A hotbed is a simple structure that is designed for growing seedlings. It protects vegetables under the film from rain, wind and low temperatures. The greenhouse differs from a greenhouse, which is usually more than 3 m, with a small height not exceeding 1.5 m. In addition, greenhouses are heated structures, and greenhouses are heated by sunlight and heat that is released during the oxidation of biofuels. They are constructed where it is impossible to grow cucumbers in the open ground due to the unfavorable climate.
What should be the greenhouses for cucumbers?
The sun brings both benefit and harm to the vegetable. Much depends on the degree of illumination and its duration. The greenhouse for cucumbers should be located in a place where daylight most gets. It is important that it penetrates, therefore it is advisable to keep the film or glass clean. In the greenhouse itself, air must circulate, which will provide the proper percentage of humidity. All these factors directly affect the growth and development of the plant. You can build special ventilation windows and more often arrange ventilation. It is advisable to install a thermometer inside the greenhouse in order to open the windows with a large increase in temperature, and, on the contrary, close the windows when the temperature drops. Too high a temperature will deplete the plant, even if the soil is wet, and a low temperature can lead to death.
How to choose a place for a greenhouse?
The main point when choosing a site for a greenhouse for cucumbers is lighting. It is not suitable for the construction of a lowland, precipitation will accumulate there. Too high a place is also not suitable, because it is a rather windy area. The greenhouse should be placed on level ground without tall plants close by.
What to build a greenhouse from?
It is very simple to assemble a greenhouse for cucumbers with your own hands, materials for this will require inexpensive and affordable.
To cover the greenhouse, polyethylene is most often used in the form of a conventional or reinforced film, as well as in the form of a non-woven covering material, and polycarbonate is least often used.
The basis of the greenhouse for cucumbers can be assembled in any shape: triangular, arched, square, in the form of a house. To build the foundation, various materials are used: wooden bars, polypropylene pipes, metal fittings and even window frames. The greenhouse can be both a temporary shelter structure and a solid stationary structure.
The best greenhouses for cucumbers
- Arc-shaped greenhouse.
- Wooden grating construction.
- Stationary wooden greenhouse.
- The structure of the metal base.
- A greenhouse made of old window frames.
- Mini-construction for seedlings.
Let's consider how to make a greenhouse for cucumbers with your own hands.
Arc-shaped greenhouse
This is the most famous version of the greenhouse for cucumbers. The construction looks like a tunnel.
To build this greenhouse you will need arcs made of a plastic pipe, and polyethylene, which is stretched on top. The film is well fixed on the ground, and the base of the arcs can be stuck in the ground. An acceptable distance between arcs is 50 cm. To prevent arcs from bending, it is necessary to make stiffeners in the form of wooden battens placed vertically. You can also attach supports under extreme arcs, which will strengthen the structure and enable the greenhouse to serve a whole season.
The main advantage is the ease of construction. Such a greenhouse for cucumbers is not at all difficult to move or dismantle. The downside is that the building is fragile. Therefore, it is advisable to further strengthen the basis.
Greenhouse made of wooden trellises
Unlike a greenhouse made of arcs and polyethylene, a greenhouse made of wooden gratings will be a more stable and strong building. Such a greenhouse is being assembled for cucumbers with their own hands rather quickly. The disadvantage can be considered that the height of the greenhouse will be small, it will be used only for seedlings and early greenery.
In the middle of the base, a stand is attached, and two bars are attached to it. Thus, a triangle is obtained in cross section. Depending on the length of the greenhouse, the same structure is built through each meter. Then, a block is attached from above that connects all the triangles to each other. The film is covered on top.
In such a do-it-yourself greenhouse, cucumbers are grown until they begin to curl. After that, the covering material is removed, racks are attached to the side parts, twine is tied between them.
Stationary wooden greenhouse
A stationary greenhouse constructed from wooden planks and bars will be an even more reliable construction option. Even a beginner who has had at least some experience working with a saw and a hammer can assemble such a structure. The size and shape of the building depends on the area of free space, materials and skills.
Stationary hotbeds are comfortable in that they do not require assembly and disassembly from year to year. The wooden base is always installed in one place, you only need to prepare the soil and plant seedlings. By construction, this building is similar to a greenhouse.
First they build a foundation, make it out of concrete, bricks or knock down a wooden box from thick beams. If the base is made of bars, you need to choose a thickness of 50x50 mm. For stationary greenhouses, a roof opening is usually done so that there is direct access to vegetables. If a plastic film is used for cladding, then it will have to be changed every year. The most durable option is a polycarbonate or glass greenhouse for cucumbers.
Metal base greenhouse
A greenhouse made of a metal base will last more than one season. From the welded frame, the greenhouse will turn out to be reliable, but this will not be a collapsible design, although if you wish, you can also make a collapsible. Such a base can be covered with polyethylene or cellular polycarbonate. In the greenhouse, the latter makes ideal conditions for the growth of cucumbers, it protects well from the cold and perfectly keeps the air temperature inside.
Usually such a greenhouse is small in size, easily installed in any area. The construction is quite solid, withstands wind, rain and snow.
It is important to remember that metal is susceptible to corrosion - this is certainly a minus. To avoid this, parts of the future frame are pre-treated with a special rust preventative. But the main disadvantage is the high humidity inside the greenhouse.
Greenhouse from old window frames
The construction of such a building is very simple. The greenhouse is suitable for growing not only cucumbers, but also peppers and tomatoes.
To build, you will need:
- old window frames;
- two long boards;
- wooden blocks;
- brick - for the foundation;
- self-tapping screws - for connecting frames.
Sizes: the length, width and height of the greenhouse is determined by the size and number of frames available.
Before you start collecting the greenhouse, you need to make sure that all frames are the same size.
Sequencing:
- Trim boards and bars to the required size, grease them with bitumen mastic.
- Lay out a foundation of bricks around the perimeter of a future building.
- Lay wooden blocks on top of the bricks.
- On the inside of the bars perpendicularly with the help of screws, fix the boards. The distance between them should be slightly less than the width of the frames.
- On the outside of the boards, still fix the boards in a horizontal position, which will be flush with the ends of the vertical supports.
- Next, attach rafters in the form of a house to the ends of the supports, so that water does not accumulate at the top of the greenhouse, but flows down.
- Then fix the window frames on the assembled base. It is important that at least one frame is opened for access inside.
Mini greenhouses for seedlings
For growing seedlings, mini-greenhouses will be ideal, which can be built, for example, from boxes, and covered with a film on top. The above methods of assembling the greenhouse will also work, only the sizes will be correspondingly smaller.
Greenhouse heating
It is best if the greenhouse keeps the temperature at the same level. Heating can be arranged using electricity. For this method, you must:
- Lay gravel at the bottom of the greenhouse, the size of the layer is 2 cm.
- Pour 3 cm of washed sand.
- Lay heating wires with a snake.
- Top up with 5 cm of washed sand.
- Lay a metal sheet to protect the wires from mechanical damage.
- The ends of the wires are connected to a 220 V network.
- Lay the soil for seedlings on a sheet.
This method is considered quite expensive, therefore, to save costs, the easiest option would be to use sunlight for heating.
An alternative to heating is the use of biofuels. On top of the soil, you need to lay manure, pour hot water, after which the oxidation process will start, which will release heat. This method is the most affordable and effective.
First, manure is used as a heater, then it becomes fertilizer. When planting, you need to put two seeds in one recess, so it will be more effective. When sprouts appear, the strong must be left, and the less strong should be removed. No need to sow seeds tightly, because of this there will be less yield and the plant will not develop properly. As an additional protection against the cold, you can lay a light canvas over the cucumbers.
Due to the high temperatures inside the greenhouse, one should not forget about daytime airing.
Before filling manure, it is necessary to cover the perimeter of the greenhouse with insulation, such as polystyrene, or plank the soil, and lay a layer of straw, foliage or peat on top of the soil. The more foliage is used, the lower will be the air temperature inside the greenhouse. Layers of manure and foliage must be alternated between each other, so the heat will remain longer. It must be borne in mind that after a while the entire embankment will settle, therefore, initially they are laid high. It is important that the foliage is not rotten. Soil for seedlings is laid on top of biofuel. To use biofuels for a greenhouse, some rules should be followed. It is also important to understand that the method of laying depends on what type of manure is used.
Horse manure - in terms of the temperature allocated in the first place. A week after laying, heating the air in the greenhouse can reach a mark of + 50 ° C to + 60 ° C. This temperature persists for almost two months, and then drops to + 20 ° C. Therefore, horse manure should be placed in greenhouses intended for early seedlings.
Cow dung - it is considered good biofuel, as a result of oxidation, the temperature inside the greenhouse reaches +40 ° to +50 ° . Heat release continues for two weeks. Pig manure produces less heat than cow manure - from +40 ° C to +45 ° C. This air temperature lasts for two weeks.
Sheep, goat and rabbit manure are no worse than horse manure , they release about the same amount of heat during oxidation.
Temperature and time for sowing
If you make a good and high-quality greenhouse - tomatoes and cucumbers will receive the necessary heat and protection. In any case, you need to take into account the external climatic conditions and weather changes, since a sharp increase in the outside temperature and intense sunlight will negatively affect the crop. Inside the greenhouse there will already be completely uncomfortable conditions under which the plant may die. The best greenhouse varieties of cucumbers are self-pollinating hybrids. They are distinguished by good productivity and resistance to many specific diseases. There are a lot of varieties. Popular F1 hybrids are Pinocchio, Quadrille, Ginga and Cupid. Among the Dutch seeds are in demand "Angelina", "Hector F1", "Bettina F1". Planting cucumbers in a greenhouse is quite simple. Landing is best done in seedlings.
How is care taken?
Growing cucumbers in a greenhouse requires proper care. As soon as the first crop appears, systems for the garter must be installed inside the greenhouse. Depending on the type of vegetable, you need to fertilize, carefully monitor so that parasites and fungus do not appear.