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To obtain good yields of cucumbers, many gardeners sow seeds for seedlings in a warm room. Here it is necessary to take into account the time of sowing grains and planting seedlings in the ground. It is important to properly prepare the seed material so that future plants do not get sick and bear fruit well. Let's talk about all these problems and common methods of germinating seeds.
Determining the time for planting seeds
To choose the right time when to sow seeds for seedlings, you must be guided by the timing of planting plants in open ground or a greenhouse. This procedure depends on the climatic conditions of the region, for example, for the middle zone, planting seedlings in open beds begins on June 7, and in greenhouses - on May 10.
Plants are planted in beds approximately 20 days after germination. Using the table, you can navigate the time of sowing seeds for the middle zone for seedlings.
Preparation of seed material before sowing
Good cucumber seedlings can only be obtained if the seed is properly prepared. Purchased quality seeds are 100% guaranteed shoots healthy and strong plants.But this does not mean that the grains should simply be thrown into the ground. They require preliminary preparation, which will take additional time.
There are different methods for preparing seed material, we suggest familiarizing yourself with one of them:
- Cucumber seeds begin to be prepared a month before sowing. The grains are scattered into cloth bags and hung over the heating radiator. It is important to control the temperature here. If the seeds warm up to 40OC, then after 7 days you can continue to work with them. When the temperature is above 25OSince it does not rise, the bags will have to hang for at least 1 month.
- After warming up, a solution of 1 liter of water and 2 tbsp will help you select good seeds. l. salt. The grains are thrown into salt water and observed for about five minutes. The floating dummies are thrown away, and the good grains that have sunk to the bottom are washed with clean water.
- For disinfection, prepare a pink solution of manganese, where the selected seeds are placed for 20 minutes. They are then washed again with clean water.
- A nutrient solution can be prepared at home from 20 g of wood ash per 1 liter of water or dilute the juice of an indoor aloe flower in half with water. The seeds are moistened with one of these solutions. If desired, grain feeding can be done with purchased microelements according to the instructions on the package.
- Hardening of grains occurs at different temperatures. First, cucumber seeds are kept for 6 hours at room temperature +20OC, then they are placed in the refrigerator for two days or taken out to a cold veranda. Seeds must be hardened at temperatures from 0 to –2OWITH.
At this point, the grains are ready for the next stage - germination.
The video shows the procedure for preparing seeds for planting:
Germinating seeds and preparing soil for seedlings
Each housewife germinates cucumber seeds using her own method. Most often, a simple method based on wet gauze is used. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with a more effective method of germination:
- Pour boiling water over clean sawdust and wait until it cools to room temperature. For disinfection, you can add a little manganese to boiling water.
- The cooled sawdust is squeezed out of excess water and laid out in a thin layer on a plate. Cucumber seeds are evenly placed on top, and then they are covered with another layer of warm sawdust.
- The plate is tightly covered with transparent polyethylene. After 3 days, the seeds should hatch.
Alternatively, instead of a plate, it is more convenient to use transparent plastic lids from cake packaging.
While the cucumber grains are germinating, it is necessary to prepare the soil for sowing them. There are several effective options for making a mixture, for example: peat with sawdust in a ratio of 8:2, equal parts of garden soil with humus, or equal proportions of sawdust, garden soil and peat compost.
The video shows the procedure for germinating seeds:
Different methods of planting cucumber seeds for seedlings
So, the cucumber seeds have sprouted, the soil is ready, it’s time to plant the grains for seedlings. Now let’s look at how it’s easier to do this at home from scrap materials.
Improper planting of grain will lead to the fact that the sprout will not be able to free itself from the peel and will simply die.
In flower pots
Cucumber seedlings can be grown in any container, for example, flower pots with a diameter of 100 mm are suitable.
For convenience, they are placed on trays and after planting the seeds, they are tightly covered with transparent film. Until the first shoots appear, the temperature under the film should be maintained at about 27OC. As soon as the plant has hatched, the film is removed and the soil is watered with warm water. Now for open cucumber seedlings you need to maintain a night temperature of about 20OC, and it is advisable to raise the daytime to 23OC. It is important to ensure optimal air humidity of about 70%. As the seedlings grow, the pots are moved apart so that the cucumber leaves do not touch each other.
For a visual example, in the photo you can see different options for making pots for seedlings.
Method of germinating seeds under newspaper
When growing cucumber seedlings for a greenhouse, you can use a fairly simple method. Sprouted seeds are planted under a thin layer of soil in boxes or any large containers are used.
Having thus planted all the cucumber seeds, the soil is covered with two layers of newspaper. Watering is done with a sprayer directly on top of the newspaper. This will prevent soil erosion, and the damp newspaper will provide the necessary microclimate. When the first sprouts of the cucumber appear, the newspapers are removed, but the seedlings are not watered. At this stage, cucumber plants are afraid of abundant moisture.
The temperature is maintained within 25OC. It is important to provide the seedlings with optimal lighting. With a lack of light, the plant will stretch and become pale in color.
In PET bottles
Using five-liter plastic bottles for cucumber seedlings, you can make mini-greenhouses.
The advantage of this method is that the seedlings will not clutter up the window sills in the house, but will germinate outside.
Cucumber seedlings in PET bottles are planted as follows:
- The bottle is cut across with a sharp knife, that is, the bottom is cut off. The lower part is buried in open ground, and soil prepared for seedlings is poured inside the container.
- Plant 3 cucumber seeds evenly over the area and cover the area with the top of the bottle with the lid screwed on.
- After sprouting, on a warm day the lids are unscrewed to allow the plant to breathe fresh air, and at night they are screwed back on.
When the plant grows to the desired size, the bottles are removed from the ground and the seedlings are transplanted into a greenhouse. This method has one drawback. The soil inside the bottles often turns green, which cannot be avoided.
In peat tablets or plastic cups
Grow cucumber seedlings can be in plastic disposable cups or special peat tablets. In the first case, the bottoms of the cups are pierced several times to allow air to reach the roots. If you decide to use peat washers, soak them for 20 minutes in warm water before planting the sprouted seeds. Finished washers can be identified by their increased size. They are pulled out of the water and placed inside any plastic container, preferably with sides.
2 sprouted seeds are planted in a washer or cup with soil to a depth of 1 cm and covered with a transparent film. Until sprouts appear under the film, maintain a temperature of at least 22OC and spray the soil 2 times a week.
After the first shoots appear, the temperature is reduced by 3OC, and the film is removed. You can add a little warm soil inside each cup. Further care occurs as in the method discussed above with flower pots.
In the video you can see growing seedlings:
Picking cucumber seedlings
If cucumbers for seedlings were sown in common boxes, after the appearance of 2 to 4 leaves, the plants are transplanted into separate cups - they are planted. To do this, take a special spatula or metal spoon, pry up each sprout along with the soil and place it in a cup with prepared wet soil. Sprinkle a little warm soil on top and then water it generously.
Cucumber seedlings are very tender with a branched root system. During picking, parts of the roots are necessarily damaged, which leads to plant disease. To avoid these troubles, unnecessary work with picking and get an early harvest, it is better to immediately sow the seeds in cups.
