Poona Khira
A traditional open-pollinated cucumber from the Pune area of Maharashtra, with a skin that changes colour as it ripens. It is thicker-skinned than Poinsette and sells as much for local salad use as for distant markets.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Cucumber
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Zaid / summer
- Maturity period
- 60–65 days
- Expected yield
- 100–130 q/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Moderate downy mildew tolerance
- Release
- No institutional release found; a long-standing traditional type of the Pune area
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Poona Khira is a traditional open-pollinated cucumber from Pune (earlier called Poona), Maharashtra. We found no ICAR or university release for it, which fits a long-standing local type. Its mark is the skin colour: pale white or yellow when young, then golden, and finally brown, cracked and russeted when fully ripe. Two seed-trade pages give 50–70 days to harvest, close to the 60–65 days given above.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Poona Khira if your market is local salad and street-vendor trade in Pune or nearby, where the colour-changing, russeted type is known and asked for. It takes 60–65 days, with 100–130 q/ha given above. Choose Poinsette for an open-pollinated slicing cucumber that sells widely. Choose Pusa Uday for a variety with a published release and yield. The catch is that no institution published figures for Poona Khira.
Sowing & cultivation
Pest & disease considerations
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Reported to be heat tolerant and prolific, so it suits hot-season (zaid) sowings when many cucumbers struggle
- The colour-changing skin and mild, sweet, crisp flesh give it a loyal local market in Pune
- Open-pollinated, so seed can be saved
Things to consider
- Seed-trade pages call it hardy but name no disease, so keep to your normal mildew spray plan and watch the crop
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Maharashtra
Pick by colour: what sells at each stage
Poona Khira changes colour as it ripens, so the stage you pick decides the product. Pale white-yellow fruit is crisp and mild, and that is what most salad buyers want.
Golden fruit is sweeter and softer. Fully brown, cracked fruit is past its best for eating fresh, and is the stage to leave on the vine only if you are keeping seed.
Pick every second or third day and keep the stage consistent within a crate. Ask your buyer which colour he pays for before the first picking, and write it down.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Cucumber variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poinsette | The classic open-pollinated slicing cucumber, tolerant to both mildews, with seed you can save | 55–60 days | 100–120 q/ha | Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh |
| Poona Khirathis page | A traditional Pune heirloom cucumber with a colour-changing skin and mild, crisp flesh for the local salad trade | 60–65 days | 100–130 q/ha | Maharashtra |
| Pusa Barkha | The extra-early, downy-mildew-resistant rainy-season cucumber, with first harvest in 40–45 days | 40–45 days to first harvest | About 18.8 t/ha in the rainy season | Delhi, Uttar Pradesh |
| Pusa Uday | An early cucumber for both spring-summer and the rainy season, listed 28% above Poinsette in the NCR | 50–55 days to first pick | About 15.5 t/ha | Delhi, Uttar Pradesh |
| Swarna Ageti | An early, long-fruited cucumber from ICAR-RCER, with 30–32.5 t/ha and tolerance to powdery mildew | First harvest 45–50 days after sowing | 30–32.5 t/ha | Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh |
| Swarna Poorna | A heavier, 300 g cucumber from ICAR-RCER, with 30–35 t/ha and tolerance to powdery mildew | First harvest 55–60 days after sowing | 30–35 t/ha | Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Cucumber is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Cucumber plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Cucumber variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Cucumber into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Cucumber in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Cucumber rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Cucumber seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Was Poona Khira bred by an agricultural institute?
No breeder is named in anything we found. It reads as a long-standing traditional type of the Pune area, not an ICAR or university release.
Why does Poona Khira's skin change colour as it ripens?
The fruit starts pale white or yellow, turns golden, and finally becomes brown, cracked and russeted when fully ripe. Pick it before that last stage if you want the crisp texture the note describes.
How is Poona Khira different from ordinary green cucumber?
The skin is pale white or yellow when young, turns golden, and ends brown, cracked and russeted. The flesh is mild, sweet and crisp. It looks and sells differently from the green slicing types.
Can I save Poona Khira seed?
Yes, it is open-pollinated. Leave a few healthy fruits on the vine until they turn brown and cracked, then scoop out the seed, wash it and dry it in shade. Keep the plot away from other cucumbers.
Is Poona Khira good for the hot season?
Seed-trade pages describe it as heat tolerant and prolific, and the summary above lists it for the hot-season (zaid) sowing. Keep the soil moist, because even a hardy cucumber gives small, bitter fruit when it dries out.
What yield and days can I expect from Poona Khira?
The summary above gives 60–65 days and 100–130 q/ha. Two seed-trade pages give 50–70 days. No institution published a yield, so treat the numbers as a guide and note your own.
Sourced from: Poona Kheera Cucumber — The Amazing Seeds, Cucumber Poona Kheera — Kings Seeds NZ. editorial policy.