Based on many years of experience in growing cucumbers, gardeners choose the best ones that suit them in all respects. Many of them like the Ira cucumber. Let's find out what's special about it below.
Characteristics of the variety
This is an early ripening bee-pollinated hybrid. It is grown both in greenhouses and outdoors. The bush is vigorous. If the top of the head is not pinched, it will grow up to 2.5 meters. The side lashes also need to stop growing. Usually this procedure is carried out after 4–5 sheets. When grown in a greenhouse, insects must be provided with access for pollination. Cucumbers are tied in the side sinuses, 2–3 pieces each.The hybrid produces its first harvest 40–45 days after seed germination. On one square of plantings, up to 10 kilograms of crops ripen.
Description of the fruit: small in size, growing up to 8–10 centimeters in length, the weight of one cucumber is 90–110 grams. The surface of the fruit is strewn with small tubercles with white spines. The shape is cylindrical. The color is green with bright stripes that do not reach the middle of the cucumber. The fruits are crispy, the flesh is juicy, and when cut, the seeds are small and barely noticeable. The taste is sweet, without bitterness, and has a rich cucumber aroma.
The fruits are intended to be eaten fresh; they are also used in pickled salads and rolled whole. The hybrid is resistant to olive spot, anthracnose and bacteriosis.
Positive qualities of a hybrid
Gardeners note the following positive characteristics when growing:
- Early fruit ripening.
- Excellent bright taste of fruits.
- High yield.
- Versatility in use.
- Keeping quality.
- Disease resistance.
Growing conditions and methods
To get a good harvest of cucumbers Ira f1, they need to be raised. It is important to choose the right land for cultivation. It should be fertile, not sour, light. At the end of the season, the soil is prepared in advance - compost is added and dug up. In spring, this soil does not need to be fertilized. All you have to do is dig again and prepare the beds. To prevent bacteria from developing in the soil, it is spilled with hot water and potassium permanganate, then covered with plastic wrap for a week. After these activities, the soil is ready for planting.
If you decide to plant Irina cucumbers in a greenhouse, then planting should be done in mid-May.The main condition is that there are no night frosts and the air temperature does not fall below 15 degrees. Otherwise the landings will be lost. Cucumbers are usually planted in rows with a distance of 50 centimeters between them. The width between planted plants is from 20 to 40 centimeters. Depends on the area of the bed and growing conditions.
Seeds are planted to a depth of 1.5–2 centimeters. You can’t plant them any deeper, they simply won’t germinate. After planting the seeds, the bed can be covered with film for better germination, but before that it is watered with warm water at room temperature. When cucumber sprouts appear, remove the film and continue to grow. It must be remembered that this is a tall variety, so the lashes are let along a trellis or tied to a crossbar. Whoever likes it more. Also indoors you need to provide access for insects to pollinate flowers. Otherwise there will be no harvest.
Plant care
Ira cucumbers have characteristics that require attention; during growth they are watered, weeded, helped to cope with diseases and fertilized:
- Ira is a demanding hybrid, so manipulations will have to be carried out daily.
- Watering. In hot weather, plants are watered once a day; if the weather is variable, then several times a week.
- Weeding. Weeds are constantly removed from the beds for better growth of cucumbers.
- Loosening. After watering, the soil under the cucumbers is loosened so that the fungus does not multiply in it and the roots breathe.
- Garter. This procedure is carried out so that the lashes grow vertically. This makes it more convenient to water, loosen and harvest. At vertical growing of cucumber greens the plant receives more sunlight.
- Fertilizers. As a rule, cucumbers are fed with mineral and organic fertilizers.If there is a lack of nutrients, complex preparations are used.
- Inspection of plants. To identify disease, rot or other ailment, cucumbers are closely monitored. If a disease is detected, the bushes must be treated with chemicals and diseased shoots must be removed.
Review of reviews about Ira
This hybrid develops and bears fruit in all regions of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Therefore, it has already received numerous reviews.
Polina writes: “I experimented a lot with varieties in search of one suitable for my site. Finally, I found Ira, this hybrid gives excellent results in the greenhouse and in the open garden. Not sick. The fruits are neat and beautiful, the taste is excellent, they are not bitter. Sweet and crunchy. This quality remains even after marinating. The variety adapts instantly to my conditions of cold nights and warm days. One year there were frosts, the temperature dropped to -1 degree, the plants were sitting in a greenhouse without heating. And nothing - not a single bush was missing.”
