Cucumber Tanja - Cucumis sativus

The Tanja Cucumber is a high-quality variety, sturdy and with regular growth, easy to cultivate by everyone, including inexperienced gardeners. The plant produces cylindrical fruits, with smooth and dark green skin, reaching up to 30 cm (12in) in length. Their flesh is digestible, tasty, crunchy, and without bitterness. It is a hardy cucumber intended for field cultivation but also performs very well under cover. To obtain quality cucumbers, keep only 3 fruits forming simultaneously on each plant. Plant it from April to July, after the last frost, for a harvest from June to September.

Cucumber, along with tomatoes, is one of the star vegetables of summer. Refreshing and low in calories, it can be enjoyed in a composed salad or on its own, with, for example, a yogurt, lemon, and dill sauce. There are two main types of cucumbers: "forcing" varieties intended for cultivation under cover and those adapted to open-field cultivation. Cucumbers can be smooth or spiny, long or semi-long. In addition to these classic varieties, there are also more "exotic" cucumbers such as the Kenya Cucumber or the Snake Cucumber, which are generally more heat-demanding.

Cucumbers appreciate light, loose, moist, and humus-rich soils. They like sunny exposures and temperatures between 18 and 22°C (64.4 and 71.6°F). They are quite water-hungry vegetables that need regular watering.

Harvest: Cucumbers should be harvested when they have reached their final size, before their color turns yellow. Be careful: overripe fruits become bitter. Remember to harvest regularly to encourage the formation of new fruits. Harvesting usually takes place from June to September.

Storage: Cucumbers can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. To enjoy your harvest longer, you can also preserve them in jars through lacto-fermentation or in vinegar.

The gardener's tip: Like all cucurbits, cucumbers can be susceptible to powdery mildew: a white fuzz appears on the foliage. It is necessary to remove heavily affected leaves and spray with wettable sulfur every 2 weeks. As a preventive measure, avoid watering the foliage and ensure proper ventilation in your greenhouse if cultivation is done under cover. Spraying with a horsetail decoction can also be done to strengthen foliage resistance.