Cucumber "Laheeb" F1, 5 seeds, Baltic Agro

• Species: Cucumis sativus — greenhouse cucumber
• Variety: "Laheeb" F1 — hybrid
• Producer: Baltic Agro
• Packet: 5 seeds
• Fruit: 16–18 cm, smooth, dark green, ~80 g, no bitterness
• To harvest: 35–50 days after planting out
• Where to grow: greenhouse
• Sowing: April–May into pots, 2 cm deep
• Germination: at 25 °C in warm, open compost
• Planting out: May–June
• Spacing: 35–45 cm between plants, 130 cm between rows
• Night temperature: not below 12–15 °C
• Resistance: moderate to powdery mildew
• Uses: fresh, salting, fermenting

Sowing and planting. Sow into individual pots 2 cm deep and hold 25 °C until germination. Cucumber roots hate disturbance: plant out with the rootball once nights are reliably above 12 °C.

Training. Tie to a string and rub out the first 4–5 leaf axils so the plant puts its strength into the main stem. After that leave one fruit and one leaf per axil and stop side shoots at two leaves.

Watering. Tepid water only (20–25 °C), at the root, never over the leaves. Daily in heat. Drought followed by a flood gives bent and split fruit.

Air and humidity. Open the greenhouse by day: still, damp air is powdery mildew's best friend. Close it at night — a cold night halts growth more than any disease.

Feeding. A weak feed every 10–14 days. Fresh manure is out: it burns roots and builds nitrate.

Picking. Daily or every other day, in the morning, at 16–18 cm. One overgrown fruit stops the whole plant setting more.