cucumbers are fruits mostly known for making salads, cucumber Juice or even eating them raw. Cucumbers have a few benefits like
- 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.
- Is there sufficient Market for Cucumber really
- Which is better the Normal Cucumbers or Planting the English Cucumbers
Output Results
- Type of Seeds: Darina F1
- Number of Plants : 500
- Production/Weekly Harvest : 250 kgs
- Period of Harvest : 4 Months
- Market Price : Average of Ksh 20/kg
- Gross Revenue : Ksh 80,000
- Monthly Expenses/Deductions : Casual – Ksh 4000, Direct Cost Of Production – Ksh 2000, Transport – Ksh 1000
- Net Revenue – Ksh 52,000
Management Practices Carried Out
- Weeding : YES
- De-suckering : YES
- Trellising : YES
- Layering : YES
- Defoliation : YES
- Deflowering : YES
- Thigmogenesis : NO
- Folia Fertilizer Spraying : YES
- Fertigation : NO
Challenges Faced
Diseases
- Botrytis Blight/Grey Mold
- Early Blight
- Downy Mildew
- White Flies
- Thrips
- Leaf Miner
- Moles
- Lost some plants during Layering
- Blossom End Rot as a result of calcium imbalance
- Our production coincided with rainy season which saw prices drop due to glut
- Not many people know how to use cucumbers. In fact most of them confuse it with courgette. So when you clarify that they are cucumbers most customers will not buy
Recommendation
- Get a good hybrid variety of seeds to give you female flowers only to maximize production
- From the results above, a farmer makes an Average of Ksh 13,000 per month for 4 months from 500 plants of the slicer cucumber. Though it maybe a decent income for a few it maybe below average for others. Time your production to coincide with period after the rains since this is when price is Ksh 30 and above.
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