Hybrid cucumber
 

Land Requirements No Specific requirements. Land should be free from volunteer plants.  
Isolation Requirements

Most of thecucurbits are monoecious in character and a few are dioecious. A number of hermaphrodite and andromonoecious cultivars are also available in some crops. Pollination is largely done by insects. For pure seed production to separate it from fields of other varieties, fields of the same vareity not conforming to vareital purity requirements for certification.

 

 
Cultural Practices
Time of Sowing Northern - Summer - January to February
                  Kharif   - June to July
Southern                 - October to November
  

Preparation of Land For transplanting prepare the field to a fine tilth by ploughing and 3to 4 harrowings followed by leveling.  

Source of Seed Obtain breeder's/foundation seeds from source approved by a seed certification agency.  

Seed Rate 2 to 5 kg per hectare.  

Sowing of Seeds (a) Hills are prepared at proper spacing by adding well-rotted farmyard manure and a number of seeds are sown on each hill.
(b) Furrows are made at row to row spacings (two metres) and seeds are sown on the edge of the furrows 50 to 90 cm apart on both sides, above the water level so that the water is received by capillary movement. Two to three seeds may be sown at each place.		  

Fertilisation Apply 30tonnes of well-rotted farmyard manure at the time of land preparation; and 150 kg of Superphosphate or 125 kg amonium sulphate or C.A.N.and 50 kg sulphate of potash should be prepared and mixed at 500 gm per pit, while preparing the pits for sowing.. Top-dress 100 kg ammonium sulphate or C.A.N. at time of flowering.  

Thinning When the seed is sown on hills,the plants should be thinned so that not more than three plants are left standing on each hill. When sown along the furrow, the plants at each place are thinned to one or two.  

Spacing 1. Autumn, Winter crop 75 x 60cm; 2. Spring, Summer crop 75 x 40 cm.  

Irrigation The number of irrigations depends upon the number of rainy days. The crop ;normally requires irrigation after eight to ten days.  

Interculture The beds should be kept free of weeds, especially in the early stages. Later on, rapidly spreading vines suppress the weeds. It is desirable to stake this crop during the rainy season.  

Insect and Disease Control Adopt recommended IPM methods  

Roguing Remove the offtypes.  

Harvesting and Extration of Seeds

The seed crop is ready for harvest when the fruits have turned pale yellow or golden. The seeds are obtained by cutting individual fruits in half, longitudinally, and scraping them out with knife.
At the time of extraction, the seed will not separate completely from the pulp surrounding it. Its adherence to this material is broken by one of three methods.
(a) Fermentation
(b) Mechanical means
(c) Chemical extraction
Fermentation: In this method, the pulp is poured into wooden barrels where it is allowed to ferment for several days. The fermenting material is occasionally stirred to prevent any discoloration or blackening of seed from mold, which may form on the material floating at the surface.
As the seed separates from the disintegrating pulp, it tends to sink to the bottom of the container. the seeds are then washed and dried in the sun to moisture contents below seven per cent, before storage.
Mechanical means: Seed can be extracted by the use of special machines also. In these machines, the fruits are not only cut and macerated, but also the pulp is squeezed so that the seed is forcibly separated from it. In this operation, considerable water is used for washing towards the end of the operation. The seeds are laterwashed and dried to moisture content below seven per cent.
Chemical extraction: Either an acid or an alkali may be used to speed up the extraction of cucumber seed. 100 cc of hydrochloric acid per 11 to 12 kg of pulp, or 12 parts of 25 per cent technical grade ammonia per 1000 parts of material, is thoroughly stirred into the pulp. After about thirty minutes, water is added while stirring. The pulp, other impurities, and empty seeds will float and mature seeds will sink to the bottom. Later, the seeds are washed anddried to moisture content below seven per cent.

  

Seed Yield The average seed yield is about 110 to 130 kg per hectare.  

Hybrid Seed production Hybrid cucumber seed can be produced by hand-pollination. In the U.S.A, the gynomonoecious lines are being used for hybrid seed production. These lines produce two kinds ofplants, gynoecious (in which all flowers are female) and monoecious (in which male and female flowers occur separately on the same plant). To produce hybrid seed the gynomonoecious line is used as a female parent and planted adjacent to a selected monoecious variety. At about the ten node stage all monoecious and intermediate plants are removed from the gynomonoecious line, leaving the gynoecious plants to bear hybrid seed.