Cucumbers are a vegetable crop of the Pumpkin family, which is popular all over the world. You can get a year-round conveyor of fresh products. This vegetable crop is cultivated in open ground, stationary and film greenhouses, greenhouses, and even on a window at home. The formation of the bush and the scheme for planting cucumbers will depend on the chosen growing method.
Growing cucumbers
Before you start growing plants, you should study their main characteristics and the necessary conditions for cultivation. A heat-loving vegetable crop for normal development and fruiting will require a sufficient amount of moisture and light. The fertility and composition of the soil is also important. There are a huge number of varieties and hybrids of cucumbers. Pickled or lettuce, bee-pollinated or self-pollinated species have different ripening periods.
Cucumbers in the vegetable patch
Growing in the open ground is a method that does not require additional costs. About soil fertilityneeds to be taken care of in the fall. In the spring, the site is leveled, the soil is loosened and enriched with microelements. We should not forget about crop rotation. The best predecessors for cucumbers are vegetables such as onions, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and peas. Sowing seeds begins at a soil temperature of twelve to fifteen degrees Celsius.
How to plant cucumbers outdoors?
Dry or pretreated seeds are used for sowing. The seed material is subjected to heat treatment, pickled and soaked in microelement solutions. It is sown in a double-sided tape method. The scheme for planting cucumbers depends on the selected variety and soil composition.
The planting depth is as follows:
- light soils - four to five centimeters;
- loam - three to four centimeters.
Row spacing for varieties of different maturation periods is:
- early ripe - sixty to seventy centimeters;
- mid-season and late - seventy-ninety centimeters.
Cucumber hybrids provide more area, expanding row spacing up to a meter. You can also use tape double-sided rows. The scheme for planting cucumbers is as follows:
- the distance between the ribbons is ninety centimeters;
- spacing - forty centimeters.
In open ground, seedlings can be planted.
Pre-grown plants must havetwo or three true leaves. The scheme for planting cucumbers is the same as for sowing seeds.
Tree growing method
Cucumbers are capricious 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 growing. The lashes of the plant will be vertical. The scheme for planting cucumbers on a trellis is as follows:
- spacing - one and a half meters;
- short-braid varieties: between holes in a row - fifteen to twenty centimeters;
- long climbing varieties: twenty-five to thirty centimeters between holes in a row.
Pillars are installed in the center of the ridge. Their sufficient height is up to two meters. The number of supports is chosen arbitrarily. At the same time, they are installed throughout the ridge. Three levels of wire are pulled between the posts at a height:
- first - fifteen centimeters;
- second - one meter;
- third - two meters.
A plastic mesh is attached to the wire, the width of the cells of which is fifteen to twenty centimeters.
Cucumber lashes on the trellis will feel great. With this method of cultivation, they are less susceptible to diseases, the fruiting period is extended. The quality of vegetable products is improving.
How to grow an early crop of cucumbers?
Heat-loving plants are distinguished by certain planting dates. For cucumbers theydetermined by the temperature of the soil and the environment. The use of greenhouses will speed up the production of early vegetable products.
Preparation of covered ground begins in March. Pre-prepared manure is laid in a greenhouse. Its layer must be at least forty-five centimeters. In order for the insulated ridge to work, it is covered with frames and mats. After three days, manure is added. A soil layer is laid on it. Produce watering 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 conditions, self-pollinated varieties are used. 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 that, the frames are covered with mats for several days.
Foil greenhouses
You can get early production, 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 a closed ground structure. However, getting early production is worth it.
Cucumber seeds of early ripe self-pollinated varieties and hybrids are used in film greenhouses. The soil has been prepared since autumn. For the favorable development of cucumbers, it must be fertile and loose. For this, organic fertilizers are applied. In order to prevent diseases, disinfection measures are takensoil.
In the spring, before preparing 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 disease resistant.
To speed up early production in greenhouses, cucumbers are planted with pre-grown seedlings.
This event falls on the second decade of March or early April. In the phase of four true leaves, potted seedlings are ready for planting. In this case, the soil should warm up to fifteen degrees Celsius. Three or four plants per square meter - with such a density, double-row tapes, they plant cucumbers in a greenhouse.
The landing scheme is as follows:
- between the tape distance is one hundred centimeters;
- aisles in ribbons - fifty centimeters;
- between the holes in a row - fifty centimeters.
Cucumbers are grown vertically or trellis.
Care for growing cucumbers
On the plot, you can use different methods of cultivating vegetables. Quite often they combine the greenhouse or greenhouse method and the open ground option. At the same time, plant care is identical regardless of how to grow cucumbers. The beds require constant loosening and removal of weeds. Plants need a lot of moisture, which is replenished by regular watering. Active growth, normal development and excellent returncrop is ensured by regular fertilization.
