Wanting to get an early crop of cucumbers or grow them year-round, many are interested in how to build a greenhouse. If we talk not about the simple shelter of the sown seeds with a film, but about a large stationary greenhouse, then it can later be adapted to growing different vegetables or just greens. The resulting crop can be used for yourself or put on sale.
There is a certain classification of hotbeds: they can be single or gable, ground or in-depth. The first version of the greenhouse is considered more practical. Do-it-yourself single-pitched in-depth greenhouse for cucumbers is done this way: digging a pit, installing boxes (the so-called strapping) and frames. Its dimensions can be any, but the strapping is done around the entire perimeter of the dug recess, while the northern part of the greenhouse is no less than 10 cm higher than the southern. This will guarantee full protection against frost, good lighting and water flow.
The do-it-yourself greenhouse for cucumbers is made of bars or boards 4 cm thick, although thicker options are also suitable. To strengthen the structure, bricks are laid under the walls built of wood. Only after a full installation of the box around the entire perimeter of the future greenhouse does the frame attach to it. It should have windows with the possibility of their fixation in the open position. When all the preparatory work is completed, a film is stretched on the frame or polycarbonate sheets are attached. With warming, the insulation from the frames is removed, but the design itself does not disassemble, remains intact.
If you make such a greenhouse for cucumbers with your own hands, then know that it can even be heated. In this case, you do not have to run pipes with heating in it. The best option would be to use organic fuel: the bottom of the recess is covered with straw or leaves, a layer of horse manure is laid on top , and only then the soil. Rotting, this natural fertilizer generates heat, so a suitable microclimate is created for seedlings.
But you can heat the created greenhouse for cucumbers with your own hands and an electric cable. It is laid on a layer of sand and covered with earth. An important condition for such heating is the proximity of the greenhouse to the house and the ability to plug the cord directly into the outlet, without using several transfers that will lie directly in the garden. In this case, it is important to monitor not only the temperature, but also the humidity in the greenhouse: this method dries the earth quickly enough.
On fine days, there should be about 25-30 degrees of heat inside the greenhouse, at cooler not less than 20 degrees, it is quite acceptable if the temperature drops to 16 degrees at night. But the humidity of both soil and air should be constantly high: this must be monitored.
But there are simpler options for how to make a greenhouse with your own hands. You can simply cover the seeds sown in the ground with a film, and after the first shoots of cucumbers appear, make a dome for each bush so that it reliably covers from the cold, but does not limit the growth of the cucumber. But planting seeds in this case should only begin when the risk of severe frost on the soil finally passes.