Growing cucumbers horizontally

As for watering seedlings , during the entire growing period it is carried out once a week, and the soil is shed completely, and the excess liquid must be drained - for this it is convenient to keep containers on a pallet. If the seedlings grow quickly, and you do not intend to swoop down on them, pour some soil into their cups for stability.

Cucumber picking

Cucumber picks are very disliked, so follow our advice and grow cucumber seedlings in peat pots or tablets, but if for some reason you decide to sow seeds in boxes, then picking cannot be avoided, and it is carried out in the phase development of two true leaves in seedlings. Before diving cucumbers, the soil in the box is well watered, then the seedling is very carefully taken out, trying not to shake the soil from the roots, and transplanted into a separate container, immersing the root and part of the stem into a depression made in the soil along the cotyledon leaves.

After picking, the soil around the seedling is compacted in such a way that the seedling cannot be easily pulled out of the ground. When transplanting, twisted and diseased plants are rejected, however, it should be remembered that picking delays the development of seedlings for 5-7 days. If weather conditions and the level of development of seedlings allow, dive seedlings directly into open ground to a permanent place. Or dive seedlings into peat pots so that they can be transplanted into open ground when the time comes, along with the container.

A week before planting seedlings in the ground, they begin to accustom them to the outdoor environment, taking them out into the fresh air for several hours every day, not forgetting to protect them from wind and drafts at first. Also, before planting in the ground, it is advisable to treat the seedlings for preventive purposes with Immunocytophyte or Epin.

Growing at home

For growing cucumbers at home, you should choose varieties that do not require pollination, and bush and medium climbing cucumbers are best located on the windowsills. Optimal for apartment conditions are varieties Domashny, Rytova, Masha, Room, Marfinsky, Bianka, and hybrids of Claudia and Marinda. If you want to get fresh, self-grown gherkins for the New Year's table, you need to sow cucumber seeds at the end of October, and if you need them by March 8, sow cucumbers in January.

It usually takes 45-50 days from the moment of emergence of seedlings to the ripening of the first cucumbers.

• The best cucumbers for open ground - how to choose a variety / hybrid?

Before sowing, cucumber seeds are treated: they are disinfected in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 15-20 minutes, after which they are washed with running water. Then the seeds are laid out in individual seedling cups with a diameter of 6-8 cm with a drainage layer in the form of coarse sand or expanded clay and a light nutrient mixture seasoned with rotted organic matter - it is best to purchase ready-made soil mixture for cucumber seedlings in the store.

The soil is poured with boiling water directly in the cups, then the substrate is allowed to cool and then the seeds are laid out on the surface, covered with damp gauze and placed on the southern or eastern windowsill. They contain containers at a temperature of 17-22 ºC at night and 22-26 ºC during the day, protecting from drafts and constantly keeping the gauze moist. After a few days, when tiny sprouts appear on the seeds lying in the cups, make a hole 1 cm deep in the center of the soil surface, put the germinated seed in it and cover it with soil, and cover the cups so that moisture does not evaporate from the soil, cover with paper or film. After the emergence of seedlings, the coating is removed.

If you do not have the opportunity to illuminate the seedlings, you will have to lower the temperature in the room to 15-17 ºC during the day and 13-15 at night so that they do not stretch out. Watering seedlings is carried out as the topsoil dries up.

At the three-leaf stage, seedlings are carefully transplanted one at a time into larger containers - flower pots with a diameter of 25 cm or buckets, for example. The transplant is carried out on a cloudy day, after which the plants are shaded from the sun for 2-3 days. As soon as the first ovaries are found, the cucumbers are fertilized: 100 g of wood ash is thoroughly mixed in one liter of hot water and infused for a day, after which the potted soil is poured with this composition.

Pinching off the lateral processes appearing on the central lash. One plant should carry no more than two lashes that need to be tied up: the easiest way is to pull a large-mesh construction mesh over the window, for which the growing lash will cling with a mustache.

Water the cucumbers after the topsoil has dried out early in the morning or in the evening with warm water at about 27-30 ºC. It is very important to maintain a balance of moisture in the soil, since rot can develop from its excess in the roots, and from a lack of moisture, the fruits will be bitter. When cucumbers appear, do not let them outgrow, and then the next fruits will begin to form and develop faster.

Planting cucumbers in open ground

When to plant

Planting cucumbers in the ground is carried out not earlier than the seedlings develop 3-4 true leaves, and the soil warms up to 20-24 ºC and warm weather sets in. Usually all these signs appear in mid-May. The area reserved for cucumbers should be protected from the wind, well lit by the sun, although partial shade is also acceptable. If there is a possibility of night frosts or a sharp cold snap, the cucumbers planted in the ground will have to be covered with a film, for which metal arcs are dug in throughout the garden, on which, if necessary, covering material is thrown. Also, close to the holes along the beds, a trellis is installed or a large-mesh net is dug in, along which the cucumber liana will climb up.

• Stonecrop: growing from seeds, types and varieties

Cucumber Soil

Cucumber soil should be well-drained, fertile, low in nitrogen. Acidic soil should be limed before planting. Cucumbers grow best in a soil mixture of 6 parts of peat, to which one part of humus, sawdust and soddy soil is added, but in principle any soil is suitable for cucumbers. The main thing is that it be loose and warm, and for this you need to arrange beds 25 cm high for cucumbers, directed from east to west with a slight slope to the south. The day before planting cucumbers, the formed beds are watered with a solution of a teaspoon of copper sulfate in 10 liters of almost boiling water, spending three liters per 1 m².

The best predecessors for cucumbers are green manure, tomatoes, onions and cabbage, but plants such as pumpkin, watermelon, melon, zucchini, zucchini, lagenaria and other Cucurbitaceae as precursors for cucumbers are undesirable.

How to plant in the ground

How to plant seedlings of cucumbers and do I need to fertilize the soil on the site before that? Since the root system of cucumbers is unbranched, fertilizers are applied directly at the time of planting: holes are made in the beds 40 cm deep at a distance of 60 cm from each other, a layer of soil mixed with compost or humus is poured into them, then a layer of fertile soil without fertilizer is added, seedlings with an earthen clod are transferred to it or a peat pot with seedlings is placed in the hole, the hole is covered with soil and watered at the rate of 3 liters of water per plant.

In the future, the plot with cucumbers can be mulched with peat or grass, which will attract earthworms to the plot, supplying the soil with humus, or you can cover the aisles with black ground cover to reduce evaporation of moisture from the surface of the plot and slightly increase the temperature of the soil.

Greenhouse cultivation

Indoor hybrid varieties such as Ant, Marinda, Twiksi, Halli, Murashko, Bidretta and Buyan are used for growing early cucumbers in the greenhouse. In order to get a crop of cucumbers as early as possible, manure beds are arranged in the greenhouse, which are called hot, or compost beds are warm.

If you have fresh cow dung, put it in a high bed in the greenhouse, cover with at least 25 cm of fertile soil on top and water abundantly, then spread cucumber seeds at a rate of 4 plants per m². Seeds of hybrid varieties do not need pre-sowing treatment. Close up the seeds of cucumbers by 1-2 cm, after which supporting arcs are installed on the bed, on which light covering material is laid.

Thanks to manure that warms the soil, the first shoots appear after 3-4 days. During the day, you need to briefly raise the shelter to ventilate the seedlings. Keep an eye on the temperature of the soil and air in the greenhouse - it can change dramatically and unexpectedly with the weather. The optimum temperature for the development of seedlings in a greenhouse is 18-30 ºC. If the temperature rises higher, the cucumbers will simply burn. In addition to the bottom heating of the beds, seedlings may need additional lighting.

If you do not have manure, instead of a hot bed, you can make a warm bed using the same principle, only in this case, garden compost is placed under the soil layer instead of manure. Since the soil temperature will not be so high, planting cucumbers in the greenhouse is carried out with already sprouted seeds, right in peat cups or tablets. In cold regions, it is better to arrange manure beds, and in warmer areas, compost beds will be enough. Further care for cucumbers in the greenhouse is carried out in the same way as for plants in the open field.

Caring for cucumbers

Growing conditions

At first, after planting in the ground, cucumber seedlings need frequent watering and shading from the sun, and in case of a sharp cold snap, they will need shelter - when the temperature drops to 15 ºC, cucumbers slow down growth, and when 10 ºC development stops altogether. After watering, it is desirable to loosen the soil in the area while hilling the bushes, but this must be done carefully, since the root system of cucumbers is located in the upper soil layer. Mulch covering the area allows you to loosen the soil less often or without loosening the soil at all, and also reduces the need for frequent watering and inhibits the growth of weeds. It is advisable to pinch cucumbers for open ground over 5-6 leaves to stimulate the growth of lateral lashes.

Watering

Before flowering cucumbers are watered every 5-7 days at the rate of 3 to 6 liters per m². When flowering begins, cucumbers need to be watered more often (once every 2-3 days) and more abundantly (6-12 liters per 1 m²). Watering is carried out with settled warm water (about 25 ºC) early in the morning or in the evening. If the water is poorly absorbed into the soil, make punctures in the aisle with a pitchfork to a depth of 10-15 cm - the water should soak the soil to a depth of 20-30 cm. You need to water the cucumbers under the root, trying not to fall on the leaves.

To prevent the water jet from eroding the soil and exposing the roots, watering is carried out with a watering can with a divider nozzle. The main thing in watering is balance: remember that due to insufficient moisture, cucumbers grow bitter, and fungal diseases occur from excessive moisture, so before watering cucumbers, make sure that they really need it.

How to tie cucumbers

Growing cucumbers in the open field is carried out in two ways - horizontally or vertically. Among the vertical methods, there are several witty and even exotic ones. For example, growing cucumbers in leaky barrels, in plastic bags, in a hut or under a black film. Since cucumbers are vines, they need to be tied, a procedure that saves space, avoids contracting certain diseases, and makes harvesting easier. They begin to tie cucumbers to a support in the development phase of 3-4 leaves, in fact, almost immediately after planting in open ground.

Like cucumber growing methods, the garter can also be horizontal and vertical. With horizontal tying method , between the two-meter poles driven in at the beginning and end of the row, several rows of strong rope or wire are pulled, along which the whips will rise as they grow.

The vertical method involves the installation of a U-shaped structure on the bed, which consists of two dug-in strong vertical supports with a wire stretched between their upper points, to which ropes will be tied around the stems of cucumbers growing below. These ropes can be pulled up as the whips grow, but there is no need to pull them hard. Instead of ropes, it is better to use wide fabric ribbons - they will not injure plants in strong winds. Cucumber whip is captured with a rope loop under the first or second leaf.

How to form a cucumber bush

Since cucumbers are divided into varieties with strong, moderate and limited lateral branching, this should be taken into account when planting seedlings on the site: the more branchy the variety, the less bushes should be planted. Varieties with strong branching require shaping, which must be carried out in a timely manner and in stages. At the first stage, when the plant has only 3-4 leaves, all stepsons and ovaries must be removed up to the fourth leaf so that the plant expends energy solely on the formation of the root system. When 8 leaves have already developed on the seedling, leave one ovary on the branches from the fourth to the eighth leaf, and pinch the branch following it.

Repeat this procedure in time from the eighth leaf to the twelfth leaf, leaving two ovaries each and removing the rest of the side branch. As a result, the bush will take the form of an inverted Christmas tree, which will allow it to better absorb nutrition and develop, and will also have a positive effect on the quality and quantity of fruits.

Feeding cucumbers

In order for cucumbers to grow healthy and large, they are fed on average 6-8 times per season. The first feeding is carried out at the beginning of flowering, and each subsequent one two weeks after the previous one. How to fertilize cucumbers? Of the organic matter, cucumbers best perceive a solution of bird droppings in a ratio of 1:25 or mullein 1:10. Solution consumption - 4-6 liters per 1 m². Fertilizers are applied on moist soil, trying not to get on the leaves and stems of plants. Do not fertilize cucumbers during a cold snap, as heat-loving crops are not able to absorb nutrients at low temperatures.

Processing

Readers sometimes complain that ground cucumbers are often exposed to fungal diseases and ask how cucumbers can be treated to increase their immunity to various rots. We offer you a folk way that increases the resistance of cucumbers to diseases. Lubricate the lower 10 cm of vertically growing cucumber stems with diluted water in a ratio of 1: 2 with iodine or brilliant green - plants treated in this way do not need fungicides. To protect cucumbers from rot, preventive treatment of plants is carried out with a solution of 10 ml of iodine in 10 liters of water.

Pests and diseases

The fight against diseases of cucumbers and their pests is too serious a topic, and one section cannot fit here, so we will provide detailed information about all cucumber enemies in a separate article. In it, we will also talk about why cucumbers dry, why cucumbers turn yellow and how to process cucumbers when infected with a particular disease. For now, let's just name the diseases and pests that you will have to deal with if you begin to neglect the rules for growing and caring for cucumbers. So, what are the diseases of cucumbers?

Among the diseases dangerous for cucumbers are anthracnose, bacteriosis, ascochitosis, verticillium, powdery mildew (true and false), black leg, black mold, gray rot, olive and brown spot and ring mosaic.

There are also a lot of insects that can harm cucumbers: aphids, gall nematodes, mole crickets, scoops, sprout flies, tobacco thrips, spider mites and wireworms.

Slugs are also dangerous.

To control diseases and pests of vegetable plants used for food, it is desirable not to use chemicals, especially at the stage of formation and development of fruits. There are many time-tested folk ways to get rid of this kind of trouble, and we will definitely tell you about them.

Collection and storage

Cucumbers are harvested as they ripen, and when fruiting begins, this must be done at least once every two days, otherwise the cucumbers will outgrow, turn yellow and prevent the formation of new greens. In addition to collecting ripe fruits, all unsuccessful and ugly fruits must be removed. The more often you shoot greens, the more abundant new ones will grow. Since cucumbers 8-12 cm in size are used for canning, from 8 to 18 cm for pickling, and larger cucumbers are also suitable for salad, you can adjust the number of fruits for the purpose you need by the frequency of collection.

For example, with daily harvesting of greens, cucumbers for canning will begin to grow intensively, with harvesting once every two days there will be more raw materials for pickling. After the first frost, you will have to collect all the fruits.

Greens should be picked early in the morning or in the evening in such a way that the stalk remains on the whip, so it is better to cut the cucumbers, and not to pull or pull. When taking out a cucumber growing in the depths of a bush, try not to turn the whips over. Do not keep the collected fruits in the sun, immediately place them in a cool shade. Fresh cucumbers are stored, unfortunately, for a very short time, which is why they are marinated and salted in large quantities, but greens can lie down for a week or two with proper handling.

You can put the cucumbers in a pot of water and keep them there for up to ten days, tightly covered and changing the water daily. You can lightly beat the egg white, coat it with cleanly washed cucumbers and let this coating dry - after this treatment, the cucumbers can be stored without putting them in the refrigerator. It is good to store cucumbers in a village or in a country house, if there is a deep stream nearby that does not freeze in winter: thick-skinned cucumbers are put in a barrel and lowered into running water. With this method of storage, cucumbers will be fresh until the middle of winter.

Species and cultivars

According to their intended use, cucumber varieties are divided into salad, canning and universal varieties. Cucumbers of canned varieties have a thin skin, they are distinguished by a high content of sugars, which is very important for pickling and canning. The coarser and thicker skin of lettuce varieties prevents the penetration of brine and marinade into the vegetable, but these cucumbers are much tastier fresh than canned greens. Universal cucumbers can be both canned and consumed fresh.

Canned cucumbers include the following varieties: Business, Brigantina, Rodnichok, Favorit, Voronezh, Salting, Harvest 86, Reliable, Nezhinsky local, Competitor, Cascade.

Salad varieties: Adam, Graceful, Movir, Saltan, Phoenix, Parade, Synthesis, Rzhavsky local.

Universal varieties of cucumbers: Stork, Epilogue, Marinda, Regia, Duet, Cruise, Crane, Farmer, Sagittarius, Moravian gherkin, Khabar and others.

According to the ripening time, cucumbers are divided into early-ripening, ripening in 32-45 days, mid-ripening, which need 40 to 45 days for full maturity, and late-ripening varieties, ripening up to 50 days or longer.

Early varieties and hybrids include: Liliput, Graceful, Zabiyaka, Emelya, Zadavaka, Blizzard.

Mid-ripe varieties of cucumbers: Pikas, Athlete, Stepnoy, Solnechny, Unity, Far East 27, Competitor, Topolek.

Late varieties: Nezhinsky, Phoenix, Khrust, Secret, Chinese climbing, Spring, Chinese miracle, Parisian, Mother-in-law.

Cucumbers are divided into hybrids and varieties: hybrids during seed propagation do not retain their properties, like varietal cucumbers, capable of transmitting the characteristics of a variety through several generations. But hybrids begin to bear fruit earlier and more abundantly, in addition, they are stored longer and turn yellow much later than varietal cucumbers, so hybrid seeds are more valuable and much more expensive than varietal cucumber seeds.

Hybrid varieties include: Buyan, Marinda, Othello, Parker, Regina, Pasadena, Business, Ajax, Brigantine, German, Emelya, Katyusha, Lastochka, True friends and others.

According to the type of pollination, cucumbers are divided into bee-pollinated, which are grown in open ground, and self-pollinated, or parthenocarpic, grown both in greenhouses and in the garden.

Bee pollinated varieties of cucumbers: Athlete, Zhuravlyonok, Table, Graceful, Lyubimchik, Slavyansky, Katyusha, Competitor, Casanova, Nugget, Swallow and others.

Self-pollinated varieties: Adam, Aelita, Stella, Yuventa, Russian style, Romance, Picnic, Navruz, Marta, Pasadena, Voyage, Danila, Amazonka, White Angel and others.

According to the size of greens, cucumbers are divided into gherkins, the length of which is not more than 8 cm, and salad-type cucumbers intended for eating raw.

Gherkins include varieties of German selection: Adam, Graceful, Othello, Libelle and others.

By the nature of the surface, cucumbers are small-tuberous and large-tuberous, and the spikes on them can be white or black.

White-thorn lettuce varieties: Emerald stream, Chinese snakes, Chinese heat-resistant.

Black-thorned pickling varieties: Nightingale, Real Colonel, Zasolochny, Lilliput, Aquarius and others.

If you are interested in exotic varieties and hybrids, there are many of them among cucumbers. For example:

Chinese long-fruited cucumbers

whose stem reaches 3.5 m in length, and the fruits - from 40 to 90 cm, however, they amaze not only with their size and excellent taste, but also with ease of cultivation, unpretentious care and high yield . The most common varieties are: Chinese miracle, Chinese long-fruited, Chinese farmer's, Chinese white, Emerald stream, Lio Ming, Chinese disease-resistant;

Armenian cucumbers

have a very unusual appearance: ribbed fruits up to 50 cm long and weighing up to a kilogram are covered with a silvery-white fluff. The stems of Armenian cucumbers reach a length of 4 meters. Grow this curiosity both in the open field and in the greenhouse. Varieties: Silver melon, White Bogatyr, Chalk on Flehu-ozus;

Italian Cucumbers

So called because they are the result of the work of Italian breeders. Outwardly, they look like Armenian cucumbers - the same ribbed ones. But the color of the peel, depending on the variety, can be light green, like the Arbuzze variety, or Tortorello, the taste of which simultaneously resembles both watermelon and cucumber, or dark green, which eventually becomes orange-yellow, like the Barrese variety, cucumber flavored with watermelon;

Crystal Apple

English breeders have managed to develop an amazing cucumber hybrid that looks more like a lemon, although it tastes like an ordinary cucumber. For some reason this miracle is called the Crystal Apple. These lemon-cucumbers, called apples, grow on a six-meter stem;

White cucumbers

Equally well-growing both in greenhouses and in the garden, they form long whips, are not afraid of diseases and fifty-degree heat. The most delicate sweetish cucumbers reach a length of 20 cm, the only drawback of white cucumbers is that they quickly outgrow. The best varieties: Italian white, Snow Leopard, Bride, Snow White, White Angel, Three White Leaves;

Mini-cucumber

Or melotria rough is an ornamental perennial climber from Africa with rich green leaves that do not change color until October, and small fruits up to 2.5 cm in diameter, similar to watermelons, but to taste which are ordinary cucumbers that can be eaten fresh, or can be salted or canned;

Indian cucumber

Or momordica, can be easily grown both in the garden and on the windowsill. The foliage of the plant is decorative, bright yellow flowers smell like jasmine, and tuberous elongated fruits gradually change color from dark green to bright orange as they grow. When the fruit ripens, it opens and becomes like a crocodile with its mouth open, which is why the vegetable is often called “crocodile cucumber”;

Trichosanth serpentine cucumber

Also a gourd plant widely cultivated in Southwest Asia. Trichosanth is unpretentious in care and immune to diseases, its fruits, reaching a length of 120 cm, are cylindrical in shape, and they wriggle like snakes, changing color from green to orange as they ripen. Trichosanth flowers resemble weightless snowflakes with a diameter of 4 cm;

Red Cucumber Tladianta dubious

Perennial climber up to 5 m tall native to Southeast Asia. The leaves of the tladianta are light green, heart-shaped, tulip-like flowers are bright yellow, the fruits are small, suitable for canning and pickling, until they outgrow 15 cm and begin to turn red.

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