What is wild cucumber and how to grow it?

Wild cucumber or prickly fruit is considered to be a weed plant by the people: the vine does not require special care and is able to sow itself. The long weaving stalks of annuals are outwardly similar to the above-ground part of an ordinary cucumber and are endowed with the property of quickly moving along the ground and trailing along the nearby supports. Because of the active weaving and ability to grow shoots up to 6 m, wild cucumber is often used in landscape design to create a hedge.

Description and characteristics

Wild Ostrood The vegetable is the head of the "ostry" If you are in the field

• It can be distinguished by the following features:

  The stem is covered with stiff, short hairs. In one season, the stems of a prickly fruit stem can grow from 50 cm to 6 m.

  The length of the vines is evenly distributed on long petioles

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  leaves similar to leafy plates of edible cucumber : strongly split into several lobes.

  The lower part of the light green leaf plates is covered with short white hairs. Near the leaf plates are the antennae, with which it clings to the supports.

  Annual plant of the pumpkin family, blooms from June to September

  Enters the flowering phase in June and blooms until early autumn .White-green female flowers of vines grow alone or in pairs, male - collected in small inflorescences.

  Regardless of the floor flowers consist of 6 petals and are located in the leaf axil .During flowering from inflorescences pleasant sweetish aroma proceeds.

  After the end of flowering on the vine, fruit are tied, from a distance resembling an ordinary cucumber, only their shape is more round, and the spikes are much longer than those of a cultivated plant.

  Tangled fruits are painted in a muted green color, and on reaching maturity become brown .The skin of the fetus changes closer to maturation changes its delicate structure to hard.

  Inside the prickly fruit in two compartments, there are 4 brown or black seeds, resembling pumpkin seeds. As soon as the fruit ripens, it explodes and scatters around it seeds.

  If during the growing season there is a lot of rainfall, water is splashed out of the fruit, which carries seeds a few meters away from the mother plant.

  In order to avoid the uncontrollable self-seeding , the fruit must be cut off before the moment of their cracking.

  The fruit ripens, explodes and scatters around it

  Use in folk medicine

  From the dried stems, fruits and rhizomes prepare medicinal decoctions, tinctures, powders.

  • drugs from it have antibacterial, laxative and diuretic effects;
  • drug based on prickly fruit used as anthelmintic and antitumor agents;
  • wild cucumber extracts are prescribed by folk healers to treat malaria, inflammatory liver diseases, and reduce puffiness;
  • powder is used for diseases of fungal origin.

  Before using the drugs you should consult with your doctor.

  Despite using it for many medicinal purposes, is a very poisonous plant .The skin that comes in contact with the juice of the vine is covered with burns and wounds.

  The consumption of fresh fruit or the aboveground green part will cause severe poisoning , which is manifested by vomiting, headaches, diarrhea with blood, drowsiness.

  From the dried stems, fruits and rhizomes prepare healing broths, tinctures, powders

  The origin of the wild cucumber

  curious gardeners brought an exotic liana from North America just a century ago.

  During this short time, wild cucumber moved from European botanical gardens to the free spaces of all of Europe, and quickly spread throughout the continent. Now it can be found in Siberia, the Caucasus, China and even Japan .

  Application at the cottage

  Because of the peculiarity of the vines, they quickly grow the stalks and braid the space around them, is often used for gardening country plots, as well as for producing honey.

  In the past century, public places were often decorated with a creeping plant. Now the plants create a hedge, decorate them with balconies and terraces, as well as the walls of high premises.

  Liana is planted near a special trellis, the purpose of which is to hide boxes, utility rooms, inventory from guests. It looks especially beautiful during flowering and ripening of fruits that change color.

  Vine flowers produce a pleasant aroma that attracts bees, so the plant can often be found near the hives.

  On the use of wild cucumber at their summer cottage:
  

  Difficulties when growing

  Each plant in the garden requires care from the owner. For the cultivation of wild cucumber benefit and joy gardener, for the plant to care for.

  Since the vine is very unpretentious in care and does not require the creation of special conditions, is the main thing in care is to control its distribution .

  Among the usual manipulations, experts recommend periodically watering the vine during a severe drought. To stems grow in the right direction to coordinate their movement.

  The fact is that the plant is capable of sowing itself on the nearby territory. Therefore, it is recommended to plant a plant near fences that are located away from its own and neighboring gardens.

  If you do not look after a wild cucumber, it is able to capture most of the plot.

  In order to prevent abundant self-sowing, is recommended to pluck the fruits before their ripening or weed the sprouted seedlings in the spring, which in appearance are very similar to pumpkin ones.

  To clear the area from adult lianas, before winter, simply cut the stem. It is not necessary to dig out the rhizome - it dies itself before the onset of spring .

  To prevent abundant self-sowing, you need to pick fruits before they mature.

  Wild cucumber is an amazing combination of beauty, healing substances and the dangerous poison .An annual creeping plant is used to decorate summer cottages and to eliminate health problems.

  Cultivation of a plant is practically devoid of any difficulties, besides controlling self seeding and giving the desired shape.