Cucumber is the only vegetable that is eaten unripe. In order for all its useful properties to be preserved during cultivation, you need to properly care for the plants. Read the article about how a cucumber bush is formed in a greenhouse and open ground.
Historical background
Cucumbers became known 6,000 years ago. Their historical homeland is India. In this country, varieties are grown today, the stems of which feel comfortable on tree trunks and fences. They are braided all the squares and walls of buildings.
The fruits of cucumbers are called berries. In Japan and China, the fertility of a vegetable can be envied. Harvest in these countries is harvested three times a year. First, cucumbers are grown in boxes and on roofs, and then - on the beds in the garden. By the time of harvest, huge fruits are hanging from the trellises, reaching 1.5 meters in length. Chinese varieties of cucumbers are grown in greenhouses in Europe.
In our country, the first mention of a vegetable dates back to the 9th century. During the reignPeter I began to grow cucumbers in special farms - greenhouses. They immediately won recognition from the Russians, and therefore took root here better than in European countries.
Why form cucumber bushes?
This is necessary for the penetration of air and light to the bushes, to rid the plants of diseases, to get a good harvest. Vegetable growers very often do not consider the formation of a cucumber bush a necessary procedure. Indeed, this is not necessary if the plants grow in a climate suitable for them or in conditions without saving space. But when every piece of land counts in a greenhouse, and summer is short, it becomes necessary to provide plants with acceptable growing conditions.
The reasons why the formation of a cucumber bush is necessary are as follows:
- If the growth and formation of the ovaries is uncontrolled, the roots will not be able to provide them with water and nutrition. Most of the fruits will not ripen or even grow - they simply will not have time, but they will receive nutrition, taking it away from the previously formed ovaries, which will grow tasteless and deformed. Growing cucumbers, the formation of a bush of which is carried out according to all the rules, does not cause trouble and guarantees a harvest.
- If the cucumber stalks turn into thickets, the supply of fresh oxygen and the penetration of light will be insufficient. In this case, do not expect good quality fruits.
- Thickening of shoots is the main cause of pests and diseases in cucumbers.
- Formationcucumber bush facilitates care. The stems of many varieties of culture need to be tied up. Given that cucumbers are liana-like plants, their lashes will spread along the surface of the earth. Cucumbers will rot when they come into contact with the soil.
Formation of a bush of cucumbers in one stem with a garter
Don't wait for the cucumbers in the greenhouse to stretch. The sooner you tie them up, the better. This is done 14 days after the seedlings are planted. So it will be easier to monitor the appearance of newly formed shoots and ovaries.
To avoid difficulties in maintaining order in the greenhouse, you need to follow the instructions. If you regularly remove the resulting growth, then young cucumbers will begin to grow well. The formation of a bush in a greenhouse is carried out as follows:
- When 12-14 days have passed after planting the plants, they need to be tied to a wire stretched at a sufficiently high height.
- Using sharp scissors, flowers and shoots are removed from the bottom of the stem. Their location at this point is the axils of the first 4-5 leaves.
- The Scourge will begin to grow. When 3-5 more leaves appear on it, the ovaries and flowers in their axils are left, only the lateral shoots are removed.
- In plants growing on another bed, ovaries with side shoots are left. But when leaves are formed on the stems, the shoots above them are pinched.
- They do the same with the grown lashes. At each next site, 2 leaves are left on the side shoots.a leaflet of 3-5, then one more, then two. The tip of the shoot is pinched right above the leaves each time.
- Their leaf axils of the lateral lashes will grow new shoots. You do not need to leave them, they are immediately deleted.
- It's easy to grow cucumbers the right way. The formation of a bush in a greenhouse ends when the top of the main stem is removed. This is done when the length of the whip is greater than the height of the stretched wire. Liana is thrown several times through the device, and when it grows a little, its top is cut off.
It is important to prevent the growth of shoots for a long time, at the very beginning, the top should be removed. If they grow in length by 20-30 centimeters, the bush will greatly weaken. This threatens that the ovaries may suffer - the plant will throw them off.
Formation of bushes without a garter
Cucumbers that do not need a garter are easier to form. There are many ways for any varieties of cucumbers and their hybrids. On the stems of various varieties of cucumbers, which are pollinated by bees, empty flowers appear, they do not form ovaries.
The location of the female flowers, from which the fruits are formed, are lateral shoots. The growth point is pinched when there are 4 leaves on the central stem, and 2-4 on the side shoots.
Most hybrids have only female flowers, so pinch only side shoots above the level of the second leaf. The main stem does not need this.
What is a trellis?
This is a device for the construction of whichyou will need poles for support, metal wire or mesh. Place them on the south side of flat areas with fertile soil. Supports can be wooden stakes or metal pipes 1-2 meters high, depending on the variety of cucumbers. For stability, the supports are dug into the ground for half a meter. A mesh or wire is stretched between them, along which the stems will twist.
Formation of a bush on a trellis
Seedlings grown in this way have a high yield. Usually this method is used for greenhouse cucumbers, but recently it has been increasingly resorted to when growing a vegetable in open-air beds.
Forming a cucumber bush in the open field using a trellis provides plants with light and prevents diseases. Supports are installed every 1.5-2 meters. They put a net on them. A rail is attached from above, which will prevent the net from falling down.
The formation of cucumbers on a trellis in the open field is carried out as usual. In the axils of the first four sheets, the ovaries are removed. In the future, this procedure is not controlled, only the lateral processes are removed.
The formation of a cucumber bush in the open ground with a bouquet arrangement of fruits on the stem is carried out on a trellis. But instead of a grid, a wire is stretched between the supports in a vertical position. In the formation of the bush, another goal is pursued - the removal of all lateral processes, therefore the scheme is different here. You can leave no more than two shoots next to the trellis. First, the ovaries are removed fromthe first 4 leaves, the crop is harvested near the central trunk. Then the same is done in the zone of processes.
The scheme for the formation of a bush of cucumbers can be carried out according to Danish technology - in the form of an umbrella. This is suitable for parthenocarpic cucumbers. This method helps to form a bush of a given height. According to the scheme, shoots and fruits up to 5 leaves are removed. Up to 9 leaves, each sinus can have a fetus. In the future, their number is not standardized. When forming a bush on a trellis in the open field, the yield of cucumbers is much higher.
Care
Cucumbers grown on a trellis give the owner a high yield of good quality. Care, the formation of a bush is to provide comfortable conditions for growth. Growing cucumbers using a trellis method allows the use of drip irrigation, after which the soil must be mulched. So the soil does not dry out, and weeds will grow less. Leaves that for some reason have turned yellow and dried up should be cut off and thrown away, not left in the planting area.
Cucumbers are fed 5-6 times per season. The first time this is done when three leaves appear. To increase the green mass, the plant needs nitrogen. To do this, a solution is made: a tablespoon of urea in a bucket of water. A liter of liquid is added under each bush. The second top dressing is done 15 days after the first, mullein is used. The third time the vegetables are fed during the flowering period. At this time, they need potassium, so cucumbers are watered with a solution of ash and water in the proportion of 10 tablespoons per 10 literswater. The last dressing is done during the fruiting period with chicken manure.
Helpful tips
Everyone chooses how to form cucumbers, but good advice is never superfluous.
- Formation of bushes is best done in the morning.
- Pinch the tops before the start of the flowering period and continue until the height of the plant is more than 20 centimeters.
- When flowering or fruiting, do not turn cucumbers in the other direction.
Benefit
Structured water makes up 95% of the total mass of the cucumber, and only 5% are minerals and vitamins. Cucumber water is many times he althier than the water we drink every day. It is comparable in purity to distilled water.
The composition of the cucumber, in addition to water, includes carbohydrates, proteins, fats. In a vegetable weighing 100 g, they are contained in an amount of 3, 7; 0.7, 0.1 g respectively. There are only 13.7 calories in 100 g. The most amazing thing is that cucumbers contain almost all the elements from the periodic table.
The benefits of the vegetable are as follows:
- Any part of the plant is valuable, especially the 8-12 day old ovary. The chemical composition of garden cucumbers is much richer than greenhouse ones.
- The vegetable has antipyretic, analgesic, laxative, antitoxic, antisclerotic, antispasmodic and antitumor effects.
- Cucumber is the strongest diuretic. Its regular use lowers blood pressure and relieves swelling.
- Iodine in the composition of the vegetable helps the thyroid gland, andpotassium to the heart.
- Cucumber organic acids relieve the intestines from decay processes.
- The vegetable is recommended for people with low acidity, gastritis, peptic ulcers and constipation.
- Cucumbers, due to their zinc content, have a beneficial effect in the treatment of diabetes.
