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There is probably no person who doesn’t like cucumbers. Salted, pickled and fresh - these vegetables are the first to appear on tables after a long winter and among the last to leave them. It is cucumbers that housewives most often preserve, creating food reserves for the winter. They are an invariable component of salads and an appetizing independent dish.
Experienced summer residents and gardeners know all the rules for growing cucumbers, but what should those who want to plant seeds for the first time do? All the rules and subtleties of growing cucumbers will be discussed in this article.
Methods for growing cucumbers
Methods for planting cucumbers are divided into only two types:
- seeds;
- seedlings.
The choice of method depends on several factors, the main one of which is the climatic characteristics of the region.
Cucumbers can be planted both in open and closed ground. For the second method, there are various greenhouses, greenhouses and films. Planting cucumbers in the ground does not require any complicated preparation, but the first cucumbers in an open area will appear later than in a greenhouse.
Another factor is productivity. Experienced gardeners assure that it is more realistic to obtain high cucumber yields in a greenhouse than in open ground.After all, in a greenhouse it is easier to control temperature and humidity; there, cucumbers are not afraid of cold snaps and frosts, which have a detrimental effect on the heat-loving plant.
However, for the family’s own needs, cucumbers grown in the garden will be quite enough. With proper care, fresh vegetables will delight owners from early summer until mid-autumn.
Soil preparation
For planting cucumbers, choose a sunny area protected from the wind. If natural protection from the wind is not enough, you can plant corn along the edges of the plot.
You need to prepare the soil for planting cucumbers in the fall. To do this, choose an area where onions or garlic were planted - these are the best predecessors for cucumbers. As a last resort, you can plant cucumbers in one place, but no more than five years.
It is also necessary to avoid other representatives of pumpkin plants: zucchini, squash.
In autumn, the soil in the area for cucumbers is dug up to a depth of 25-27 cm and fertilized abundantly: per square meter you need about a bucket of chicken manure or mullein.
In spring, the soil needs to be thoroughly moistened, if there is not enough rainfall, you will have to water it with a hose. Remove roots weed and disinfect the soil with a weak solution of manganese.
Now you can start trenching the cucumbers. Climbing varieties of cucumbers are planted in trenches, which are subsequently tied up on a trellis. The depth of the trench should be about 25 cm if the cucumber is planted as seedlings. The seeds are buried shallowly - 2-3 cm, so the trenches in this case should be shallow.
The distance between cucumbers should be about 30 cm, and between adjacent trenches - 70-100 cm. The main thing is that the lashes do not shade neighboring bushes. For greenhouses, it is better to choose varieties of cucumbers with tall shoots without strong branching, suitable for vertical cultivation, because there is not enough air circulation - the stems on the ground can rot and get sick.
Horizontal method planting involves the use of cucumbers that spread along the ground and grow either in bushes or have highly developed lateral vines. Such cucumbers are also planted either with seeds or seedlings; 4-6 holes are made per square meter, keeping an approximate distance of 50 cm between plants.
Seed preparation
Regardless of the method of planting cucumbers in the ground (seedlings or seeds), the seeds are prepared in the same way.
Seeds collected with your own hands from a previous harvest of cucumbers require careful preparation. So, you need to follow the following points and rules:
- You need to plant seeds that are at least two years old. Seed material collected last year is not suitable; it will not give a good harvest.
- First of all, the cucumber seeds need to be thoroughly warmed. To do this, they are poured into a linen bag and hung near a radiator or other heat source.Leave the bag in this position for 2-3 days, the temperature in the room should be more than 20 degrees.
- Now the seeds need to be discarded. Add salt to a container with water (at the rate of 25 grams of salt per liter of water), pour the seeds into it and mix. Cucumber seeds that settle to the bottom need to be collected, but those that float up can be thrown away - they are empty, nothing will grow from them.
- Disinfection will help protect seeds from diseases; most often, I use manganese for this. Cucumber seeds are placed in a strong solution of potassium permanganate for no longer than 20 minutes. Then they need to be removed and washed thoroughly with warm water.
- Regular wood ash will fill cucumber seeds with nutrients. It is added to warm water in the proportion of 1 tablespoon per liter of water and mixed. The seeds are left to soak in nutrients, this will take 1-2 days.
- Washed and dried cucumber seeds are wrapped in clean gauze and placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for 1 day. This hardening will help cucumbers withstand temperature changes and possible cold snaps.
- The seeds are placed on gauze moistened with water, covered with film or a lid and left in a warm place for 2-3 days. The room temperature should be 25-28 degrees (you can place the seeds on the radiator).
- Hatched cucumber seeds are ready for planting in the ground.
How to grow seedlings
Cucumbers are grown by seedlings mainly in open ground. In a greenhouse you can control the temperature of the soil, where the seeds will germinate quickly.But the temperature of the ground in open areas often does not meet the requirements of a heat-loving cucumber, because this plant can be planted in soil heated to at least 15 degrees.
Cucumbers have very delicate stems and roots, so you need to sow seeds for seedlings in disposable or peat cups. The former are subsequently cut to painlessly remove the cucumbers, and the peat dissolves in the ground, so the seedlings can be planted directly in such a container.
The earth is poured into cups, filling them two-thirds. Then water the soil with a heated weak solution of manganese. After 30 minutes, you can plant cucumber seeds. Place 1-2 seeds in each glass and place them horizontally. Sprinkle 1.5-2 cm of sifted soil on top and sprinkle with water.
For cucumber seedlings to germinate, they need a warm and sunny place with a temperature of at least 20 degrees. It is better to cover the glasses with film or transparent lids so that the moisture does not evaporate and the temperature is more uniform.
On the third day, cucumber sprouts will appear, now the cups can be opened and placed on the windowsill. The main thing is that the cucumbers should be warm and light; drafts and open windows are very dangerous for them.
Seven days before planting in the ground, seedlings can be hardened off. To do this, take the cucumbers outside or open a window; the procedure should last about two hours.
Transplanting seedlings into the ground
Cucumbers are ready to be transplanted into the ground approximately 30 days after planting the seeds in pots. By this time, the cucumbers should reach a height of 30 cm and have one or two true leaves, elastic and green.
The timing of planting seedlings in the ground depends on the climatic characteristics of the region, the main thing is that there is no longer a threat of frost.
Planting cucumber seedlings by transferring it along with the soil, or simply burying it in peat cups (the edges of the cup should be flush with the trench or hole).
Why plant cucumbers with seeds?
Cucumber, unlike tomatoes, is most often planted by seeds. The fact is that cucumber seedlings are very delicate, with delicate roots and stems. Not only is it easy to damage, seedlings very poorly tolerate acclimatization to new conditions (temperature, sun, wind, different soil composition).
Only very experienced farmers who know all the secrets and intricacies of this matter can get a good harvest from cucumber seedlings.
For simple summer residents and gardeners, a more suitable method is to plant cucumbers with seeds in the ground. In this case, the first vegetables will appear only a week later, but the cucumbers will be strong and resistant to external factors.
Seeds are prepared in the same way as for seedlings, and purchased cucumber seeds can be planted directly from the bag. Water each hole generously with manganese solution and place the seeds there. The roots of cucumbers grow shallowly, they are superficial, so the seeds do not need to be buried too much. They are sprinkled with a 2-3 cm layer of soil and do not compact it. Water a little warm water on top.
If night temperatures are still too low, you can cover the area with film, which is removed after the true leaves appear.
The process of planting cucumber seeds in the soil is quite simple:
- Prepare holes or trenches.
- Pour organic fertilizers into them and mix with the soil.
- Sprinkle this layer with soil and put one or two seeds there.
- Cover the seeds with 2-3 cm of soil.
That's the whole process.
Planting cucumbers is absolutely not a difficult task that anyone can do. Growing seedlings is, of course, more labor-intensive than sowing seeds in the soil, but both of these processes are quite doable. It is much more difficult to care for adult plants; cucumbers constantly require watering, fertilizing, weeding, fluffing up the soil and harvesting.
