Cucumbers are a vegetable culture of the Pumpkin family, which is popular all over the world. You can get a year-round conveyor of fresh produce. This vegetable crop is cultivated in open ground, stationary and film greenhouses, greenhouses and even on the window at home. The formation of the bush and the planting pattern of cucumbers will depend on the selected method of cultivation.
Growing cucumbers
Before starting to grow plants, you should study their basic characteristics and the necessary conditions for cultivation. A heat-loving vegetable crop for normal development and fruiting will require a sufficient amount of moisture, light. Important is the fertility and composition of the soil. There are a huge number of varieties and hybrids of cucumbers. Pickling or salad, bee pollinating or self-pollinating species have different ripening times.
Cucumbers on a vegetable bed
Outdoor cultivation is a method that does not require additional costs. Soil fertility must be taken care of in the fall. In the spring, the plot is leveled, the soil is loosened and enriched with trace elements. Do not forget about crop rotation. Vegetables such as onions, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and peas will be the best predecessors for cucumbers. Sowing of seeds begins at a soil temperature of twelve to fifteen degrees Celsius.
How to plant cucumbers in open ground?
For sowing, dry or pre-treated seeds are used. The seed is subjected to heat treatment, pickled and soaked in solutions of trace elements. Sown it in a tape two-way way. The planting pattern of cucumbers depends on the selected variety and soil composition.
Depth of landing is as follows:
- light soils - four to five centimeters;
- loams - three to four centimeters.
Aisles for varieties of different ripening periods are:
- early ripe - sixty to seventy centimeters;
- mid-season and late - seventy-ninety centimeters.
Hybrids of cucumbers provide a larger area, expanding the row spacings to a meter. You can also use double-sided tape rows. The scheme for planting cucumbers is as follows:
- the distance between the tapes is ninety centimeters;
- aisles - forty centimeters.
In open ground, planting can be done in seedlings.
Pre-grown plants by the time of planting should have two or three true leaves. The scheme for planting cucumbers is the same as for sowing seeds.
Tapestry growing method
Cucumbers are moody plants. They are susceptible to diseases that significantly reduce the fruiting period and the quality of the vegetable crop. To increase productivity, you can use the trellis method of cultivation. The lashes of the plant will be vertical. The scheme for planting cucumbers on a trellis is as follows:
- aisles - one and a half meters;
- short-haired varieties: between the holes in a row - fifteen to twenty centimeters;
- long-variegated varieties: between the holes in a row - twenty-five to thirty centimeters.
Pillars are installed in the center of the ridge. Their sufficient height is up to two meters. The number of supports is arbitrarily selected. Moreover, they are installed throughout the ridge. Between the columns pull three levels of wire at a height:
- the first is fifteen centimeters;
- the second is one meter;
- the third is two meters.
A plastic net is attached to the wire, the cell width of which is fifteen to twenty centimeters.
The lashes of
cucumbers on the trellis will feel great. With this method of cultivation, they are less susceptible to disease, the fruiting period is extended. The quality of vegetable products is improving.
How to grow an early crop of cucumbers?
Heat-loving plants differ in certain planting dates. For cucumbers, they are determined by the temperature of the soil and the environment. The use of greenhouses will accelerate the production of early vegetable products.
Indoor ground preparation begins in March. Pre-prepared manure is laid in a greenhouse. Its layer should be at least forty-five centimeters. To make the warmed ridge work, it is covered with frames and mats. Three days later, manure is added. A soil layer is laid on it. Irrigate with warm water. After the soil temperature in the greenhouse reaches twenty-five degrees, cucumber seedlings are planted in it.
The scheme for planting cucumbers in a greenhouse should ensure the full development of plants. In closed ground use self-pollinated varieties. Plants are planted in pairs in the middle of the greenhouse. The number of plants depends on the size of the frame. Usually three to five plants are planted. After this, the frames are covered with mats for several days.
Film Greenhouses
You can get early products, not only using greenhouse frames. A good harvest will please cucumbers grown in film greenhouses. This method will require certain costs for the construction of closed soil. Getting early production is worth it.
In film greenhouses, seeds of cucumbers of early ripening self-pollinated varieties and hybrids are used. The soil is prepared in the fall. For the favorable development of cucumbers, it must be fertile and loose. To do this, make organic fertilizers. In order to prevent diseases, they carry out soil disinfection measures.
In the spring, before the preparation of high ridges, mineral fertilizer is applied. This method of growing in a film greenhouse will improve the drainage properties of the soil. Plants will be strong and resistant to disease.
To speed up early production in greenhouses, cucumbers are planted with seedlings pre-grown at home.
This event falls on the second decade of March or the beginning of April. In the phase of the four true leaves, the potted seedlings are ready for planting. In this case, the soil should warm up to fifteen degrees Celsius. Three to four plants per square meter - with such a density, double-row tapes, plant cucumbers in a greenhouse.
The landing scheme is as follows:
- inter-tape distance - one hundred centimeters;
- aisles in ribbons - fifty centimeters;
- between the holes in the row - fifty centimeters.
Cucumbers are grown in a vertical or trellis way.
Care for cucumbers when growing
On the plot you can use different methods of cultivation of vegetable crops. Quite often they combine the greenhouse or greenhouse method and the open ground option. At the same time, caring for the plant is identical regardless of how to grow cucumbers. The beds require constant cultivation and removal of weeds. Plants need a lot of moisture, which is replenished with regular watering. Active growth, normal development and excellent yield is ensured by regular fertilizer application.