The use of boric acid for spraying and feeding cucumbers
For many summer residents, boric acid for cucumbers is used as a foliar top dressing. It is not surprising that these summer residents have an order of magnitude higher yield of cucumbers, the plants are less sick, and the fruit tastes better. It is useful for every vegetable grower to know everything about the processing of cucumbers with boric acid.
Content
Benefit
Feeding cucumbers with boric acid benefits any plants. Boron is an element that affects the production of phytohormones, participates in the construction of cells, and promotes the absorption of calcium. Boron is especially needed by plants at the following stages of development:
- bud formation;
- ovary formation;
- pouring fruit.
From this it follows that boron is needed for plants no less than potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus. Cucumbers, receiving boron in the required volume, build up green mass well, form a large number of ovaries, cucumbers accumulate an optimal amount of carbohydrates.
The numbers confirm the benefits of boron for cucumbers
Conversations about the benefits of boron have practical evidence. The proof is the positive reviews of summer residents, which are easy to find on the Internet. This is also proved by field tests carried out by specialists. Scientists have grown two groups of cucumbers of the same variety. Some cucumbers were fed with boric acid, others were not.
In the group of cucumbers sprayed with boric acid, the indices of the analyzed parameters were several times higher. The data are shown in the table.
| Parameter | Excess ratio |
| the volume of the vegetative mass of one bush during the flowering period | 1,58 |
| dry matter content | 1,3 |
| weight of fruits harvested from one bush | 1,16 |
Deficiency symptoms
It is easy to find out that it is necessary to feed the vegetable crop with boron. Boron deficiency is known and described:
- the growth of the bush slows down;
- shortened internodes;
- lateral shoots slow down their growth and die off;
- the growth point located on the crown of the shoot (central, lateral) dies off;
- the root system is poorly developed;
- the color and the already formed ovaries crumble.
Excess boron
The unsystematic use of fertilizers containing boron causes significant harm to plants. If the deficiency is easy to fill, then the excess is difficult to normalize. You can find out that the plant has received boron more than the required norm by the following symptoms:
- chlorosis affects the young apical leaves of the cucumber;
- there is a defect in the development of young leaves;
- few female flowers.
Cooking rules
Most summer residents prefer to use boric acid for spraying cucumber bushes.The drug is inexpensive, always sold in horticultural stores, packaged in small packages of 10 g each.
Boric acid is practically insoluble in cold water... Not dissolved crystals, settling on the leaves of cucumbers, cause them to burn. Therefore, it is worth diluting the acid only in hot water. It is recommended to heat it up to 50 ° C.
A boric acid solution is prepared just before spraying. First, crystals (1 tsp) are dissolved in 0.5 cups of hot water, after cooling it is diluted with 2 liters of water. The working fluid temperature should be 22-25 ° C. It is imperative to observe the specified proportions, exceeding the specified rate may lead to negative consequences.
Foliar dressing scheme
Most summer residents use the standard boric acid spraying scheme for cucumbers:
- when the first flowers appear;
- after the appearance of the first ovaries;
- on the wave of fruiting.
Thoroughly spray all the bushes with a solution of boric acid. On a ridge with an area of 10 sq. m is enough 1 liter of micronutrient fertilizer. Process the leaves on both sides. In sunny weather, you should not spray cucumbers. Better to wait for the sun to go down. After transplanting seedlings, a single watering of cucumbers with boric acid is recommended. Root feeding (10 days after transplanting) strengthens the root system.
Boron for bee-pollinated cucumbers
Cultivars and hybrids of cucumbers in the open field are most often bee-pollinated. Experienced summer residents recommend during flowering the original recipe for foliar dressing using sugar and boric acid.
Sweet foliar feeding attracts insects, pollination improves, and the number of fruits increases. The yield on cucumber beds after using such fertilizer increases by 20 percent.
One 10 g pack requires 5 liters of water and 500 g of sugar. First dissolve sugar and acid in 0.5 liters of hot water, bring to full volume after they are completely dissolved. The use of sweet fertilizer makes sense not only for cucumbers - it is also useful for zucchini.
Disease prevention
Bad weather provokes disease outbreaks in cucumbers in the greenhouse and in the ground. It is possible to avoid mosaics, bacteriosis, rot (gray, white), powdery mildew and some other diseases with the help of preventive treatments of cucumber bushes with boric acid and potassium permanganate.
Acid (tablespoon) is required to be diluted in a glass of hot water. Prepare 1 bucket of settled tap water, add a little potassium permanganate to it. The color of the water should turn pale pink. Pour a glass of diluted boric acid into a bucket. Add iodine to the water. 35 drops are enough per bucket.
This solution can be sprayed on healthy plants to prevent diseases and feed the cucumbers when the first symptoms of fungal diseases appear on the leaves and stems. Processed cucumber bushes will cope with the disease in 2-3 days and grow.
Iodine with milk against diseases
A good prophylaxis against all diseases is iodine feeding, carried out every 10 days. As a base, in addition to water (3 l), you can take milk (350 ml), it can be slightly acidic, whey is also suitable. Iodine for this volume of liquid requires only 4 drops.
Seed treatment
Obligatory disease prevention - seed treatment before sowing. It helps to avoid problems with cucumbers in the garden during the summer. Seeds soaked in boric acid germinate faster. To prepare the solution, dissolve 1 g of acid in a liter of hot water. Keep the seeds in liquid fertilizer for 12 hours.
How to get rid of ants with boric acid
Ants often settle on cucumber beds. Insects are especially fond of settling in greenhouse beds, fenced with boards. It is very difficult to destroy them.There are good recipes for boric acid baits that can help reduce the insect population.
For the bait, prepare a sweet solution:
- 100 ml of water;
- 5 g acid;
- 1 tsp jam;
- 2 tbsp. l sugar.
Heat the water, add all the ingredients to it. Pour the resulting liquid into a container. Place it on a cucumber ridge and cover it loosely with a tire.
You can prepare dry ball-shaped bait. Make it from boiled potatoes (3 pcs.), Boiled egg yolks (3 pcs.), 10 g of boric acid. Mix all ingredients thoroughly to obtain a homogeneous mass. Form small balls out of it, spread them in places where ants congregate.
Reviews
Ekaterina, Chelyabinsk
I grow cucumbers in a greenhouse. Last year I read that they are fed during the flowering period with fertilizer, which is made from 10 liters of water and 1 tbsp. l boric acid. This fertilizer was applied 2 times per season. In June, it sprinkled when the cucumber bushes bloomed, and at the end of July, when the leaves began to turn yellow. Ogurtsov collected more during the season than usual. Zelentsy have grown strong, even. The bushes did not hurt, the leaves stopped turning yellow.
Boric acid must be in the arsenal of every summer resident. With its help, you can increase the yield of not only cucumbers. Tomatoes and other vegetables grown in greenhouses and open field respond well to boron.
