Gherkin cucumber "Rodniciok Natur H", 0.5 g, AGRONOM

• Species: Cucumis sativus — cucumber, gherkin type
• Variety: "Rodniciok Natur H" — hybrid
• Producer: AGRONOM, Agrofirma Sėklos (Lithuania)
• Packet: 0.5 g (~18–25 seeds)
• Earliness: mid-early, picking 48–52 days after planting out
• Fruit: 8–12 cm, bright green, warted, black spines
• Where to grow: open ground and greenhouse
• Sowing for transplants: April–May at 25 °C
• Direct sowing: early June, soil at +15 °C
• Planting out: 35–40 cm apart, 70–90 cm between rows
• Pollination: insect-pollinated — keep the greenhouse open by day
• Uses: fresh, salting, fermenting

Sowing. Cucumber roots hate disturbance, so sow straight into individual pots (8–10 cm) and plant out with the rootball. Hold 25 °C for germination — seed rots in cold soil. For direct sowing outdoors wait until the soil is +15 °C; anything sown earlier simply stalls.

Place and soil. A sunny, sheltered spot and warm, humus-rich soil. Compost in autumn, a balanced feed before planting in spring. Cold heavy clay is the worst case: the roots get no air.

Watering. Tepid water only (20–25 °C) and at the root, never over the leaves. Cold water straight from the tap makes the fruit bitter and opens the door to disease. Water daily in heat, every other day in cool spells. Drought followed by a flood is what produces bent and split fruit.

Feeding. A weak feed every 10–14 days. Do not use fresh manure: it burns the roots and builds up nitrate. Wood ash (a cup per 10 l of water) supplies potassium and keeps the fruit crisp.

Training. In a greenhouse tie to netting or string and rub out the first 4–5 leaf axils so the plant puts its strength into the main stem. Outdoors it can run on the ground, but a straw or fleece mulch keeps the fruit clean.

Picking. Pick daily or every other day, in the morning. One forgotten oversized fruit stops the whole plant setting more — one is enough. For gherkins pick at 6–9 cm, for salting at 9–12 cm.

Watch out for. Powdery mildew (ventilate, keep water off the leaves), red spider mite in hot dry spells (raise humidity, mist with water) and aphids. The hybrid is moderately mildew-resistant, but a crowded, damp greenhouse defeats it too.