Cucumber "Nikifior F1", 4 seeds, Baltic Agro

• Species: Cucumis sativus — greenhouse cucumber
• Variety: "Nikifor" F1 — hybrid, long cropping season
• Producer: Baltic Agro
• Packet: 4 seeds
• Fruit: 20–23 cm, smooth, glossy, lightly ribbed, dark green
• To harvest: 35–50 days after planting out
• Where to grow: greenhouse
• Sowing: April–May into pots, 2 cm deep
• Germination: at 25 °C
• Planting out: May–June, 35–45 cm × 130 cm
• Night temperature: not below 12–15 °C
• Notable: few side shoots, tolerates temperature swings
• Uses: fresh, in salads

Sowing and planting. Individual pot, 2 cm deep, 25 °C until germination. Plant into the greenhouse with the rootball once nights hold above 12 °C.

Training is easy here. "Nikifor" makes few side shoots, so tying the main stem to a string and rubbing out the first 4–5 axils is enough. Take the growing tip over the string and let it hang down.

A long season means long feeding. The plant bears into autumn, but only if it is fed throughout: a weak feed every 10–14 days until the end of August.

Watering. Tepid water at the root, daily in heat. Fruit splits exactly when a dry spell is followed by heavy watering.

Ventilation. Open by day, close at night. This hybrid shrugs off temperature swings, but stagnant damp air brings mildew even to it.

Picking. Pick at 20–23 cm, daily or every other day. An old fruit ages the whole plant — for an autumn crop it pays to pick diligently.