Who doesn’t like cucumbers, so crispy, fragrant, delicious? It seems that there is no person in Russia who is indifferent to this green pimply vegetable both in fresh, and in a salty or pickled form.
Smart and enterprising people also adore cucumbers, the cultivation of which can bring very good money. The yield of this vegetable in the open ground, with high agricultural technology, can produce up to 70 tons per hectare, and in greenhouse conditions, from one square meter, you can collect 46 kg of cucumbers.
What exactly is a cucumber? This is a large amount of water, about 94-97% and very little sugar (1.5-2%), protein (1%) and fiber (0.75%). It also contains a certain amount of aromatic substances, pectonizing enzymes, vitamins and minerals. The cucumber especially boasts of iodine content, it is more in this vegetable than in any other, including potatoes.
There are different ways of growing cucumbers: on open soil, in greenhouses, on the windowsill in a city apartment - everywhere this gift of nature, with proper agricultural technology, will produce high yields of products.
When grown on open soil, cucumbers should be planted on well-lit and sheltered from the wind plots of land, preferably on the southern or south-western slopes. The best predecessors for them are peas, early cabbage, beans, tomatoes, onions, early potatoes. If it is not possible to change the place of planting every year, then they can be grown in one place for 4-6 years in a row, and you should definitely burn leaves and plant debris in the autumn on the plot, the ash of which is the best fertilizer for cucumbers. Still carry out deep digging and very carefully destroy weeds in the immediate vicinity of the place of growth of cucumbers. Around the site with cucumbers, it is better to plant tall plants that will serve as protection from the wind for cucumbers.
Traditional agricultural technology for growing cucumbers suggests that the soil beneath them should be loose, fluffy, moist and free from weeds. The introduction of peat compost, manure or decayed urban waste into the soil is very beneficial for the crop.
Seeds are recommended to be hardened before planting. This procedure is carried out as follows: the seeds are soaked in water at room temperature for 7 hours, then the water is drained, the seeds are wrapped in a wet towel and placed in the refrigerator for 17 hours, then introduced into the room for 7 hours and then again in the refrigerator for 17 hours. The hardening procedure is recommended to be carried out for 6-7 days, wetting the napkin all the time and only after that the seeds are planted in the ground.
Seed pelleting has become very popular in recent years - this is when they are first wetted with diluted glue, and then covered with a layer of a mixture of peat dust with humus, mineral fertilizers, growth stimulants and insectofungicides. Such a procedure helps to ensure that the seedlings are provided with the necessary nutrition and, at the same time, already at the initial stage, are protected from pests and diseases. When sowing drazhirovanny seeds seedlings obtained are thickened and uniform, the similarity increases by 20-40%, the growth of young roots and growths increases, moreover, such seeds do not peck the birds.
The main task in the agricultural technology of this vegetable, no matter what methods of growing cucumbers are used, is to obtain friendly seedlings. Therefore, the seeds should be laid in moist, well-warmed, loose soil and planted to a depth of about 3-4 cm.
Cucumber seeds can be sown on ridges and on a flat plot in a squarely nesting manner. In this case, the plot is marked in two directions, every 70 cm, holes 10-12 cm in size are made in the corners of the squares formed and 12-15 pieces of seeds are sown in them.
It should be remembered that cucumbers, the cultivation of which is painstaking, but fascinating and grateful, absolutely cannot tolerate dimming, so timely weeding and thinning of seedlings is very important. Thinning should be done in the phase of 3-4 leaves.
Among all vegetables, cucumbers are the most demanding of water and air; they should be grown at a soil moisture of 65-75%, since excess moisture is harmful to them. Most shown to plants are refreshing frequent watering in small portions, especially during fruiting.
Harvest fruits should be harvested every two to three days, tearing off absolutely everything: both hooks and overgrown growths.
Plant cucumbers, growing them can bring not only a good harvest, but also moral satisfaction, and a pickled cucumber from a garden in your winter, will make you proud of yourself and forget about all the difficulties and concerns associated with growing it.