In 2000, Dutch Ajax cucumbers were added to the register of plants of the Russian Federation for cultivation in garden plots, farms and household plots.
Main characteristics of the variety
This is an early bee-pollinated hybrid. It is grown in open areas due to its pollination by bees; bees have difficult access to greenhouses. Often varieties are grown for sale due to long-term storage.
The plant has a powerful branched stem with medium-tuberous dark green leaves. Indeterminate with most flowers female. A stepson with one to three fruitful flowers grows from the axil.The plant is large, so they need to be grown vertically on a trellis. It is necessary to gradually shape the plant by removing excess stepsons.
Description of the cucumber: dark green on one side and bright light green with short yellow stripes on the other. The average size of a mature fruit is from 9 to 12 centimeters and weighs up to 100 grams. The green vegetable has a white edge, which disappears when the vegetable is washed. Ripe cucumbers have hard skin. The variety is high-yielding, up to 5 kilograms of crop are harvested from one bush.
The taste of the fresh fruit is mediocre, not bright, but without bitterness. Most often used for preparations for the winter.
The early harvest is formed smoothly; harvesting begins in June and continues until September. Resistant to temperature increases as well as minor fluctuations. Therefore, the variety has positive reviews from agronomists and gardeners.
Positive qualities of cucumbers
This type of cucumber has many advantages, including:
- yield 5 kilograms per bush;
- storage duration,
- resistance to infections and fungi,
- resistance to temperature changes,
- the fruit is universal in use,
- excellent transport features,
- ease of care.
Flaws
The variety also has its disadvantages, but they are much less than its advantages.
- Mediocre taste when fresh.
- Impossibility of growing in closed areas.
- Cucumbers have hard skin.
Features of cultivation
The soil for planting is prepared, as when growing other varieties. Humus and manure are added, dug up, and a bed is formed with a rake. Untreated seeds are soaked for two hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. You can tell whether the seeds have been processed or not by their color.Typically, seeds treated with chemicals are red or yellow in color.
Cultivation is carried out at an air temperature of 18 degrees, while the night temperature must be more than 10 degrees, otherwise the seeds will not germinate. Many people germinate seeds before sowing, this will increase the likelihood of germination.
The landing pattern is as follows:
- stripes are drawn on the garden bed with a rake at a distance of 30 centimeters from each other,
- the stripes are spilled with warm water,
- cucumber seeds are planted at a distance of 20 centimeters, 1-2 seeds per hole,
- sprinkled with earth a centimeter,
- again spilled with water.
The characteristic of a cucumber is such that as the plant grows, the stems will begin to weave; to prevent confusion in the garden bed, you need to attach a trellis, onto which the vines then cling with tendrils and creep upward. To do this, take two cuttings about 2 meters high and drive them into the ground on both sides of the bed - in the middle. A trellis is attached to them or clotheslines are pulled in the form of a net. You cannot use metal wire for this purpose - heating the plant in the sun will cause the plant to burn.
Vines of the Ajax cucumber variety cling to the structure with tendrils. With this method of growing, the Ajax f1 cucumber is convenient to process, care for and harvest.
During the season, gardeners feed plants 2-3 times with mineral and organic fertilizers.
Although the variety is resistant to most diseases, you should be wary of powdery mildew. The fungus will overtake the plant by surprise. You need to make sure that the leaves and fruits of the cucumber do not lie on the ground, the fungus will move from there to the crop and infect it. You need to water the cucumbers at the root, avoiding drops of water getting on the leaves and fruits.
Cucumber care
Ajax cucumber varieties are demanding when it comes to watering; you need to carefully monitor the soil moisture and not allow it to dry out, otherwise the harvest will be poor. Loosening and weeding the soil is also an important element of caring for any plant. When there is a lot of weed grass in the beds, it absorbs all the microelements and moisture - the cucumbers do not receive anything. They stop growing, bearing fruit and eventually dry out.
The bush should be constantly formed; if neglected, growth will go into the green mass of the plant, not giving the desired harvest. To do this, the first three stepsons on the plant are broken off, then the stepsoning occurs according to the scheme 1 through 2 or 1 through 3.
Harvesting is carried out constantly; overgrown fruits will be hard and not tasty, and will retard the growth of new vegetables. Since the variety is early ripening, the collection of the first fruits will begin in mid-June and, depending on the weather conditions of the region, will continue until September.
With proper care, one bush produces 5 kilograms of fresh, tasty vegetables, which are subsequently used to prepare delicious fresh vegetable dishes, roll them into jars, pickle them, prepare pickled salads and much more.
