In 2005, our vegetable growers first tried the Dutch Pasalimo f1 cucumber from Syngenta. The hybrid began to gain popularity from the first season, confirming the characteristics of the seed producer:
- parthenocarpic;
- productivity (14.2 kg/m2);
- early ripening (39–41 days);
- for cultivation in open ground and film greenhouses;
- resistant to diseases (powdery mildew, olive spot, common mosaic virus);
- gherkin (8–10 cm);
- cucumbers do not overgrow and do not become bitter;
- delicious fresh and canned;
- suitable for transportation, retain their presentation for a long time.
If you decide to plant Pasalimo without seedlings in open ground, then you need to wait for consistently warm weather, usually until early to mid-May, and cover the seedlings with film for the first time.
This method is suitable for southern regions with long summers. But it still significantly shortens the fruiting period.
Seedling
The early ripening variety Pasalimo is sown for seedlings in late April - early May, depending on the region.
Dutch seed does not need to be soaked, as it is processed during production. Seeds are planted in 0.4–0.5 liter pots with loose humus soil mixture and watered. To speed up germination, place the dishes in boxes and cover with film until the shoots appear.
Water the seedlings often enough, not allowing the soil to dry out.
To prevent soil acidification, the pots should have many wide drainage holes.
Cucumbers came to us from the subtropics; they love warmth and moist, nutritious, loose soil. But to prevent the bushes from stretching too actively, it is better to keep the temperature in the range of 20–22 degrees. Water for irrigation is used at the same temperature.
2 weeks after germination, the cucumbers are first fertilized with complex mineral fertilizer.
A week before planting in the ground, on warm days the seedlings are taken out into the fresh air. This will help the plants adapt to new conditions. At first, the plants are shaded. Pasalimo cucumber bushes are planted in the ground at about a month of age after 3-4 true leaves appear.
The soil
For a cucumber bed, choose a place open to sunlight, preferably protected from the wind. The predecessors should not be vegetables from the pumpkin family. It is better to choose a place on a former bed of tomatoes, eggplants, root vegetables, cabbage, and herbs.
Important! The roots of cucumbers grow about 30 cm deep. This is the depth that loose, organic-rich soil should be.
To do this, garden soil is dug up with the addition of compost, scalded sawdust, peat, and humus. You can apply granular mineral fertilizers.
Before planting the seedlings, the bed is watered generously with hot water. The plants are carefully removed from the pots, without disturbing the earthen coma. According to the description of the Pasalimo f1 cucumber, the planting pattern is 30x60 cm. Usually this is 4-5 bushes per 1 m2.
Advice! If you have any doubts about the weather, it is better to cover the bushes with transparent film at first.
Bush formation
The description of the cucumber variety Pasalimo f1 states that the hybrid bush is interdeterminate. That is, the main vine will grow without stopping throughout the growing season. This must be taken into account when forming plants. The Pasalimo cucumber variety requires gartering to a support. After 5–6 sheets, you can begin attaching the lashes to the trellises.
It is advisable to remove flowers up to the 6th leaf so that the bush has time to take root and grow stronger. It is also better to remove side shoots to 5-6 leaves. And the next 2 side shoots are pinched on 2-3 leaves. Later, as the cucumber bush grows, the lower leaves are also thinned out. This will eliminate thickening in the aboveground part, improve aeration and prevent infection.
Advice! Regular removal of dry leaves and fruit-bearing shoots will stimulate active growth and renewal of the bush.
This will allow you to harvest Pasalimo f1 cucumbers before the onset of cold weather.
Watering and fertilizing
The soil moisture requirements of cucumbers depend on weather conditions.On hot days, especially during active filling of greens, daily watering may be required. In cool weather, it is better to avoid watering Pasalimo cucumbers altogether, since overcooled roots can become infected with fungal diseases.
The yield of the Pasalimo f1 hybrid up to 14 kg/m2 is impossible without the application of complex mineral fertilizers. Feeding cucumbers provides the plants with the necessary substances for normal fruiting. Already 10 days after transplantation, the first fertilizers are applied to the soil and repeated every 14 days.
Harvest
Cucumbers are tied in bunches of 3–6 pieces, regardless of the presence of pollinating insects. Crispy greens begin to plump up 40 days after germination. The fruits do not outgrow and patiently wait to be harvested. But you need to take into account that the more often grown cucumbers are cut off, the faster the next ones ripen.
The fruits of Pasalimo f1 are dark green, densely pubescent, with noticeable tubercles. There are faint short stripes and some spotting of the greens.
The shape and size allow us to consider the Pasalimo variety a gherkin. You can pick greens at the pickle stage for canning. The cucumber pulp is juicy, aromatic and elastic.
One of the important qualities of the Pasalimo f1 hybrid is its good transportability and preservation of its presentation after transportation.
