The technology of growing cucumbers in open ground
In order to make a cucumber bed always enjoy a good harvest, one must be well aware of the technology used to grow this crop.
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Currently, cucumbers are more often grown in the open ground than in the greenhouse. There are a lot of varieties and hybrids that are resistant to adverse conditions, and caring for them is easier.
Varieties for open ground
In the open ground are grown mainly bush and low-grade varieties and hybrids. If planted varieties, then they need to curl somewhere.
Long-flowered and highly branching varieties require a trellis. You can plant them under a tree on which they can climb, or they can be planted in a barrel so that the lash hangs. Horizontal cultivation for such cucumbers is unsuitable. Their scourge intertwined in continuous thickets, inside which it is dark, damp and there can be no green leaves, but diseases develop very quickly.
The choice of location, predecessors and neighbors cucumbers
Cucumber requires rich, fertile soil. They tolerate diffused light well, but they do not really like the direct sun. The best place for them is under the trees: there is a support and the lighting is suitable. The soil in tree trunks must be fertilized, otherwise the culture will not reveal its potential. The main thing for cucumbers is a highly fertile soil, everything else can be adjusted.
The best precursors for cucumbers are early cauliflower and white cabbage.
Good predecessors:
- onion garlic;
- legumes;
- beet;
- potatoes;
- strawberry last year of fruiting.
Bad predecessors:
- cucumbers;
- other pumpkin crops
- Tomatoes
Cucumbers with tomatoes and grow great, and their neighborhood is favorable for both crops. But they have one common disease - the cucumber mosaic virus, which also affects some weeds. Therefore, if tomatoes were growing on the garden, affected by the virus, then the cucumbers will also get sick. That is why cultures do not alternate. It is also undesirable to plant them nearby.
Cucumbers love the neighborhood of onion crops. Their leafy secretions protect the borage from bacteriosis. In the southern regions, corn is an excellent neighbor, it gives shade so much needed by plants.
How to prepare the soil?
In the fall, choose a place for the future cucumber plot. All plant residues are harvested, manure is introduced into the soil, preferably fresh or semi-dead. Cow and horse manure as well as bird droppings are suitable for culture. Pork manure is not suitable for cucumbers.
In autumn, 5-6 horse or cow manure buckets per m2, or 2-3 buckets of bird droppings are made. Bird droppings are the most concentrated and a lot of it can not be made even on very poor soils, because you can burn the earth. If there is no manure, then use compost: 5-6 buckets per m2.
Fertilized earth is dug up on a bayonet spade.
Early spring, they dig up the earth again. Organic matter will decompose over the winter, and soil fertility will somewhat improve. If in the autumn organic fertilizers were not applied, they are applied in spring. With manure, you can make peat, humus.
If there is no organic matter, then in spring the soil is filled with mineral fertilizers. Cucumber consumes nitrogen and potassium in large quantities, it needs less phosphorus. In addition, it needs trace elements, especially magnesium.
Per 1 m2 contribute:
- urea or ammonium sulfate 30-40 g;
- superphosphate 20-30 g;
- potassium sulfate or kalimaga 40-50 g
However, phosphate and potash fertilizers can be replaced by ash, and nitrogen fertilizers can be replaced by plant residues. In May, weeds will appear, which can be used instead of nitrogen fertilizers. You should always remember that for cucumbers it is better to have at least some organic matter than a lot of mineral fertilizers.
When growing cucumbers, the soil should have a neutral or slightly acid reaction (pH 5.5-6.5), although the plant tolerates a shift to the alkaline side (to pH 7.8). If the soil is very acidic, then in the spring they make fluff. It quickly deoxidizes the soil, the application rate is 20-30 kg / sotka. Lime can be replaced by ash - 1 cup / m2.
After the application of mineral fertilizers and, if necessary, pushons, they are sealed with a spade on the bayonet.
The dug-out plot is covered with black film so that the earth warms faster. When the weeds come up, the bed is weeded.
Cucumber, even in the open field, when it seems to be already warm outside, requires soil heated to at least 18 ° C. It is better to make compost in the garden, because it emits less heat than dung, otherwise the plants will burn in the hot summer. Early sowing of cucumbers in the ground is not carried out, and intensively warm the soil is not required. Too warm and wet soil (and it should always be wet under cucumbers) is provoked by root rot.
Ways to grow cucumbers
It is possible to grow crops in open ground not only on horizontal beds. It is very convenient to plant cucumbers in barrels without a bottom, or by making an inclined garden bed like a hill.
Scourge with this cultivation will hang down, do not thicken the plot. On such beds for cucumbers easier to care for.
Seed preparation
Varietal self-pollinated cucumbers are heated for 20-30 minutes in a thermos in hot water (53-55 ° C). In a thermos can add potassium permanganate to a slightly pink solution for disinfecting seeds.
Hybrids incubated in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 15-20 minutes. Even if it is written on the bag that the seeds are processed, they are still disinfected, since the period of protective action of the fungicide is limited and at the time of planting it ends. In addition, when grown on dung, cucumbers are more affected by root rot.
When planting cucumbers in open ground, seeds are usually not germinated. They can be soaked for several hours to start the growth process and immediately sow.
Dry seeds can be sown only in warm ground, soaked to 20-25 cm. But the seeds that have been processed grow better.
Sowing rules
Sowing
Planting of cucumbers in open ground is carried out in the middle zone from May 25, in the southern regions - at the beginning-middle of the month, in the North-West - at the beginning of June,. On warm beds seeds are sown 7-10 days earlier. Specific timing determines the weather. For cucumber, the most important is warm soil.
In the middle of the beds along it carry out a groove with a depth of 2-3 cm, well it is shed with warm settled water and sow cucumbers at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other. Seeds are buried to a depth of 2 cm. You do not need to water the flower bed after this, otherwise the seeds will be pulled deep into the soil and they will not germinate.
Can be put in a breeding way. In the middle of the beds make the hole, which is sown 3-4 seeds at a distance of 10 cm from each other, the distance between the nests of 50-60 cm.
A compacted planting, as in a greenhouse, is not carried out, because cucumbers will branch (in greenhouses, plants are kept in one stalk), and when planting thickens, the yield drops sharply, as the area of nutrition is significantly reduced.
In vertical containers, 10-12 cm recede from the edge and plant cucumbers at a distance of 15 cm from each other. If the culture is grown in a barrel, then only 3-4 seeds are sown on such a bed.
In a sloping garden cucumbers planted in 2 rows. The first row is made from above, the second - in the middle of the bed. The grooves are carried across, the distance between the seeds is 12-15 cm, between the grooves 80-100 cm. If the bed is not long, then it is better to make one longitudinal groove in the center of the bed.
After sowing, any bed must be covered with a covering material. If at night the temperature is below zero, then the material should be laid in 2-3 layers.
In order to receive green leaves all summer, planting of cucumbers is carried out in several stages with an interval of 2 weeks. Then, in favorable weather, cucumbers can be harvested in September, and in southern areas - in October.
Rassadny method of growing
Growing cucumbers through seedlings was widely used in the middle lane and to the north. But now, when there are early varieties resistant to adverse factors, this method is abandoned. It does not justify itself:
- Firstly, seedlings difficult to survive after landing in the ground. Losses often make up more than half of the plants;
- secondly, seedling specimens lag behind in growth and development from soil plants;
- thirdly, although they begin to bear fruit earlier, but the crop they have in the end is 2 times less than that of cucumbers grown by direct sowing in the ground.
Now the seedling method of growing cucumbers is practically not used. It is safer and more economical to plant cucumbers directly into the ground.
If the seedlings still grew on the windowsill, then they plant it on the garden at the age of 15-20 days. Planting seedlings only transshipment: the soil in a pot is well moistened and carefully removed the plant along with a clod of earth. Put in the prepared hole and watered.
The best option for planting seedlings is to grow them in peat pots and plant them in the ground with a pot. The survival rate of such seedlings is much higher.
Care in the initial period of growth
As soon as shoots appear, the film from the beds is removed. If the weather is cold, then a greenhouse, 20-30 cm high, is installed over the seedlings, covering it with lutarsil or film. Lutarsil is preferable because he lets air through. As cucumbers grow in cold weather, the greenhouse height is increased to 60-70 cm. During the day, the covering material is removed if the outside temperature is 18 ° C.
In the cold nights the beds are covered, but as soon as the night temperatures are above 16 ° C, the covering materials from the beds are removed completely. If plants are grown on a dung bed, then you can leave them open already at night temperatures of 14 ° C.
In the north or during the cold summer in the middle lane will have to grow cucumbers under cover all summer.
After planting the crop in the garden it can not be weed. When weeds appear in the initial period of growth, they are cut with scissors under the root. Later, when the cucumbers grow, they will drown out any weeds.
When caring for cucumbers, the soil is not loosened, otherwise you can damage the roots. If the land on the site is quickly compacted, the soil is mulched with peat, old sawdust (it cannot be fresh, because they contain resinous substances and strongly absorb nitrogen from the soil, which is destructive for cucumbers), coniferous litter, and crumb.
When growing cucumbers without mulch for sufficient air to reach the roots with a fork at a distance of 5-7 cm from the plant, pierce the ground to a depth of teeth in several places. This technique is used on heavy, quickly compacted soils. Then cucumbers will not suffer from a lack of oxygen.
Phases of cucumber development
When growing cucumbers distinguish the following phases of development.
Cucumber Formation
When caring for cucumbers grown horizontally, side shoots are not removed. All the fruiting is on them. If they break off, the plant will again and again build up the scourge, losing power and time. On the main stalk of cucumbers, especially horizontally grown, there are practically no flowers, they begin to appear only on lashes of 2 orders of magnitude, and the most abundant fruiting on lashes of 3-5 orders of magnitude.
If the culture is grown on a vertical bed, then the plants pull out the shoots from the sinuses of 1-2 leaves. They are the most powerful and will slow down the growth and branching of the other lashes. The scourges are allowed to hang down quietly, pinching their ends after 6–7 leaves so that there is no strong thickening. Weakly branded varieties are grown without pinching.
The bush cucumbers do not pinch the whip. Side shoots they have greatly shortened, or are not formed at all. The main crop is formed on the main stem. The yield of cluster cucumbers is lower than that of climbing, but they bear fruit early and together.
Pickling cucumbers
This is a mandatory event when caring for plants. Without shading in direct sun, the leaves of the plants become prickly, hard and coarse, easily broken; ovaries turn yellow and dry up. And the yield in direct sun below.
Therefore, it is ideal to plant a crop under trees or in places where there is shade during the day (along the house, greenhouse, near the fence). If cucumbers grow on a bed, they set up an arc and throw a green mosquito net, which gives shade and, at the same time, lets in enough light.
Watering and feeding
Water cucumbers at least 3 times a week. On hot days, watering is carried out daily. Use only warm distilled water. When watering with cold water, cucumbers can stop developing, and during the fruiting period, they can shed their ovaries. In cold weather, cucumbers are watered very moderately.
Watering is best done in the morning. At night, growing ovaries and cucumbers should be fed with water for the day. In addition, under the morning the leaves evaporate the most intense moisture and in the daytime they often lack it.
Feeding is carried out every 7-10 days. When caring for cucumbers, they are mandatory, and if at least one of them is missed, it will immediately affect the yield.
During the season, spend at least 6-10 feedings, depending on the duration of the fruiting variety.
Plants for normal fruiting require a lot of nitrogen, potassium and trace elements, especially magnesium. Phosphorus need less. During the season, you need to make at least 2 organic supplements, and the ideal option is to alternate organic and mineral fertilizers.
3 weeks after the beginning of fruiting in the early varieties and in 30-35 days in the late begins to decline, by this time the whips are already exhaled, which affects the yield and quality of greenhouses.
With further care to maintain yield, the interval between dressings is reduced to 6-7 days. As fertilizing use only organic matter (manure, infusion of weeds, in extreme cases, factory liquid organic fertilizers). Mineral nutrition in the care of dying cucumbers is not suitable. To organics must add ash or kalimag.
In hybrids, the rate of feeding is 3-5 times higher. They are fed more and more often. If you feed the hybrids as well as varietal cucumbers, then you can not wait for the harvest.
Growing cucumbers on the trellis
Cucumbers are climbing plants, so when grown in the open field, if there is no natural support, they are made a trellis. On the trellis plants are ventilated, there is no thickened thickets, which are usually formed when grown in the flooring. Plants are less affected by diseases, and caring for them is easier.
Usually in shops they buy ready-made structures, which can be both wooden and metal in the form of a tent, a pedestal, a rectangle. You can make a support yourself. If cucumbers are grown in a sunny place, the design is done with a visor for shading plants.
For growing cucumbers on the trellis planting is carried out in one row, making a groove in the middle of the garden. The pallet is placed either along the row, or on both sides along the bed, depending on the design. When the plants have 3-4 true leaves, they are tied to the upper bar of the trellis.
All shoots, buds and flowers from the sinuses of the first 4-5 leaves are removed. After this, the plants are allowed to form lashes which let the trellis along the horizontal slats.
Further care is to regulate the length of the side lashes. Each plant should have 4-5 lateral shoots formed, which blind after a 5-6 leaf. The main crop of Zelentsov is formed on them. At the beginning of fruiting cucumber trellis is a thick green wall.
Care, watering and dressing for cucumbers on the trellis are the same as for horizontal cultivation.
How to increase the yield of cucumbers
How to get your own seeds?
Seeds can be obtained only from bee-pollinated varieties. Partenokarpiki do not tie up the seeds, and self-pollinated hybrids subsequently show a strong splitting of symptoms for the worse, so that it will not be possible to grow full-fledged cucumbers.
So, bee pollinating variety. This should be a mono-landing. At a distance of 300-400 m no other cucumbers should be planted, both in varieties and hybrids. Only then can you be sure of the quality of the collected seeds.
On the scourge leave 1-2 greens in the midst of fruiting. Only 4-sided Zelentsi are left, from the seeds of which plants grow, giving many female flowers.
Netherwood is formed from 3-sided cucumbers.
The plant gives all its strength to a single seed cucumber, the ovary ceases to form on the lash. Seed fruit must fully ripen, turn yellow and soften. When the stalk has dried, it is cut. You can wait for the moment when he himself falls to the ground.
The fruits are left on the windowsill for several days. During this time they will soften and begin the process of fermentation. Then the cucumber is cut off the back (where the stalk was). From her seeds do not take, because there they do not ripen. The fruit is cut in half, from the spout (where the flower was once), seeds are released, washed. Floated seeds are removed, the rest are put to dry on the window sill.
There are recommendations on the Internet that the seeds are first released and then fermented to better separate the pulp. It is not right. The process of separating the seeds from the pulp (fermentation) begins in the fruit itself. At this time, the fruit gives the seed everything that it can. If the seeds are released immediately and then fermented, they will not receive all the substances that should be received.
Dry seed material is removed in paper or cloth bags and stored at a temperature of 15-18 ° C.
It is impossible to plant freshly harvested seeds, since they give one empty flower. The best planting time is 3-4 years after collection.
