‘Vert Petit De Paris’

Ref: CUCU_MI_SATI_007

Common Name: Cucumber / Concombre / Αγγούρια

Scientific Name: Cucumis sativus

Plant’s cycle: Annual

Light Requirement: full sun

Soil type: Requires a rich, well-drained moisture retentive soil. pH 6.2 – 7.2

Sowing in nursery: March

Direct Planting: April

Germination: 7 to 14 days after sowing (15 – 35 ºC)

Harvest:    90 days after sowing

Spacing: 60cm/100cm/2cm deep  

Flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant)

Pollination: by insects

Plant is self-fertile

Seed preservation: 5 years

Edible Parts: Fruit; Leaves; Seed.

Medicine: Aperient;  Diuretic;  Skin;  Tonic;  Vermifuge

The leaf juice is emetic, it is used to treat dyspepsia in children. The fruit is depurative, diuretic, emollient, purgative and resolvent. The fresh fruit is used internally in the treatment of blemished skin, heat rash etc, whilst it is used externally as a poultice for burns, sores etc and also as a cosmetic for softening the skin. The seed is cooling, diuretic, tonic and vermifuge. 25 - 50 grams of the thoroughly ground seeds (including the seed coat) is a standard dose as a vermifuge and usually needs to be followed by a purgative to expel the worms from the body. A decoction of the root is diuretic.

Other Uses: Cosmetic; Repellent.

Cucumber skins have been shown to repel cockroaches in laboratory experiments. The fruit is applied to the skin as a cleansing cosmetic to soften and whiten it. The juice is used in many beauty products.

Known Hazards: The sprouting seed produces a toxic substance in its embryo.