Cucumber is easy to grow. Varieties, varying in
size, shape, and color, are cultivated all around the world. In general, the
fruit features dark-green skin, crispy moisture rich flesh, and small edible
seeds concentrated at its core.
Armenian cucumbers (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) are long, crispy, and
thin-ribbed, curved, and have light green color. Although grouped botanically
in the melon family, they appear and taste just like cucumbers.
Miniature varieties such as gherkins, American-dills, and French-cornichons are very small indeed and usually preferred in pickling.
Dosakayi is a yellow Indian
curry cucumber, has sweet taste and neutral flavor. It is used extensively in
the preparation of stews and curries, particularly during the summer season in
southern parts of India and Sri Lanka.
Health Benefits
Most people are
unaware of the immense health benefits of cucumber and would avoid eating
cucumber where possible. Fresh cucumber may taste “bland” to some but its
thirst-quenching and cooling properties are refreshing. It acts as an anti-oxidant
when taken together with fried and barbequed foods.
I like to mix
cucumber juice with carrot or orange juices.
Nutritional Benefits
Cucumber has an
impressive amount of water (about 96%) that is naturally distilled, which makes
it superior to ordinary water. Its skin contains a high percentage of vitamin
A, so should not be peeled off.
The cucumber
contains alkaline-forming minerals and is an excellent source of vitamin C and
A (anti-oxidants), folate, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, silica, sulfur,
and lesser amounts of vitamin B complex, sodium, calcium, and phosphorus.
You have seen
beauty practitioners use slices of cucumber on their eyes. It is found that the
caffeic acid in this vegetable helps to prevent water retention and when
applied topically, helps reduce puffy and swollen eyes.
16 Health Benefits of Cucumber
·
Keeps you hydrated. If you are too busy to drink enough water, munch on the cool
cucumber, which is 96 percent water. It will cheerfully compensate!
·
Fights heat, both inside and out. Eat cucumber, and your body gets relief from heartburn.
Apply cucumber on your skin, and you get relief from sunburn.
·
Flushes out toxins. All that water in cucumber acts as a virtual broom, sweeping
waste products out of your system. With regular use, cucumber is known to
dissolve kidney stones.
·
Lavishes you with vitamins. A B and C, which boost immunity, give you energy, and keep
you radiant. Give it more power by juicing cucumber with carrot and spinach.
·
Supplies skin-friendly minerals: magnesium, potassium,
silicon. That’s
why cucumber-based treatments abound in spas.
·
Aids in weight loss. Enjoy cucumbers in your salads and soups. My favorite snack?
Crunchy cucumber sticks with creamy low-fat yogurt dip.
·
Revives the eyes. Placing chilled slices of cucumber on the eyes is a clichéd
beauty visual, but it really helps reduce under-eye bags and puffiness.
·
Cuts cancer. Cut down your risk of several cancers by including cucumber
in your diet. Several studies show its cancer-fighting potential.
·
Stabilizes blood pressure. Patients of blood pressure, both high and low, often find
that eating cucumber brings relief.
·
Refreshes the mouth. Cucumber juice refreshes and heals diseased gums, leaving
your mouth smelling good.
·
Helps digestion. Chewing cucumber gives the jaws a good workout, and the
fiber in it is great for digestion.
·
Smooths hair and nails. Silica, the wonder mineral in cucumber makes your hair and
nails stronger and shinier.
·
Soothes muscle and joint pain. All those vitamins and minerals in cucumber make it a
powerful enemy of muscle and joint pain.
·
Keeps kidneys in shape. Cucumber lowers uric acid levels in your system, keeping the
kidneys happy.
·
Good for diabetics. Patients of diabetes can enjoy cucumber while also reaping
its health benefits: cucumber contains a hormone needed by the cells of the
pancreas for producing insulin.
·
Reduces cholesterol. A compound called sterols in cucumber helps reduce bad
cholesterol.
See the table below for in depth analysis of nutrients:
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus), raw, Nutritive value per 100 g. (Source: USDA National Nutrient data base) |
||
Principle
|
Nutrient Value
|
Percentage of RDA
|
Energy
|
15 Kcal
|
<1%
|
Carbohydrates
|
3.63 g
|
3%
|
Protein
|
0.65 g
|
1%
|
Total Fat
|
0.11 g
|
0.5%
|
Cholesterol
|
0 mg
|
0%
|
Dietary Fiber
|
0.5 g
|
1%
|
Vitamins
|
||
Folates
|
7 µg
|
2%
|
Niacin
|
0.098 mg
|
<1%
|
Pantothenic acid
|
0.259 mg
|
5%
|
Pyridoxine
|
0.040 mg
|
3%
|
Riboflavin
|
0.033 mg
|
3%
|
Thiamin
|
0.027 mg
|
2%
|
Vitamin A
|
105 IU
|
3.5%
|
Vitamin C
|
2.8 mg
|
4.5%
|
Vitamin E
|
0.03 mg
|
0%
|
Vitamin K
|
16.4 µg
|
13.6%
|
Electrolytes
|
||
Sodium
|
2 mg
|
0%
|
Potassium
|
147 mg
|
3%
|
Minerals
|
||
Calcium
|
16 mg
|
1.6%
|
Iron
|
0.28 mg
|
3.5%
|
Magnesium
|
13 mg
|
3%
|
Manganese
|
0.079 mg
|
3.5%
|
Phosphorus
|
24 mg
|
3%
|
Phosphorus
|
||
Zinc
|
0.20 mg
|
2%
|
Phyto-nutrients
|
||
Carotene-β
|
45 µg
|
--
|
Crypto-xanthin-β
|
26 µg
|
--
|
Lutein-zeaxanthin
|
23 µg
|
--
|
Cucumber
Planting & Growing Guidelines: Cucumbers don't
like cold soil, and they don't tolerate frost, so wait for warm spring days and
soil temperatures above 60° F (16° C) to plant, or warm the soil with black
plastic for a week or two before planting. Schedule your last sowing of the
season ten weeks before the first fall frost is expected.
Plant seeds 1/2 inch (1.25) deep with at least three plants for effective pollination. Grow long-fruited cucumbers on a trellis to help keep the fruits straight. Space trellised plants 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) apart. Short, blunt slicers and pickling cucumbers can be trellised or allowed to run on the ground. When planted in hill and allowed to run, grow three to four plants to a 4 inch (10 cm) hill spaced 1 to 2 feet (20 to 60 cm) apart. Mulch to keep the soil moist and warm. Germination should take place within 5 to 10 days.
Cucumbers need regular food and water. Drought stress can cause some cucumbers to taste bitter, especially at the stem end of the fruit. It's normal for leaves to wilt on hot days, but they should recover by evening and nightfall. Prolonged wilting into the evening hours indicate water stress or disease problems.
If trellising your cucumbers you can use a fence, tomato cage, three stakes tied together to make a teepee, or a string attached to posts. Tie vines loosely to the trellis with strips of soft cloth.
Compact, bushy varieties with small fruit can be grown very successfully in containers. Water them frequently to keep moist, but not wet, and feed them every two weeks with soluble fertilizer like a 5-5-5 or a 10-10-10. If your container is large enough, you can put up a trellis and grow cucumber varieties that tend to have long runners.
Fertilizing: Lightly broadcast some 10-10-10 over the area, till in, and then plant
Plant seeds 1/2 inch (1.25) deep with at least three plants for effective pollination. Grow long-fruited cucumbers on a trellis to help keep the fruits straight. Space trellised plants 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) apart. Short, blunt slicers and pickling cucumbers can be trellised or allowed to run on the ground. When planted in hill and allowed to run, grow three to four plants to a 4 inch (10 cm) hill spaced 1 to 2 feet (20 to 60 cm) apart. Mulch to keep the soil moist and warm. Germination should take place within 5 to 10 days.
Cucumbers need regular food and water. Drought stress can cause some cucumbers to taste bitter, especially at the stem end of the fruit. It's normal for leaves to wilt on hot days, but they should recover by evening and nightfall. Prolonged wilting into the evening hours indicate water stress or disease problems.
If trellising your cucumbers you can use a fence, tomato cage, three stakes tied together to make a teepee, or a string attached to posts. Tie vines loosely to the trellis with strips of soft cloth.
Compact, bushy varieties with small fruit can be grown very successfully in containers. Water them frequently to keep moist, but not wet, and feed them every two weeks with soluble fertilizer like a 5-5-5 or a 10-10-10. If your container is large enough, you can put up a trellis and grow cucumber varieties that tend to have long runners.
Fertilizing: Lightly broadcast some 10-10-10 over the area, till in, and then plant
Pest and Disease Prevention: Select disease resistant cultivars. Use row covers to protect young plants from cucumber beetles and squash bugs, but remove when plants flower. Trellising will help improve air circulation and reduce mildew. Do not grow cucumbers or their relatives, such as squash and melons, in the same spot more often than once every three years.
Harvest/Storage
·
Harvest regular slicing cucumbers when they about 6 to 8 inches
long (slicing varieties).
·
Harvest dills at 4 to 6 inches long and pickles at 2 inches
long for pickles. The large burp-less cucumbers can be up to 10 inches long and
some types are even larger.
·
Cucumbers are best picked before they seeds become hard and are
eaten when immature. Do not let them get yellow. A cucumber is of highest
quality when it is uniformly green, firm and crisp.
·
At peak harvesting time, you should be picking cucumbers every
couple of days.
·
Keep them picked. If you don’t, as plants mature, they will stop
producing.
·
Cucumbers are over 90 percent water. Store wrapped tightly in
plastic wrap to retain moisture.
·
They will keep for a week to 10 days when stored properly in the
refrigerator.