, trying not to damage the delicate roots. To do this, water the pots well before replanting. 3 plants of the Ladies' Man variety are placed per meter. Plant according to the 90 x 35 cm pattern.
Aftercare for cucumbers
Cucumbers are watered once a week or 2-3 times more often if it is hot. The soil should not dry out, just be slightly moist. It is optimal to arrange drip irrigation. Weeds must be removed and the ground loosened. The Ladies' Man variety is fed with special fertilizers for cucumbers "Sudarushka", various WMD and others. Use:
- at the beginning of growth, mullein 1:10 or bird droppings 1:15;
- in the flowering phase, wood ash, urea, potassium sulfate, superphosphate;
- At the beginning of fruiting, the variety is supported by foliar feeding with the preparation "MagBor" or wood ash.
Pinch out the shoots and flowers in the axils of the first 5 leaves of the Ladies' Man variety. The next 6 shoots are left, and those that develop further are also pinched. Side shoots allow 30-50 cm in length.
Conclusion
Cucumber Ladies' Man F1 is a new generation parthenocarpic that develops equally well in greenhouses and open ground. Nutritious soil, regular watering, rules for the special formation of the vine are the main factors for growth and high yield.
