Content
Growing cucumbers is a long and labor-intensive process. It is important for beginning gardeners to remember that preparing cucumber seeds for planting in the ground is an important step, and the correct execution of this work is an integral part of obtaining a large and high-quality harvest.
Pre-sorting and processing
Get strong healthy cucumber seedlings is possible only if the cucumber seed undergoes the necessary preventive procedures before planting:
- Selection of strong and high-quality seeds;
- Hardening of planting material;
- Disinfection;
- Etching;
- Preliminary germination of seeds for seedlings.
All these operations are performed in a certain sequence, and each of them is a guarantee that the seedlings will emerge healthy with a high potential for growth and fruiting of cucumbers.
The process of sorting cucumber seeds begins with weeding out weak and diseased seeds.A solution of table salt (1.5 tablespoons per 1 liter of water) will help with this, into which you need to dip the grains. Poor quality and empty seeds will quickly float to the surface, while healthy material will remain at the bottom of the container. It is these seeds that you need to choose for growing seedlings.
How to properly store and warm seeds
The second step is drying the seeds. Planting material should be kept in a warm, dry place throughout the entire storage period. Experienced gardeners use small cotton bags to store cucumber grains, which are hung next to heating systems - stoves or radiators. When using this drying method, remember that the room temperature should not exceed 24-250C. This can lead to drying and steaming of the seeds, which will negatively affect the seedlings as a whole.
Cold and moisture during storage contribute to the fact that the ovaries produce a large amount of barren flowers, which, naturally, will negatively affect the yield of cucumbers.
The grains for sowing can be warmed up immediately before planting. To do this, they are hardened using a thermostat - at a temperature of 550C – 3-3.5 hours, at 600C – 2 hours. Such heating of planting material affects the growth rate of seedlings and stability when transplanting seedlings into open ground.
Why do you need to treat the planting material?
After the cucumber seeds are sorted, you need etch their. This stage in the preparation of planting material is preventive and prevents the development of viral and fungal diseases characteristic of growing seedlings in greenhouse conditions.
Disinfection is carried out by immersing cucumber seeds in a warm one percent solution of manganese (10 liters of water - 10 grams of manganese). If manganese is not available in pharmacies, use a solution containing streptomycin. In both cases, the planting material is kept in the solution for at least a day. After this, the cucumber grains are washed with warm running water.
Another way to disinfect seeds is to use crushed or grated garlic. A large clove of garlic is crushed with a knife or on a grater and dissolved in a glass of warm boiled water. After the solution has cooled, the volume of liquid is adjusted to 1 liter, and the seeds in gauze or a cotton bag are placed in the container. The planting material is kept in the garlic solution for 30-40 minutes.
In stores and agricultural markets you can see preparations prepared specifically for pickling. The most popular and well-proven ones are TMTD and NIUIF-2.
Industrial pickling agents are potent poisons. When working with them, be sure to use protective equipment such as masks or gauze bandages, gloves, and goggles.
For 1 kg of planting material, only 3-4 grams of TMTD or NIUIF-2 are used. The sorted cucumber grains are placed in a three-liter bottle, and a disinfectant is poured into it. The bottle closes tightly and shakes well. After the procedure, the seeds are rinsed in warm running water.
How to quickly and correctly germinate a seed
Every gardener strives to ensure that the crop begins to ripen as quickly as possible.In order to increase and accelerate the germination of seedlings, it is necessary to germinate them before planting, using growth stimulants in the form of chemical and biogenic fertilizers.
You can quickly germinate a seed by preparing one of the following solutions:
- 2 grams of zinc sulfate per 1 liter of water;
- 5 grams of baking soda per 1 liter of water;
- 10 mg of boric acid per 1 liter of water.
Hardening of cucumber seeds for seedlings is carried out by soaking the planting material for at least 20 hours. The solution should be cool – 18-200C. It is better to carry out the procedure in the evening, and the next day dry the grains on a cotton napkin or rag.
And the last stage of the procedure - dry cucumber seeds are laid out on a flat surface and covered with a small layer of fine sawdust, previously scalded with boiling water. Under such a coat, the grains are kept for seedlings for 48 hours.
Of the natural biostimulants, the juice obtained from the stem and leaf of aloe is considered the best. This house flower, known for its antibacterial properties, helps the seed to swell and “open”.
Cut the juice from 2-3 large aloe leaves lengthwise and place in a plastic bag. Place the leaves in the refrigerator for 10-14 days and keep there at a temperature of no more than 70C. Twist the stems or leaves kept in this way in a meat grinder, squeeze out the juice from the resulting pulp, into which place the sorted cucumber seeds for 5-6 hours.
Both methods of stimulation are carried out immediately before planting. To obtain high-quality and strong seedlings, it is enough to carry out hardening after each procedure - the planting material is sent to the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Thus, the grains are adapted to possible low air and soil temperatures.
How and why hardening is carried out
Experienced gardeners harden only those cucumber seeds that are planted directly in open ground. In itself, this stage of preparing planting material implies keeping it for a short period of time in conditions of low temperatures. Thus, it is possible to artificially increase the protective functions and resistance to low temperatures in many varieties or hybrids.
In addition, a set of procedures - calibration, drying and hardening of seeds for seedlings - increases the sugar concentration. This indicator, in turn, affects growth inhibitors. All preparatory processes affect both the growing season of fruits and the periods of plant ripening.
Moreover, such procedures are not carried out when the grain has entered the active germination phase.
Conclusion
All stages and procedures for preparing cucumber seeds for planting have been justified since the middle of the last century, when hardening, as a method of improving germination, was first used in agriculture. When growing cucumbers, remember that hardening the seeds and preparing them for germination is already half the success in obtaining a quick and tasty harvest.
