It would seem that this is the most unpretentious vegetable, growing without unnecessary effort in everyone’s dachas, but it still raises a lot of questions about growing among new gardeners.
How to form cucumber vines
The laziest gardeners grow cucumbers on the floor without using trellises. But then it becomes difficult to water the bushes, because you need to lift the vines; watering on the leaves is prohibited.
The most important rule is that the plant must be well ventilated. Therefore, everything should be done to ensure that the bush is illuminated as much as possible, the side shoots do not lie on the ground, and the upper part does not crawl along the trellis, forming a tent - then it will be gloomy in the greenhouse, and the dying off of the leaves will not be avoided.
All pinching should be done in the morning on a sunny day, so that by evening the wounds will heal. There is no need to leave stumps from stepsons, like tomatoes. In cucumbers, these stumps will become wet and cause disease. And rather, this procedure is not called pinching, but pruning, since pinching damages the cucumbers more than a neat cut with sharp scissors. It is undesirable to remove large shoots 20-30 cm long; cucumbers also suffer from this, so the formation of lashes must be done in a timely manner, pinching only the ends of the lashes.
I grow only hybrid cucumbers (F1), in which female flowers are formed on the main stem, so I use the following pinching scheme: do not pinch the main stem, pinch the lower side shoots after the first leaf, the next ones after the second, etc. When the plant reaches the trellis, you need to carefully bend it, pointing it down. Continue shaping, and when 30 cm remains to the ground, pinch the shoot.
Fig.1. Pinching the lashes of hybrids in a greenhouse (“Your Garden”, N.V. Borisov, PKF “Hermes”).
If the cucumbers are varietal, then female flowers will appear only on the side shoots. Such cucumbers need to be pinched above 5-6 leaves, then they will branch into two parts, will appear on them female flowers.
Growing shoots should be sent around supports or a fabric garter, twisting them clockwise.
The vagaries of varietal cucumbers
If on varietal cucumbers (the packs are not marked “F1”) only barren flowers grow - male flowers, which are also needed for setting, but which do not bear fruit, then you need to understand the reasons.
1. Overfed with nitrogen and forgot about phosphorus fertilizers? The tops will be beautiful, lush, bright green, there will be a sea of barren flowers, and female flowers will not appear very soon.
2. Are the seeds fresh, last year’s? Female flowers will appear very late. If you still prefer to collect your own seeds rather than buy them, then you need to warm the dry seeds before planting at a temperature of 55 degrees for two hours. In the old days, women placed a bag with last year's seeds near their chest and warmed it for half a day. You can harden the seeds - put them in a damp cloth at room temperature, and then put the swollen seeds in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
3. Do you water with cold water? Is groundwater close? This is also not possible, you need to water with water at a temperature of at least 25 degrees. The bed should be high.
4. Are you pouring a lot of water? This also delays the appearance of female flowers.
How to water cucumbers
Watering is best done in the morning and before 17:00 with warm, settled water. In hot weather, you can do moderate refreshing watering, but once a week give plenty of water - about a bucket of water is consumed per 1 sq.m of bed.
Cucumbers are very thermophilic, even the root part must always be warm, so most often cucumbers are planted on raised or high beds with loose, breathable soil or heaps of compost. You can cover the bed with black agrotex, cutting holes for the plants themselves, then weeding will be excluded from the list of garden chores. But black agrotex gets very hot in the sun, so this method for busy or working gardeners is only good when growing in open ground.
Do I need to loosen cucumbers?
The roots of cucumbers are superficial, they look like a thin mesh, so under no circumstances should you loosen the cucumbers. If the main trunk or roots are exposed due to excessive watering, then it is best to sprinkle them with humus, and this can be done regularly - once a week, the day after heavy watering.
How to feed so that there are no excess nitrates in cucumbers
Cucumbers need carbon dioxide, the so-called air feeding. To do this, we dilute bird droppings in water, place the container in the greenhouse, and stir periodically for better fermentation. If there is no droppings, you can soak woodlice or tomato shoots, or nettles, let it brew, and when it ferments, stir it too.
Mineral fertilizers are also suitable; now they sell ready-made nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium complexes for cucumbers. There is no need to prepare them yourself, especially since there is a nuance: cucumbers do not tolerate chlorine, so it is better to use potassium-magnesium concentrate as potassium salt. It’s better to take ash in double the amount of potassium chloride, which is completely excluded from the feeding if you prepare a mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium yourself.
To prepare the fertilizer yourself, we take 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 10 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium salt per 10 liters of water for the first time, the second and third time we double the dosage, and phosphorus by 3-4 times. For foliar feeding, you can add potassium in the form of potassium permanganate, 10 crystals per 1 liter is enough, and if the cucumbers do not set well, you can add boric acid, 1-2 g per 1 liter of water.
Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers is best accepted by cucumbers as a foliar application, especially if the summer is cold. It is necessary to spray on both sides of the leaves, in the 6-7 leaf phase and, as usual, on a cloudy day or in the evening. Root feeding is possible only in hot summer, after abundant watering, in the evening or in cloudy weather. The first feeding is done a couple of weeks after the emergence of seedlings, the second - in the flowering phase, the third - when the cucumbers begin to set en masse. We alternate these fertilizers with organic ones, do not forget to dilute the infusion 1:10, and bird droppings - 1:15. Although an infusion of weeds can be used in a ratio of 1:5.
Cucumbers will be bitter if:
1. Plant both parthenocarpic and bee-pollinated varieties in the greenhouse at the same time.
2. Water not regularly, but from time to time and not enough. Try watering not only in the hole, but also over the entire surface of the bed.
Why do cucumbers turn yellow?
1. If, when picking cucumbers, you twist the shoots back and forth, move them and hang them on the trellis again, the leaves will begin to turn yellow and the yield will decrease. Therefore, tie up the cucumbers in time so as not to have to straighten the fallen lashes later.
2. Below the fruiting zone you don’t need a lot of leaves at all, they will still turn yellow very quickly, three leaves are enough, but healthy green ones.
3. The leaves are large, but pale - this means there is not enough nitrogen, you need to feed them with organic matter.
4. The leaves are small, dark green at first, then dry out quickly - urgently apply phosphorus fertilizers or you can simply sprinkle the bed with ash after watering, then carefully shed it.
Irregular shaped cucumbers
The plant itself will tell you what it is missing:
1. In case of a general lack of nutrition, feed with the complex.
2. A cucumber looks like a light bulb - it means there is not enough potassium. At the same time, a light border appears along the edges of the leaves.
3. It is a form of parthenocarpic hybrids pollinated by insects. Or watering with cold water and a large difference in night and day temperatures gave such a “waist” effect. You should open and close the greenhouse on time.
4. The cucumber hangs down - it is not pollinated. If it is a bee-pollinated hybrid, we attract insects and sprinkle 1 liter of water with 100 g of sugar. We do not allow the soil to dry out and water unevenly; such an unsightly shape may be due to this.
5 and 6. Nitrogen starvation. The fruits are pale, the lower leaves are yellow, the stems and vines do not grow quickly. We need organic matter. Don’t forget to dilute it in a ratio of 1:10, water 1 liter per plant.
Not everyone knows how to grow a large harvest of cucumbers. Therefore, nothing can compare with the joy of a gardener when the garden bed produces beautiful cucumbers in abundance all season long. Small, dense, aromatic cucumbers are good when pickled, pickled, salted or fresh.
And it’s also the joy of the result of a job well done. But if the harvest is not what you expected, then it’s time to learn about the nuances and subtleties of growing cucumbers. A harvest that will delight you all year long after tireless work in the garden beds.
Not only are they crunchy and dense on the table, but they are also a huge mental satisfaction. Let's take a closer look at what needs to be done for a large harvest of cucumbers.
Strengthening the root system to increase cucumber yield
Cucumbers grow green mass quite quickly and require a large amount of nutrition and moisture from the root system. A well-developed root system is able to supply more nutrients and moisture, which means we will get a larger harvest of cucumbers.
To help the plant get additional roots, just lay the stem on the ground and cover it with well-moistened humus soil.
This technique is also necessary at the first signs of the root system of the bush (rot). The first signs can be detected in warm weather by how the leaves at the top wither, and watering does not keep the leaves fresh as before.
In this case, you need to cut off part of the ovaries and lower leaves from the stem, lay the freed part of the stem loosely on the surface and sprinkle it with earth. This will help the plant grow additional roots, which will help save a significant portion of the harvest.
Artificial pollination will help you get a rich harvest of cucumbers
If the summer is stormy, there are few insects, there is almost no wind, and pollination becomes a problem. To reduce the number of barren flowers, pollination must be carried out artificially. Pollination is carried out using a soft brush, imitating the woolly bodies of insects, alternately touching the “male” and “female” flowers.
Increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide
Photosynthesis is necessary for plant growth; in order for photosynthesis to take place actively, carbon dioxide is required, which the plant absorbs, releasing oxygen. In a normal atmosphere there is 0.03% carbon dioxide, and the higher this percentage, the more intense photosynthesis occurs, the faster the plant grows.
Research has established that plants produce 95% of their mass from carbon dioxide and moisture, and only 5-6% from minerals contained in the soil. This is how plants grow vitamin food for us from carbon dioxide.
The lack of carbon dioxide is most often felt in greenhouses, since plants consume a large amount of carbon dioxide during the long summer day, and do not have time to restore the balance overnight. To increase productivity, you can increase the concentration of carbon dioxide, which plants love.
To do this, you can spread “dry ice” in the greenhouse, or use the folk method: put several containers with manure in the greenhouse, rotting, it will release carbon dioxide, or you can simply mulch the ground with the same manure, spreading it over the bed in a layer 4 cm thick.
Milk as nutrition and protection
It turns out that not only mammals feed on milk, but plants also like milk. Milk is very rich in protein, which is a good medium for feeding microorganisms in the soil, which enriches it. Milk should be diluted by half with water and fertilized.
Proper watering is needed to reap a large harvest of cucumbers.
Cucumbers have wide leaves, so they need a lot of moisture to grow. During the hot season, bushes require abundant watering. In the hottest weather, water every other day, but watering should be plentiful, plus you should remember that you cannot water below 17 degrees.
Watering is done only at the root with a nozzle that breaks the stream. When the temperature drops below 18 degrees, watering can be limited to once every four days, or once a week. It is best to water either early in the morning before sunrise or in the evening after sunset.
This video will tell you how to water cucumbers for a big harvest:
Growing cucumbers in open ground: is it necessary?
Excess stepsons are additional shoots that take up juices for their development. And this is additional nutrition that could be used for the formation of fruits.
Mulching to increase cucumber yields
Proper mulching of the soil will help maintain moisture, make the soil looser, which facilitates the access of oxygen to the soil and enhances oxidative processes. The nutrition of roots with microelements improves, soil microorganisms and earthworms reproduce better.
You can mulch in various ways and materials. For example, it is enough to spread manure 3-5 centimeters thick, rotted sawdust, straw, and peat over the beds. You can cover the soil with covering material or synthetic film.
When choosing mulch, you should not choose chopped fresh grass, as there is a high risk of infecting the cultivated plant with fungal diseases. When using dark films in the summer, especially on sunny days, the root system can be damaged by overheating; on these days, the film is removed or you need to cover it with something light to reflect the rays.
Proper loosening of the soil
In the summer, after frequent watering, the water evaporates quickly and a crust forms on the surface of the earth. This crust begins to crack, and moisture evaporates even more intensely from the formed microcracks, drying out the soil in the depths. To prevent such changes, it is necessary to loosen the top layer.
Loosen shallowly, a maximum of three to four centimeters, so as not to damage the roots of the bush located close to the surface. Peat soils are not loosened, but are often pricked with pricks of a small rake.
Timely feeding
Properly selected microelements that need to be added to the soil during pre-sowing treatment with fertilizers have been written a lot. You just need to carefully monitor the growth and development of the bushes, since often the development of the plant speaks very eloquently about the lack or excess of microelements in the soil. But such fertilizing as adjusting ash or fermented hay, organic matter will not hurt in any case.
Choosing good neighbors for the cucumber bed
Cucumber vines really like it next to beans and peas; they relate well to cabbage and cauliflower, celery, and salads. Corn will also help if it grows on the north side.
With some of the weeds, such as quinoa and tansy shoots, proximity to cucumbers is even beneficial, because they release aromatic substances into the air that are harmful to spores of fungal pathogens.
But the nightshade family, for example, does not like tomatoes and cucumbers. One of the subtleties of what to do for a large harvest of cucumbers is to plant only good neighbors nearby!
We collect ripe cucumbers on time
There is no need to wait for the cucumbers to get big. This apparent benefit will result in a reduction in collections. The more often you pick cucumbers, the more of them will grow.
Cucumbers have long won worldwide recognition - they are a good snack, preparation, and an affordable, excellent cosmetic product. If in the process of growing cucumbers you have found how to get a large harvest of cucumbers - share and your joy will increase!
Every self-respecting gardener or summer resident grows cucumbers in his garden. But for some they grow by leaps and bounds, while for others they sit still. What is the reason for this discrepancy, and what kind of feeding do cucumbers need to grow faster? We'll figure out.
Why do cucumbers slow down in growth?
In theory, everything is simple: in order for cucumbers to grow faster and bear fruit abundantly, they must be provided in sufficient quantities with the nutrients necessary for growth. But the problem is that the main part of the vegetable's root system grows very close to the soil surface. Because of this biological feature, gardeners often have difficulties in practice.
On fertile soils, problems with growing cucumbers rarely occur. But in areas with a surface layer depleted of organic matter, cucumbers grow slowly. This is natural: the roots simply do not have enough food to expel the vines, and their biology does not allow them to go deeper for it.
Although during the dry period the growth and fruiting of cucumbers can be suppressed even in a bed rich in organic matter, in overdried soil the roots do not absorb nutrients well. In this situation, without regular watering and proper fertilizing, you cannot count on a good harvest of this vegetable.
How can you feed cucumbers?
The easiest way to organize fertilizing is with mineral fertilizers.
The advantage is that you can quite accurately regulate the introduction of basic nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
The disadvantage is that synthetic mineral fertilizers are “chemicals” that many gardeners do not want to use in their gardens.
Any mineral fertilizers that do not contain chlorine are suitable for fertilizing - cucumbers, like sponges, absorb it, becoming not only not tasty, but also hazardous to health. For the same reason, it is not recommended to use tap water for irrigation, since chlorine-containing products can also be used to clean it.
Experienced gardeners prefer to feed cucumbers with complex mineral supplements containing not only the 3 main nutrients, but also other microelements necessary for plants. This fertilizing is much more effective than using single-component nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium fertilizers.
In this case, folk remedies will help.
The advantage is that this fertilizer is environmentally friendly and absolutely harmless to our health.
The disadvantage is that it is impossible to accurately determine the composition and amount of fertilizer applied.
To make cucumbers grow faster, gardeners use:
- wood ash;
- mullein;
- chicken droppings;
- yeast feeding;
- herbal infusion;
- banana peel;
- sourdough bread;
- boric acid;
- brilliant green.
When choosing what to feed the plants with, you need to take into account that cucumbers require different compositions of fertilizers at different phases of their growth.
Nitrogen accelerates the forcing of green mass, phosphorus is necessary for the normal development of the root system, potassium is responsible for the formation of the ovary and the growth of fruits.
In order for the listed folk remedies to be effective, they need to be prepared and applied correctly.
Mullein and chicken droppings
Both fertilizers are popular among gardeners as natural substitutes for artificial nitrogen compounds. In addition, these fertilizers are rich in phosphorus, calcium, copper, zinc and other microelements necessary for the growth and development of cucumbers.
It is prepared according to a similar scheme: chicken droppings or mullein are placed in a container, filling it 1/3, then water is added to the container, closed tightly and left for 3-4 days to ferment. The contents of the container are stirred regularly, 4-6 times a day.
When the contents have fermented, the solution is ready for use. It is used for watering cucumbers during the 1st, 2nd and 4th feedings. 3, it is better to fertilize with other means, in which potassium rather than nitrogen compounds predominate.
Watering is not done with a concentrated solution, but rather it is added to ordinary water in a ratio of 1:10 for mullein and 1:20 for chicken droppings. Chicken manure is a more concentrated fertilizer, so less of it is required.
Herbal infusion
Another folk remedy rich in nitrogen compounds is herbal infusion. Cut grass (any kind, even weeds cut down in the garden will be useful) are stuffed into a barrel, filled to the top with water and left to ferment for 10 days. Before use, the resulting liquid is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 and the cucumbers are watered with this solution.
Yeast supplements
One of the most effective ways. 100 grams of yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar are diluted in 10 liters of warm water and allowed to brew for 2 to 3 hours. Then 50 liters of water are added to the mixture and root watering is carried out with this solution at the rate of 1 liter per bush.
Thanks to their rich mineral composition, such fertilizing promotes not only the growth, but also the fruiting of cucumbers. But such fertilizing should be carried out at least 2 weeks apart, otherwise you can overdo it, and the cucumbers will increase green mass to the detriment of fruiting. Therefore, usually no more than 2 yeast feedings are carried out per season.
Bread sourdough
It is prepared from stale pieces of black bread. They fill 1/3 of a bucket or other container, then add water and place it under pressure for 1.5 weeks in a warm place. After this period, the tincture is ready for use.
Before applying, the resulting liquid is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:3 and the plants are watered at the root at the rate of 1 liter for each plant. The interval between such feedings is at least 1 week. Due to the inherent acidic reaction of this fertilizer, when used regularly, crushed chalk is added to the composition to avoid increasing the acidity of the soil in the area.
Wood ash
Ash is rich in potassium and all kinds of microelements. It can be applied either in dry form, embedded in the soil, and then abundantly watering the cucumber bed, or fertilized with ash infusion.
Prepare an infusion in an airtight container at the rate of 2 tbsp. spoons of ash for every liter of water. Infuse this mixture for 8-10 days, stirring regularly.
But if you are short on time, you can use another method: pour 1 liter of wood ash into 10 liters of water, mix thoroughly and immediately pour this solution over the cucumbers at the root.
Most of all, cucumbers need feeding with wood ash during flowering. But the good thing about this natural remedy is that you don’t have to worry about overdosing it. Therefore, many gardeners use it with almost every feeding, sprinkling the soil around the bush or spraying it on the leaves.
Banana peel
It is also a good substitute for potash fertilizers. Powder from the dried and finely crushed peel should be sprinkled on the ground around the roots, incorporated into the soil, and then watered generously.
The use of iodine and brilliant green
These drugs, which have pronounced antiseptic properties, are considered a good preventative against many fungal diseases of cucumbers.
By adding 10 drops of iodine or brilliant green to a bucket of water, and regularly watering the cucumber bush with this solution, you can protect it from root rot. If the plant still gets sick, then prepare a mixture consisting of 1 part of the drug and two parts of water. The diseased plant stems are smeared with this mixture. After 2-3 such treatments, the disease in most cases recedes.
Organization of a feeding system
- 1 feeding is carried out 2 weeks after emergence or planting of seedlings;
- 2 - in the initial phase of flowering;
- 3 - during the formation of the first ovary;
- 4 - during mass fruiting.
On average, the interval between feedings is from 15 to 20 days. Each of them has its own purpose and its own characteristics.
The first task is to quickly grow the root system of plants. During its implementation, the emphasis is on the application of phosphorus fertilizers. The second feeding is designed to provide the growing cucumber bushes with nitrogen and attract pollinating insects to them.
The third should provide plants with potassium for normal ovary formation and fruit growth. To attract bees and other insects to the cucumber bed, 1-2 tablespoons of sugar are often added to the solution. The fourth is designed to extend the fruiting period of the cucumber bed, so the growing cucumbers are again fed with nitrogen.
For greater efficiency, it is better to combine watering and fertilizing cucumbers. In cloudy, cool weather, plants are watered foliarly, spraying the prepared solution over the leaves, and in hot, dry periods, watering at the roots of the plants will have a greater effect.
When planning a feeding system, it is imperative to take into account natural factors. On fertile soils under favorable weather conditions, you can get by with only 3 and 4 or even one 4 feedings.
Preparing products for feeding cucumbers at home is not a complicated process, it is interesting in its own way, but in most cases it is not very “fragrant”. The odors released during fermentation are not even remotely similar to the aroma of fine perfumes. But the effect after their application to the soil often exceeds even the effect of applying mineral fertilizers. So in this case, the skin is worth the candle.