High yield
Enhanced shade tolerance
Strong growth, good leafiness
Increased female flower density
Attractive, dark green, ribbed, transportable fruit with high flavor quality
For cultivation in soil and in low-volume hydroponics
Tolerant to powdery mildew
Athlete F1 hybrid is one of the most popular cucumber hybrids in greenhouse farms in Russia and CIS countries. In 2006, the hybrid was cultivated on over 800 hectares of protected soil. Although only 4 years old, it has already secured a respectable position among bee-pollinated cucumber hybrids from domestic and foreign breeding.
One of the main advantages of the Athlete F1 hybrid compared to other bee-pollinated and parthenocarpic cucumber hybrids for winter-spring turnover is its enhanced shade tolerance. Sowing seeds in the third light zone is best done in the first decade of December, and transplanting seedlings — from the beginning of January. The Athlete F1 hybrid plants exhibit strong growth and good leafiness, allowing them to easily withstand insufficient light and fluctuations in illumination.
Medium-maturing hybrid (from germination to fruiting 50-55 days). Distinctive feature — high female flower density. On the main stem, 9 to 15 female nodes are formed, each developing 1-2 fruits. Under good lighting and proper temperature regime, both fruits develop.
The fruit of the Athlete F1 hybrid is attractive, dark green with light stripes up to 1/3 of the fruit. The length of the cucumber is 18-20 cm, diameter 4.0-4.5 cm, weight 180-200 g. It is ribbed, white-stemmed with a small stem at the base. Flavor quality is high. Flesh is dense and crisp. Fruits are transportable and can be stored for a long time under unregulated conditions without losing their market appearance.
The Athlete F1 hybrid is recommended to be grown together with the pollinator hybrid — F1 Kazanova, which also possesses high shade tolerance. The Kazanova F1 hybrid plants produce many male flowers. The first female flowers appear only in the 8th-9th nodes, and on the main stem only 2-3 female nodes are formed, each developing 1-2 fruits. The fruit of the pollinator hybrid F1 Kazanova is visually and commercially indistinguishable from the main hybrid’s fruit.
Yield of the Athlete F1 hybrid in winter-spring turnover — 30-35 kg\m2.
