Hybrid cucumbers "Paratunka" with excellent germination and rich harvest

It's hard to imagine a salad without cucumbers, especially in the summer. Almost all of us use them in one form or another, pickle them, preserve them, treat them to family and friends, and grow them for sale. Even in ancient times, Christopher Columbus added cucumbers to the diet of sailors to protect them from scurvy, and the famous Egyptian queen Cleopatra said that she owed her beauty to them.

The cucumber is popular not only in cooking - it also occupies a leading place in breeding work. With his participation, new varieties and hybrids are constantly being created. The advantage of the latter is that they combine the best qualities taken from the parent varieties. One of these hybrids is Paratunka F1, which has been among the sales leaders for several years. Let's get to know him better.

Description of cucumbers

Hybrid Paratunka F1 was created in 2006 based on the popular Parus variety, supplied by the Russian company Semko-Junior. It has good yield and is not particularly demanding on growing conditions.

Distinctive features

Hybrid suitable for cultivation in summer cottages and for industrial production on farm cucumber plantations.

Paratunka gives a large harvest when grown both on trellises and on the ground. Moreover, the lashes quickly begin to take root on the soil. Vegetable growers have long noticed this distinctive feature and use it to strengthen the root system of the plant, which in cucumbers, especially hybrid ones, is traditionally weak and susceptible to disease.

Composition and properties

Like most of his brothers, Paratunka cucumber consists of 95% water. The fruit has almost no voids and has few seeds.

Nutritional value of the product (per 100 g):

• calorie content - 14 kcal;
• proteins – 0.8 g;
• fat – 0.1 g;
• carbohydrates – 2.5 g;
• organic acids – 0.1 g;
• fiber – 1 g;
• glycemic index – 25.

Besides, the culture is rich in vitamins C and K, groups A and B. The fruit contains minerals such as iron, copper, manganese and many others. Cucumbers also contain iodine, which prevents thyroid diseases.

Regular consumption of fresh cucumbers can help remove small stones and sand from the kidneys and improve intestinal motility. But the vegetable is contraindicated in the diet if the stones in the kidneys and bile ducts are large.

Eating fruits accelerates the removal of fluid from the body, which lowers blood pressure, so hypotensive patients should use cucumbers with caution.

Characteristics of the Paratunka hybrid

The plant is medium tall, medium bushy. With good care, bushes can stretch up to 3 m in length.

The leaves are dense, light green or dark in color, medium in size. The hybrid does not require pollination; it is parthenocarpic, that is, only female flowers grow on the bushes.

Paratunka is an early ripening hybrid. The first fruits are harvested approximately a month after germination. Fruiting continues until the first frost, almost the entire season.

The fruits grow about 9 cm long and up to 3 cm in diameter.. The color of the skin of cucumbers is dark green, the weight of a cucumber is on average 100 g. The fruits have a few tubercles and pronounced spines, have a characteristic cucumber aroma, and the flesh is crisp.The taste of these cucumbers has a sweetish tint.

Productivity with proper care is 15–17 kg per 1 sq. m.

How to grow your own

The Paratunka hybrid is easy to grow even for an inexperienced gardener - using seeds or through seedlings.

Other hybrids for your site:

Early maturing hybrid "Bettina" for greenhouses and open ground

Hybrid "Uhazher" for growing in unfavorable conditions

Hybrid "Emelya": advantages and disadvantages, care features

Planting by seeds and seedlings

Planting and caring for the Paratunka hybrid is not much different from growing other varieties of cucumbers.

In most regions of our country, crop seeds are planted in open ground in the first ten days of May. You can use both germinated and dry planting material. To germinate the seeds, just wrap them in damp gauze. Within a few days, sprouts will appear.

In the beds, the distance between planting holes should be at least 25 cm, between rows - up to 75 cm. Per 1 sq. m usually plant 3-4 plants.

The depth of the holes is 2 cm. Before planting the seeds, you should water the ground with hot water. Usually 2-3 seeds are placed in one hole, sprinkled with earth on top and lightly sprayed with warm, settled water. When shoots appear, one sprout is left, the most viable and strong, while the rest are removed.

Attention! Before seedlings emerge, the beds are covered with film to create a greenhouse effect.

It is better to prepare the bed in the fall, fertilizing the soil with mullein or chicken droppings.

According to the creators of the Paratunka F1 hybrid, it was originally intended only for greenhouses.But later it turned out that the plant grows well in open ground, and the crop ripens faster if planted through seedlings.

To obtain seedlings, seeds are disinfected, soaked and planted in separate plastic or peat cups. The root system of the hybrid is weak, especially the upper roots, so Paratunka does not tolerate picking well.

Peat tablets, leaf humus and garden soil are used as soil.. It is recommended to place drainage or sawdust at the bottom of the pots. Planting in open ground occurs after the formation of the fourth leaf.

Important! It is not recommended to violate planting deadlines. If you plant seedlings earlier, their growth in open ground will slow down for a long time. If you delay the deadlines, the bushes will stretch unnaturally and become unviable.

Properly and timely planted seedlings will begin to grow within a few days.

Growing in stages and care

If cucumber seeds are planted directly into the ground, they, like seedlings, are covered with film or glass until germination, after which they are removed.

As you grow, you should constantly increase the amount of watering.. Be sure to water the plants with warm water, preferably in the evening. On hot days - every day, in cloudy weather - once every 2-3 days.

When does the Paratunka hybrid begin to bear fruit?, the harvest is harvested every other day, without allowing the cucumbers to outgrow.

Attention! Loosen the bushes carefully - the upper part of the root system of Paratunka cucumbers is located near the surface, therefore it is very vulnerable. It is best to immediately mulch the bed or sprinkle it with sawdust.

Throughout the growing season, approximately once every 10 days, feed.To do this, use mullein infusion diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.

Features of cultivation and possible difficulties

Because the the hybrid is an early ripening, its stem grows rapidly, so it is recommended to pinch it. When grown without trellises, the stem is sprinkled with earth in several places. The Paratunka hybrid takes root well in this way, which provides more nutrients to the plant.

Often the plant develops barren flowers. This occurs when there is an excess of nitrogen. The situation is corrected by adding Nitrophoska to the soil.

Diseases and pests

The hybrid is relatively resistant to major cucumber diseases and pests. But with improper care or unfavorable weather conditions, some of them may appear:

• powdery mildew - occurs if the area is poorly ventilated;
• peronosporosis, cladosporiosis, anthracnose – affects bushes during the long rainy season;
• spider mite - may appear during a drought;
• thrips and whiteflies - leaves are affected.

Special insecticidal preparations are used for control. Adherents of organic farming use folk methods: ash, infusions of onion peels and garlic, iodine and potassium permanganate.

To prevent diseases and pests, follow the rules:

• periodically ventilate covering structures;
• provide fresh air access to the garden bed, but protect it from drafts;
• regularly inspect the bushes for possible pathologies;
• periodically change planting sites, observing the rules of crop rotation.

It is advisable to avoid direct sunlight on the bushes. for a long time - this can cause burning and death of leaves.

Harvesting and application

The Paratunka hybrid is harvested before the end of autumn. The fruits are tasty in various salads fresh, and are well suited for pickling and pickling due to the small number of seeds. Good keeping quality allows cucumbers to endure long-term transportation without problems.

Advantages and disadvantages

These cucumbers have many advantages:

• begin to bear fruit early;
• the harvest season ends with the first frost;
• fruiting is continuous;
• tolerate long-term transportation well;
• the plant does not require pollination by insects;
• high resistance to diseases;
• high productivity;
• the fruits never acquire a bitter taste.

The disadvantages of a hybrid include its inability to propagation by grown seeds, which is typical for all hybrids. There are several other factors:

• weak root system;
• the need for frequent watering;
• When forming a bush, the installation of additional supports is required.

Generally Paratunka cucumbers have many more advantages than disadvantages, which is noted by many gardeners.

Reviews

Reviews about the hybrid Paratunka F1 is mostly positive. Cucumber lovers are especially captivated by the long fruiting and lack of bitterness in the fruit.

Valery, Rostov: “For some time now I have increased the area of ​​my summer cottage and, accordingly, the crops. I decided to plant more cucumbers. When the question arose of which variety to choose, I preferred Paratunka among the hybrids. Our family liked these cucumbers due to their long fruiting time and high yield. Fresh fruit salad was prepared almost until late autumn.”.

Galina, Novgorod: “All my life I grew ordinary cucumbers; I was suspicious of hybrids, considering them almost mutants.What kind of cucumber is it if nothing worthwhile can be grown from its seeds? My son and daughter-in-law have been growing the Paratunka hybrid for several seasons. And I became attached to it: the cucumbers are smooth, elastic, never bitter, and ideal for pickling. So now my opinion about hybrids is positive".

Inna, Belgorod: “My husband and I grow cucumbers for sale. The Paratunka hybrid tolerates transportation well and is readily accepted by traders. We practically haven’t encountered any diseases, they taste good too: sweetish, with a crunch.”.

Conclusion

Paratunka belongs to the high-yielding, early-ripening type of hybrids, so it quickly gained popularity. The taste of both fresh and canned fruits will delight any gourmet. Their small size makes it easy to pickle these cucumbers in containers of any size.

Caring for these cucumbers is not difficult - you just need to follow simple rules of agricultural technology. Try to grow the hybrid Paratunka on your plot - it will delight you with long fruiting and a large harvest!