Building a food secured Africa
The cucumber farmer is usually filled with much delight at the first appearing of flowers in his farm, because he is reminded that harvest time is just around the corner.
Now imagine the disappointment at the sight of curved cucumber fruits, fun fact is that these fruits are actually still OK for consumption and taste pretty good but are deformed and so certainly not good for business to the farmer.
Curved cucumbers can occur for a number of reasons;
• Problem of pollination
Poor pollination could lead to the produce of funny-shaped cucumbers. The absence of insects in the garden to pollinate the fruits can be a problem. This thereby interrupts the pollination process and produces deformed fruits.
In some other cases there could be a whole lot of pollinators available but the conditions (like weather) surrounding the garden might not be favourable to ensure complete pollination.
• Fertilizer
The addition of too much nitrogen-based fertilizers can result in deformed cucumbers.
It is advisable to incorporate plenty of organic matter (compost) into the soil during the land preparation stage for it’s development. Cucumbers require less feeding as they mature.
• Water stress
Deformed cucumbers could be caused by insufficient water.
Cucumber plants require plenty of water throughout the growing season.
• Temperature
Very hot temperature keeps the pollinators away and even kills the pollen leaving it sterile. The result of this could be deformed cucumbers.
The heat can also starve the plant of sufficient water thereby leading to water stress. Plenty of water should be provided to cucumber plants once it sets and fruits start developing.
Dealing with all of these issues should solve the problem of harvesting curved or deformed cucumbers in your farm.