To grow tasty cucumbers on the site, planting and care in the open ground will require time and a whole range of agrotechnical measures that promote a good harvest. It is difficult to imagine a vegetable garden on which there would not be a cucumber, a beloved and in-demand vegetable, saturated with useful vitamins and trace elements.
Cucumbers before planting - preparation
The best material for sowing is considered to be seeds of two years ago, they have good germination. To grow delicious cucumbers, planting and care in the open ground, is produced both seedlings and seedlings. Seeds of cucumber before planting should be prepared, this will increase their germination. To do this, soak them in warm, salt water, after a while on the surface will pop up substandard seeds.
After selecting the full seeds, calibrate and disinfect them, treat them with wood ash. To do this, prepare a solution consisting of 2 tablespoons of ashes and 1 liter of water, infused for two days and hold the planting material for 2-3 hours in it, then remove and dry. The final preparatory measure is the hardening of the seeds, for this purpose, put the swollen and penetrated seeds first on the top shelf of the refrigerator, then on the bottom shelf.
Cucumber planting in open ground
Experienced horticulturists advise that planting cucumbers and care for them in the open ground is best done in a seedling way. This will lead to the appearance of fruit two weeks earlier than when planting this crop with seeds. Seedlings of cucumbers are planted in the open ground in the third decade of May, it is good, if several varieties will grow next to it, this will improve their pollinating ability and increase yield. Cucumbers are planted in the soil with seeds by the last days of May or the first days of June, when the soil is heated to + 15-18 ° C.
Planting cucumbers into the soil with seeds
Planting seeds of cucumbers into the soil is produced both dry and sprouted. If sowing is early, it is better to use dry seeds, since sprouted, fallen into a little warmed up earth, rot, they are best sown when the soil stably warms up to not less than + 12-14 ° C. To achieve great productivity, sowing seeds in the open ground, you can help a few tips:
- select the full seeds of two, three years ago;
- Calibrate the seed;
- apply the method of seed disinfection;
- treat the seeds with wood ash or a purchased biostimulator ;
- temper the seeds.
After preliminary preparation of seeds and soil, proceed to planting. Sow seeds or in the done grooves to a depth of not more than 2-3 cm, or in the holes located at a distance of 18-20 cm, two or three seeds in the form of a triangle. On the surface of the soil you can sprinkle ground black pepper, repelling ants, slugs and mice. From the top of the bed you can pull a covering, non-woven material, preferably in two layers.
Cucumbers - planting seedlings
Seeding pre-prepared seeds on seedlings, do it in separate cups, so plants will easily transfer the transplant to the open ground. To do this, prepare the mixture by taking in equal parts turf ground, peat, humus and sawdust, fill the containers and plant in them for two or three seeds. Glasses cover with polyethylene, before emergence, water with standing water, room temperature, with the appearance of sprouts - weak remove.
Transplanting of seedlings into the ground is carried out in the wells with the compost or the manure reparted in them in advance, in the last decade of May or the beginning of June. Root the roots vertically in the wells, if the seedling is overgrown, it is inclined. In the first days after planting, plants should be watered and pritenyat. Care for seedlings of cucumbers is to fulfill several necessary requirements:
- regular watering, especially during the heat, flowering and the appearance of fruits;
- the formation of plants;
- weeding;
- timely and regular loosening of the soil.
Planting of cucumbers - terms
To grow cucumber on the site, planting and care in the open ground, this vegetable culture is produced depending on the variety that requires certain climatic conditions, methods of cultivation. The main point of planting cucumbers in the ground, seeds or seedlings, is a stable warm weather and well-warmed soil, the timing of this event is different, this affects the location of the region. If within a week the night temperature did not fall below + 10-15 ° C, and the mass flowering of dandelions is observed, then cucumbers can be planted into the ground.
Cucumbers - growing and care in the open ground
While engaged in the cultivation of cucumbers, it should be borne in mind that on a designated area for this, before them should not grow melon and cucurbitaceous cultures. Before planting cucumbers, the soil should be prepared in advance, to make mineral and organic fertilizers. Further, it should be decided how you will plant this vegetable culture: seedling or uncultivated, and prepare.
Planting cucumbers, growing and caring for them in the open ground, consists of a number of necessary agrotechnical techniques and activities, the main of which are:
- choice of a site for planting with loose, fertile soil, capable of retaining moisture, well-lit, protected from the wind;
- covering the beds after planting from the bright rays of the sun;
- pasynkovanie and pinches;
- regular fertilizing with the use of organic and mineral fertilizers;
- before the period of fruiting, mandatory weeding, loosening and podkuchchevaniya;
- garter;
- competent irrigation (especially during the growth period).
Care for cucumbers after planting
Caring for cucumbers in the open ground immediately after planting is, first of all, correctly adjusted irrigation. Cucumbers do not tolerate drought, but they do not like too much moisture. In the heat, you should water cucumbers up to five times a week, with warm water, on cloudy days you can do without watering. Watch for the appeared antennae, remove the extra ones so that they do not pull on the food necessary for the plant.
Appearing early flowers on the still not ready to fruit plant, it is better to remove, as well as shoots, developed from the sinuses of the first leaves and lateral shoots, growing together with the ovary. It is very important to plant fertilizers and various types of root dressing regularly after planting, but this can not be overdone, as this will reduce fruiting.
Care of seedlings of cucumbers in the open ground
Planting and care in the open ground of cucumbers assume constant monitoring of their condition and the moisture of the soil. If you notice that the leaves have become sluggish, be sure to pour them warm water in the evening. Densely ascending sprouts must necessarily be weeded out, do this in two or three stages, gradually removing the weakest plants. While doing thinning, they simultaneously weed and loosen, doing this very carefully, so as not to damage the root system.
Ideal for growing cucumbers of bush varieties, they have high yield, early maturity, increased resistance to disease. It is much easier to care for bush cucumbers, they are less whimsical, they do not need tapestries for garters, one should only follow certain rules:
- The irrigation measures, in the absence of rains, are carried out twice a day;
- Cucumbers of bush varieties intensively consume nutrients, they need systematic feeding;
- when sowing seeds, they must be covered with a protective film, the shoots under it will develop better.
Cucumber care rules - watering
The root system of the cucumber for a good growth and healthy development requires constant watering, insufficient moistening leads to a darkening of the foliage, the plant falls into a state of stress. Excess moisture inhibits the development of lashes, takes oxygen from the soil. Jumps in the amount of moisture are detrimental to this vegetable culture, because of them, bitterness occurs in the fruits.
Care for cucumbers and especially watering is necessary during the period of active growth and fruit setting. Water for this use a warm, watering with cold water will lead to a reduction in growth and the appearance of diseases. One of the effective and modern methods can be called drip irrigation, with its implementation, moisture falls directly into the root system, this helps reduce water consumption and prevents the growth of weeds.
Growing of cucumber seedlings - additional fertilizing
Especially important is the feeding of cucumbers in the beginning of flowering and ovary fruit. Care and top dressing of cucumbers in the open field is most useful with the use of infusions mullein or herbs, they provide nutrition for plants and protect against powdery mildew . They can be produced in 10-14 days, accompanied by mandatory watering. Alternating organic matter with minerals, bring nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the soil. It should be done in warm weather, in the cold - feeding will be useless.
Care for cucumbers - pinching
First, you need to form whips and tie them to the trellis. Pinching cucumbers is reduced to competent care for the main stalk. Carrying out the proper care for cucumbers, one should pinch male shoots or "blossom". This event will provide cucumbers:
- formation of "female" flowers and subsequent ovaries;
- will eliminate the bitter taste in fruits.
Pinching the main stem is done after it reaches the top of the trellis, it is left with 4-5 growth points, removing the first three leaves together with the sinuses - this promotes the development of lateral shoots, they pinch over the third sheet, and this already contributes to the appearance of female flowers. It is necessary to remove the male vapors from the main stem, weak side shoots and to clean the plant from the twisted and diseased leaves.
Pasynkovanie cucumbers
For the appearance in the greenhouse of an earlier harvest, the seedlings are planted, that is, the extra stepsons that increase the green mass are removed. When growing and caring for cucumbers in the open field, especially if they grow on fertile soils, this procedure is not necessary, especially without the experience and skills. If you still want to increase the number of crops, you can remove the stepchildren, removing excess, pulling food and not yielding fruit, the shoots are plucked after the first 4-5 leaves. Decision on pasynkovaniya should also be taken depending on the type of cucumber.
Growing cucumbers in the soil - diseases and pests
During the cultivation of cucumbers and care for them, it is very important to recognize the disease in time and get rid of pests. The most common diseases of cucumbers, which appear more often from the difference between day and night temperature, excess or lack of moisture, are:
- gray rot;
- powdery mildew;
- white rot;
- root rot;
- ordinary mosaic;
- olive spotting.
Most diseases can be prevented if the care of plants recommended by experienced vegetable growers is carried out. To combat them, both preventive measures and special drugs are used, different for each disease. The appearance of pests such as spider mite, melon aphid, whitefly is the result of improperly organized agrotechnical measures. Diseases and pests do not arise with careful and caring care.