Cucumbers are healthy and can be easy to grow

According to Roger Teeluck of the The Agro Shop in Princes Town, cucumbers can be grown by anyone who has space around the house.

He noted that cucumber is best natural diuretic known, secreting and promoting the flow of urine. It helps in kidney and urinary bladder disease and liver and pancreatic disease. The potassium content of cucumber makes it highly useful for conditions of high and low blood pressure. It contains erepsin, the enzyme that helps to digest protein. The high silicon and sulphur content of the cucumber is said to promote the growth of hair, especially when the juice of the cucumber is added to the juice of carrot, lettuce and spinach.

A mixture of cucumber juice with carrot juice is said to be beneficial for rheumatic conditions resulting from excessive uric acid in the body. Cucumber juice is also valuable for helping diseases of the teeth, gums, especially in cases of pyorrhea. The high mineral content of this vegetable also helps to prevent splitting of nails of the fingers and toes. Cucumber, radish and bitter gourd are beneficial in diabetes.

Cucumber is a member of the cucurbitaceae family which includes melons and squashes and as such like a warm well drained soil. This vegetable can be eaten fresh or they can be pickled. Cucumbers that are eaten fresh are known as slicing varieties and cucumbers that are pickled are known as pickling varieties.

In preparing the soil for planting, one must dig in a fair amount of organic compost into the soil. The soil should be turned over down to about a spade depth. In sowing one can start plants indoors by sowing in bio-degradeable seedling pots that will ensure roots are not damaged when you plant out the seedlings.

Teeluck advises. “ Leave a gap of around 40cm between seedlings. If growing from seed you can group sow three seeds in each hole to increase chances of germination success. Seeds should be planted 2.5cm deep,” he said.

You can harvest the cucumbers when they are a suitable size, this is normally around 50-60 days after planting. The skin should be dark green in colour, do now wait until the cucumbers have turned yellow as this indicates that they are over ripe and their quality of flavour will decline. Twist the cucumbers off the plant or cut the stalk just above the cucumber tip.