Gherkin cucumber "Ela F1" seeds, Agronom 1 g

• Type: short-fruited hybrid cucumber (gherkin)
• Botanical name: Cucumis sativus "Ela F1"
• Maturity: mid-early, picking about 50 days after sowing
• Pollination: see packet
• Fruit: 9–12 cm, heavily warted, black spines
• Resistance: powdery mildew, leaf spot
• Sowing: indoors late April–May; outdoors early June (soil +13–14 °C)
• Germination: 5–7 days at 22–25 °C
• Spacing: outdoors 80 × 20 cm, 1.5–2 cm deep
• Light: full sun, sheltered from wind
• Use: fresh, pickling and preserving
• Size: packet 1 g (about 30–40 seeds)

Planting. Cucumbers love warmth: sow indoors in late April–May, 1.5–2 cm deep, in individual pots (the roots dislike disturbance) and keep at 22–25 °C. Sow or plant out in the open only in early June, when the soil at 10 cm depth has reached at least +13–14 °C and frost risk is over; in a greenhouse from mid-May.

Watering and feeding. Water regularly with warm (about 20 °C) water, preferably in the morning and at the base – cold water and dry soil cause bitter, crooked fruit. Dig in compost before sowing; during flowering and cropping feed every 10–14 days with a potassium-rich vegetable fertiliser.

Care. Keep the soil loose and mulch with straw or grass clippings. In a greenhouse tie the vines to a trellis or string. Pick every 1–2 days so new fruit keeps setting and the plant does not exhaust itself.

Gardener's tip. Outdoors, cover young plants with fleece or film for the first weeks and shelter them from wind – in Estonia's short summer this brings the crop 1–2 weeks earlier. For pickling, pick gherkins at 8–10 cm, when they are crunchiest.