Pear-shaped cucumbers: feature or disadvantage

Why are pickles often empty inside?

09/30/2019 It's no secret that crispy and mouth-watering pickled or pickled cucumbers are considered the best appetizer and, as usual, make up an integral part of any festive feast. Today, the vastness of the Internet is dazzling with the abundance of recipes for preparing all kinds of pickles, but usually hostesses keep the most beloved and proven recipes in the old fashioned way in notebooks overwritten from frequent use.

But it so happens that even experienced housewives do not ask pickled cucumbers, and those caught from the jar look wrinkled, soft, and besides, they are also completely empty inside.

Let's try to figure out the reasons for this trouble.

Usually, the voids inside the fruit are due to two reasons:

Miscalculations that were made in the process of growing cucumbers

Mistakes made during salting or pickling

Mistakes when growing plants

It goes without saying that in order to get tasty and crunchy pickles without voids inside, the initial quality of the fruit plays an important role. If in the process of growing plants mistakes were made and agrotechnical methods were violated, then there can be no talk of any further pickling of cucumbers.

As a rule, the voids inside the fruit are the result of the destruction of the plant placenta at the location of the seed buds. Hollow cucumbers appear when there is insufficient moisture and high ambient temperatures, and can also occur as a result of infection of plants with viral diseases.

As you know, cucumbers are 90% water, therefore, starting from the moment of the ovary and until full ripening, they need a lot of moisture. In very hot weather, the outer skin protects the fruit from drying out, but unwanted voids may appear inside.

Therefore, it is extremely important for cucumbers to organize timely watering. This is especially true of modern high-yielding varieties and hybrids, which consume a large amount of water and heat during the period of active fruiting.

The best way to water a cucumber bed is drip irrigation, in which moisture gets directly into the root zone of the plants. Usually, with drip irrigation, water is supplied in small portions using special droppers - dispensers.

Rules for watering a cucumber garden

Watering plants should be done only in the morning or evening.

When watering, it is necessary to ensure that drops of moisture do not remain on the plants during a hot sunny day, otherwise the cucumbers may get burned

It is not recommended to use a powerful water jet for watering the garden bed, as it can damage the root system of plants

Do not water the cucumbers with cold water

In the fruiting phase of plants, the volume of water consumption should be increased two to three times

After watering, it is imperative to loosen the soil

Important! When planting plants, it is advisable to mulch the plantation for cucumbers. As mulch, you can use such natural materials as: straw, humus, peat, needles, tops of legumes, wood chips, and so on.

Recently, special agrofibre (agrofibre) has been widely used for mulching. This material has excellent warmth keeping properties and does not allow sunlight to pass through.

The mulch device will help get rid of weeds, retain moisture and provide plants with a favorable microclimate.

In this case, initially care should be taken that the soil on the cucumber bed was initially light and loose (sandy loam or loamy) and had a neutral pH acidity.

Fertilization errors

Cucumbers prefer fertile soil rich in nutrients. Therefore, it is very important that the soil contains a sufficient number of macro and microelements. The salts of potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, calcium, manganese, magnesium, iron, molybdenum, copper, boron, zinc are considered the most significant for the growth and development of plants.

Violation of the salt balance can lead to the same consequences as insufficient watering, that is, to the formation of unwanted voids in the fruits.

Hollow cucumbers can also appear as a result of an overabundance of one of the basic nutrients. Most often this occurs with an excess of nitrogen in the form of ammonium salts. This substance contains large quantities of fresh manure, urea and urea, therefore, these types of fertilizers should be used with extreme caution on a cucumber garden. When exposed to excessive nitrogen, plants quickly form a powerful root system and gain green mass, having an impressive appearance, but the fruits on them can be sluggish, shriveled and hollow on the inside.

For this reason, the main stake in the cultivation of cucumbers should be made on organic and nitrogen fertilizers, which are applied to the soil immediately before planting. All subsequent additional feeding must be done primarily with phosphorus and potassium.

No less important are the above trace elements, among which a special place is occupied by manganese, magnesium, iron, molybdenum, copper, boron and zinc. They are responsible for the formation of fruits and their quality, directly affecting the taste and shelf life of cucumbers.

Therefore, it is extremely important, especially at the stage of flowering and ovary, to feed the plants with complex mineral fertilizers, preferably in a chelated form.

Cucumber varieties and hybrids that do not form voids inside

Currently, breeders have developed a huge number of high-yielding cucumbers, which are specifically designed for pickling and pickling.

The most popular varieties and hybrids are intended for cultivation in open ground, namely: "Raznosol F1", "Buratino", "Kustovoy", "Rodnichok", "Zozulya F1", "Suzanne", "Sparta F1", " Crunchy "," Nezhinskie "," Angelina F1 "," Athena F1 "," Gambit F1 "," Hector F1 "," Pioneer F1 "," Green Wave F1 "," Petrel F1 "," Brawler F1 "," Dragonfly F1 "," Hit of the season F1 "," Okhotny Ryad F1 "," Maryina Roshcha F1 ".

Errors in the salting process

There are also varieties of cucumbers that are intended exclusively for fresh consumption. These are, as a rule, very early varieties and hybrids, and therefore they simply do not have time to accumulate a sufficient amount of sugars and minerals. Cucumbers, which produce rather large and loose fruits, also belong to this group.

An important condition for proper salting is the use of exclusively fresh, or even better, freshly plucked fruits, since cucumbers quickly lose moisture, and, accordingly, their presentation and taste value.

So, it is important that the cucumbers for conservation are fresh (it is desirable that the time from the moment of harvesting to the beginning of the pickling process does not exceed a day). However, they should be kept in a cool and well-ventilated area.

In any case, the less time it takes to store the fruits, the more tasty, dense and crisp they will turn out, and therefore it makes sense for the hostesses to launch even a small amount of cucumbers into work, but immediately from the garden.

Another law of successful conservation is to have time to harvest the crop on time. The older the cucumber, the longer it is exposed to high temperatures. Very large fruits, overripening, begin to draw moisture from their own resources and, as a result, become empty.

Therefore, all overripe, shriveled or damaged fruits should be discarded initially.

Some summer residents often use small cucumbers with dense pulp for making salads, inside which there are small underdeveloped seeds, and larger fruits are used for making pickles. This is fundamentally wrong. You should do exactly the opposite.

The fact is that the taste and appearance of cucumbers mainly depends on the content of sugars and fiber in them, and there is one general pattern: the smaller the fruit, the sweeter it is and the less fiber it contains. It is the amount of sugar during salting that determines the final taste of the finished product.

The salting process takes place under the influence of lactic acid bacteria and yeast. For microorganisms, sugar is a nutrient medium through which they produce lactic acid.

If the fruits contain less than 2% sugar, the salting process is disrupted and the cucumbers turn out to be shriveled and hollow inside. At the same time, smaller fruits lose the minimum amount of their mass during salting.

Strict adherence to the recipe also plays an important role in the fermentation of cucumbers.

The pickling process for cucumbers is quite complicated. During this time, mutual metabolic processes occur between the fruits and the brine (as a result of the action of microorganisms and alcohol-forming yeast, cucumbers accumulate a certain amount of salt, and the brine accumulates sugar and other nutrients in the fruits).

An important factor in proper salting is its duration. If the fermentation process takes place too quickly, microorganisms will begin to emit an excessive amount of gases, due to which unwanted voids can also form in the cucumbers. In this case, intense gas formation can also occur with a lack of table salt in the brine.

Usually, with proper pickling of cucumbers, a jar (barrel) contains 3 to 5% salt, 0.6 to 1.4% lactic acid and up to 47% brine.

As for salting in barrels, it must be done in a cool room (cellar or basement) and take from one to two months.

Some housewives deliberately pierce the cucumbers with a sharp object right before salting, mistakenly assuming that after this procedure they will not swell and form voids inside.

As you can imagine, this procedure gives absolutely nothing.

Some interesting facts about cucumbers

· According to historians, the first attempts to pickle cucumbers began more than 4000 years ago, as soon as this plant was cultivated. For the first time, salting was successful for the inhabitants of Mesopotamia and India, who came up with the idea of ​​using vinegar for preserving fruits.

· There is a legend according to which the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, in order to provide his soldiers with natural vitamins during the campaigns, decided to include fresh cucumbers in their diet. But since this product is perishable, the great commander promised that to those who find a way to ensure long-term preservation of plants a prize of a quarter of a million dollars (!). Alas, none of the pundits was able to solve this difficult problem.

· Light bitterness in cucumbers is a feature of all plants of the pumpkin family. It acts as a protection for the fruit from being eaten by livestock before the fruit has time to ripen.The still unripe fruits contain more of this substance, but when ripe, the need for protection loses its relevance and the bitterness gradually disappears.

· Cucumbers are native to the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, where this plant grows in the wild by itself.

· Breeders from the United Arab Emirates have developed a cucumber variety with square fruits.

· One kilogram of cucumbers contains only 150 calories, which makes this product extremely attractive for those who follow their figure.

· Pimples on young cucumbers serve to remove excess moisture from the fruit.

· The first cucumber greenhouses in history were built in ancient Rome during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, who wished to use this product every day throughout the year.

Content

• 1 Title
• 2 Botanical description
• 3 History
• 4 Chemical composition
• 5 Dietary properties
• 6 Use in medicine and cosmetics
• 7 Agricultural technology 7.1 Outdoor cultivation
• 7.2 Growing in greenhouses
• 7.3 Growing in greenhouses

History

The cucumber appeared in culture more than 6 thousand years ago. The homeland of this species is the tropical and subtropical regions of India, the foothills of the Himalayas, where it still grows in natural conditions. Mentioned in the Bible as the vegetable of Egypt (Num. 11: 5).

This culture was already known to the Greeks, from whom it passed to the Romans, and in the era of Charlemagne it was already spread throughout Central Europe.

The first mention of cucumbers in the Moscow state was made by the German ambassador S. Herberstein in 1528 in his notes on a trip to Muscovy.

Nowadays, the cucumber culture is widespread and has many varieties and varieties. The fruits of wild cucumbers are small, and some are inedible due to the content of bitter substances - cucurbitacins.

Diet properties

Cucumbers are rich in complex organic substances that play an important role in metabolism. These substances stimulate appetite, promote the absorption of other foods and improve digestion. Fresh cucumber increases the acidity of gastric juice, so it is contraindicated for those suffering from gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, as well as people with high acidity of the stomach.

Potassium in cucumbers improves heart and kidney function. In addition, cucumbers, like other vegetables, are high in fiber. Fiber is not absorbed by the human body, but it regulates the intestines and removes excess cholesterol from the body, an excess of which contributes to the development of atherosclerosis, liver, kidney and other organs diseases.

Other information

• From a botanical point of view, the fruit of a cucumber is a pumpkin (which is very close to a berry), that is, it is a fruit K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified) [source not specified 1545 days
  ], but from a culinary point of view, a cucumber is a vegetable.
• In Iran, cucumber is considered a fruit and is served on the table along with sweets. K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified) [source not specified 1545 days
  ]
• A monument to a cucumber was unveiled in the city of Shklov in 2007. [significance?
  ]
• In the city of Lukhovitsy (Moscow region), a monument to the "Cucumber-breadwinner" was erected. [significance?
  ]
• A monument to the Nezhin cucumber was erected in the city of Nizhyn.significance?
  ]
• The cucumber festival has been held in the village of Istobensk for many years.significance?
  ]
• July 27 is celebrated as the International Day of the Cucumber, it was on this day that the Cucumber Festival was organized for the first time in Suzdal.significance?
  ]

Botanical description

The stem is creeping, rough, ends with antennae, with which it can catch on to the support, while stretching out by 1–2 m.

Leaves are cordate, five-lobed.

The fruit is multi-seeded, juicy, emerald green, pimpled.The structure of the fruit is characteristic of the pumpkin family and is defined in botanical literature as pumpkin. It can have various shapes and sizes (depending on the variety). In culinary terms, cucumbers are traditionally referred to as vegetable crops.

The genome of the cucumber seed has 350 million DNA base pairs. Five of the seven chromosomes of cucumbers arose from ten chromosomes of common ancestors with melon [3].

Pests and diseases

In addition to dampness (in greenhouses) and frost, some insects harm young cucumbers: greenhouse thrips (Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis

Bouch.), Sucking the sap of the leaves; spider mites genus
Tetranychus
causing dry leaves; field slugs; caterpillars of the scoop-gamma (
Autographa gamma
), etc., damaging leaves and fruits with seeds. Powdery mildew appears on adult plants, in the form of small black-brown nodules (sprinkling with sulfur is needed); also brown dry spots and small black dots, sitting in spots in different ways depending on the type of fungus,
Gloeosporium orbiculare
and
Phoma decorticans
.

conclusions

Long-fruited cucumbers (name, variety may be called) are a godsend for farmers who want to get a high yield. Like other varieties, this species has a number of disadvantages that must be taken into account when choosing. Also, do not plant them for those who plan to pickle cucumbers. Long varieties are only suitable for fresh consumption. Growing is not much different from the process familiar to gardeners, but it has some nuances that will improve yield indicators.

Read about how to properly water cucumbers to increase the yield in this article.

Watering

This is a very important event, on which the root system of the cucumber is highly dependent. The photos show us a strong plant with a huge powerful root, but in fact it is fragile and vulnerable. In particular, watering with cold water can cause irreparable damage to the cucumber. In extreme heat, the plant stops growing, the stem thickens, the leaves wither, the ovaries fall off, and the lower part of the stem overheats. The ingress of cold water leads to the appearance of microcracks. By themselves, they will not do much harm, but this opens the way for disease-causing bacteria. As a result, vessels are damaged and clogged, along which water and salts move from roots to leaves. To prevent this, cucumbers are poured with warm water. To do this, you need to put a barrel in the garden and fill it. This method works especially well in a greenhouse. During the day, the water heats up slowly, provides gentle watering in the evening, and keeps the greenhouse warm at night.

Use in medicine and cosmetics

There are references to the medicinal properties of cucumbers in Russian herbal medicine books, as well as in the old 17th century medicine house "Cool Helicopter". Folk healers recommended drinking a decoction of cucumbers instead of water, and the pulp of fresh cucumbers was used as an effective diuretic, choleretic and laxative. An infusion and decoction of autumn leaves (tops) in folk medicine was recommended to be taken for bleeding of various origins. Outwardly, they are used for burns, as well as as a cosmetic for acne, rashes and some skin diseases. Fresh cucumbers are a part of cosmetic face masks that whiten the skin and make it more elastic. Cosmetologists recommend wiping oily skin with alcoholic cucumber tincture.

Pickled and pickled cucumbers have no medicinal properties. They are not recommended for people suffering from diseases of the kidneys, liver, cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, hypertension, atherosclerosis, as well as during pregnancy.