Content
Vegetable crops are demanding on soil conditions. That's why soil for cucumbers in the greenhouse must be prepared carefully. To plant cucumbers, it is better to use loamy or loose sandy soil. Highly acidic soil is not suitable for planting cucumbers in a greenhouse. It is important to know how to properly prepare it for planting vegetables.
When and how does preparation begin?
Preparing the soil for cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse should be approached responsibly. The first and important stage begins in autumn: you need to remove the remains of dead plants, accumulated debris and other unnecessary elements. You need to burn garbage and tops in the fall - this will prevent the spread of infections that cause various diseases of vegetables.
Then start cleaning the walls and other surfaces. They should be cleaned using chlorine or soap solution. Be sure to remove about 7 cm of soil from each bed in the fall. This layer of soil contains accumulated larvae of harmful insects and unwanted bacteria that will harm the crop in the future.
Then cultivate the land. Land preparation at the initial stage must necessarily include careful digging. If you are thinking about laying manure, then think about creating a garden bed.To do this, dig a trench and distribute the manure evenly. But this work can be done in the spring.
Don't forget to disinfect the room
Preparation of the greenhouse necessarily includes disinfection of the structure and soil. This work can be done with a solution of copper sulfate or other disinfectants. But use any option with caution.
It is difficult, but necessary, to treat the soil and beds with diluted bleach. This treatment is carried out in the fall, after digging up the earth and destroying the garbage. Remember to take the required precautions when performing work. To prepare lime mortar, you will need:
- 0.5 kg of bleach;
- a bucket of clean water with a capacity of 15 liters;
- sealed gloves.
Let the lime solution sit for 5 hours, stirring occasionally. Then, let it sit and remove the layer that has formed on top. Use the resulting sediment to treat the greenhouse structures, and spray the soil with the top mass.
Dry processing
This treatment is carried out using sulfur bombs. When burned, they release gas that will penetrate into places that are inaccessible when sprayed. When interacting with moisture, sulfuric and sulfuric acid is formed, which spreads everywhere and destroys germs, harmful organisms and bacteria.
Disinfector's advice: sulfur dosage is 50 grams per 1 m3 premises. If spider mites appear in the greenhouse, double the dosage.
Organic fertilizers should be applied before winter: this will help warm the soil in the spring.
These include grass, leaves, and sawdust. Sawdust helps air penetrate the ground more freely, which has a good effect on the future growth of vegetables.
All work on the site is completed in October, leaving plenty of time to prepare the land for further use.
What to do in spring
The growth efficiency of cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse will depend on the prepared soil. Good land meets certain points:
- Purity. There must be a complete absence of debris and weeds.
- Grow your beds. The soil must retain moisture well.
- Low alkalinity. The acidic component of the earth should not exceed 7 pH.
- Presence of ash. The presence of loosening agents is necessary in the soil.
- Presence of sand. It is necessary for the formation of plants.
- Prepare the manure. The earth must be filled with the optimal amount of fertilizers and useful elements.
By following these simple rules, you can get a large harvest of healthy vegetables.
Timely preparation of the greenhouse in the spring will reduce your worries to a minimum for the entire period of growth and fertility of your cucumbers.
Spring soil preparation also involves several stages. They depend on the work you did in the fall:
- check the structure for damage, if damage is found, replace or repair the necessary parts;
- warm up the soil after winter temperatures below freezing - this way you can plant seedlings much earlier;
- after the snow melts, water the soil generously with warm water, manure placed in the fall will begin to affect the soil, after waiting about a week, you can begin planting;
- be sure to use manure - it is an excellent biofuel for your land.
It is very easy to calculate the required amount of manure: it is applied in a proportion of 1/4 of the volume of soil in the greenhouse. Don’t forget to add sawdust or ash to the garden bed to make the soil loose.
You may need to use green manure. Green manures are plants that are specially grown to be buried in the ground to improve the soil structure, enrich it with nitrogen and prevent the appearance of weeds. When using them, you don’t have to use manure: about 3 kg of green manure will replace 2 kg of manure. They are plowed with soil 2 weeks before planting a certain crop 3 cm deep, having previously crushed them.
How to prepare a garden bed for planting
Cucumber is a very heat-loving plant. Therefore, it is better to plant the crop in warm beds. The ideal option is to prepare them in the fall, but if you don’t have enough time, do it at the very beginning of spring. The width of the bed must be at least 1 meter. A trench should be made in the ground 50 cm deep and nutrients should be placed there. The first layer should be small and consist of tree branches. Then add grass or vegetable peelings. The penultimate layer should be rotted manure or compost. Having inserted all the components, cover them with a 25-30 cm layer of earth.
To maintain greater warmth, fence the bed with boards. This will create convenience and increase the service life of the bed to 2 years.
Useful tips
Growing cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse requires a lot of effort and time.
- use seeds only of varieties that you trust; if you are preparing them from last year’s harvest, then carefully sort and process them;
- to prevent plants from rotting in the greenhouse, maintain proper humidity, do not allow the temperature to drop below 15°C, and do not water the plants in the evening with cool water;
- if there are a lot of ovaries, but the harvest is small, fertilize the ground with mullein; when the harvest sharply decreases, water the vegetables with humus diluted in water.
By properly preparing the soil in the greenhouse, you will significantly increase the future harvest. By removing weeds and treating for pests, you will reduce the risk of vegetable diseases. By adding fertilizers, you will fill the soil with nutrients, creating good conditions for crop growth. But do not forget that throughout the fruiting period of cucumbers, water them regularly, feed the soil in the garden bed and fight emerging pests. It is important to know what kind of bud is needed in a greenhouse for cucumbers, and then the result will please the owner.
