Maturity Signs and Harvesting of Potato and Cucumber

Maturity Sings of Potato:

1. Potatoes are harvested when they attain sufficient size. Early varieties 57 to 100 days, late varieties 120- 160 days.
2. Skin slipping from the tuber, starch content and leaf senescence or top drying are the harvest indices.

Harvesting of Potato:

Care should be taken to save the tuber from injury and immediately after harvest they should be left in the scorching sun. otherwise they develop sunscalds. Digging is done with spade or other hand tool. Suitable tractor operated potato diggers have been developed now. There should be optimum moisture in the soil at the time of harvest.

Maturity Sings of Cucumber:

1. Fruits are ready for harvest 45 to 55 days after sowing.
2. Harvest immature fruits.
3. In cucumber the proper stage of maturity is judged by size and not by the age of the fruit.
4. Cucumber for slicing should be picked when they are 15 to 35 cm long, whereas for pickling 6 to 15 cm long. In case of slices at marketable stage, spines on fruit becomes soft and fall down.
5. In general cucumber may be picked at any stage of fruit growth, provided yellowish has not started.

Harvesting of Cucumber:

The fruit should be picked at frequent intervals in order to avoid losses due to over sized or over mature fruits. They are generally picked at 2 to 4 days intervals depending on weather.

Original Article Here