CROP HUSBANDRY-CUCUMBER CULTIVATION PRACTICES IN KERALA

CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus) &
ORIENTAL PICKLING MELON (Cucumis melo var. conomon)


Cucumber and oriental pickling melon are important cucurbits grown in Kerala. Cucumber is mainly used as a salad crop whereas oriental pickling melon is largely used after cooking.

Season

The ideal seasons are January-March and September-December.

Varieties

Mudicode, Arunima and Saubhagya are high yielding varieties of oriental pickling melon. Cucumber varieties such as Pusa Seethal, Poinsette, Poona Khira are exclusively used for salad purpose.

Seed rate: 0.5-0.75 kg/ha

Spacing: 2.0 m x 1.5 m

Preparation of land

Pits of 60 cm diameter and 30-45 cm depth are taken. Well rotten FYM and fertilizers are mixed with topsoil in the pit and four or five seeds are sown in a pit. Remove unhealthy plants after two weeks and retain three plants per pit.

Manuring

Apply FYM @ 20-25 t/ha as basal dose along with half dose of N (35 kg) and full dose of P2O5 (25 kg) and K2O (25 kg/ha). The remaining dose of N (35 kg) can be applied in two equal split doses at the time of vining and at the time of full blooming.
A fertilizer dose of 70:25:25 kg N:P2O5: K2O / ha in several splits is recommended in Onattukara region. The fertilizer dose per pit would be 28:10:10 g N:P2O5:K2O.

Aftercultivation

During the initial stages of growth, irrigate at an interval of 3-4 days. Irrigate in alternate days, during flowering and fruiting.
For trailing cucumber and melon, spread dried twigs on the ground. Conduct weeding and raking of the soil at the time of fertilizer application. Earthing up may be done during rainy season.

Pests

The important pests are epilachna beetle and red pumpkin beetle. They can be controlled by adopting the measures recommended for bitter gourd.

Diseases

The important diseases are downy mildew, powdery mildew and mosaic. The control measures as recommended for bitter gourd can be adopted.
Harvesting can be done only after 10 days (at least) of insecticide / fungicide application. The fruits should be washed thoroughly in water before cooking.