How to tie up cucumbers in the open field in the best ways
Cucumbers are a pumpkin crop that can grow up to two meters in height. Many inexperienced vegetable growers do not pay attention to this feature of cucumbers and believe that it is not necessary to tie them up. Also, some people think that untied plants will receive more moisture.
However, this opinion is erroneous, and cucumbers need support. If you do not tie the bushes in a timely manner, they will begin to dry out and break. Therefore, before growing such plants, you need to figure out how to tie up cucumbers in the open field.
Why tie bushes
Not all gardeners know whether to tie up cucumbers outdoors. To understand this, you should familiarize yourself with the main reasons for creating supports for tall bushes.
Tying cucumbers in the open field is done to properly form the bushes and increase their fruiting. There are also other advantages of using this growing method:
- If you tie the cucumbers correctly, then their vine will grow better, and the processes will become longer. Over time, large fruits and inflorescences will begin to appear on them.
- Tied plants suffering from certain diseases will still trudge towards a healthy vine that cannot get infected with the disease.
- Bushes tied to a support look much prettier.
- The design does not take up much space, since the cucumbers grow vertically and do not grow much.
- You need to tie up cucumbers in order to quickly collect ripe fruits and not spend a lot of time looking for them in overgrown bushes.
- The garter of cucumbers in the open field is mandatory, since in its absence, large bushes will begin to break due to heavy fruits, which will lead to the death of the plant.
Materials and tools
Before tying cucumbers in the open field, you should figure out what tools and materials will be needed to perform such work. It is very important to use the most suitable materials that can securely fix the stems. A do-it-yourself garter for cucumbers is created using the following devices:
- rods made of wood or metal;
- strong wire or twine;
- plastic or metal mesh;
- garter material that will fit snugly against the stems of the bushes.
New material for tying cucumbers is chosen very carefully, as unsuitable garters can harm fragile and delicate stems.
The use of wires, threads and lines is not recommended.They will bump hard into bushes and pinch them. This can lead to the death of the plant.
The best material for tying cucumbers is cotton fabric. Its strength will be enough to securely hold the plant. It is also quite wide and will not harm the stems of the bushes. Nylon synthetic fabrics can be used instead. For example, ruined tights are sometimes used to tie bushes. They are strong, soft, stretch well and do not pinch the stem.
Also, for the garter of cucumbers, you can use special clips, which are reusable devices. They are made of plastic and are great for supporting brushes of heavy cucumbers. The clips can be used for many years until they break.
People who grow cucumbers on an industrial scale are better off tying the bushes with a special tool, the principle of which is very much like a stapler. It can be used to tie the stem to the support.
Basic methods
Many do not know how best to tie cucumbers. There are two main methods for fixing bushes. The methods of tying cucumbers in the open field differ from each other and therefore each of them must be considered separately.
Horizontal
To understand how to properly tie up the bushes in a horizontal way, you should familiarize yourself with its features.
This method is the most beneficial and easiest for people who have not previously been involved in growing cucumbers. To do this, it is necessary to hammer two supports near the garden, which can be used as ordinary wooden posts or metal pipes. A strong rope should be pulled between the supports in several rows. The distance between them is not too large and is about 35-40 cm.
To carry out the garter, the stems are neatly tied to a knot to the support from below. When the bushes begin to grow up, several knots are made on the supports to attach additional vertical ropes.
The main significant disadvantage of the horizontal method is that the stems that have reached the top support will hang down. To avoid this problem, it is recommended to periodically remove long shoots or make a very high support.
Vertical
This simplest method is also often used by gardeners. To understand how to make a vertical garter, you should read the basic guidelines.
First, special supports are installed at the edges of the beds. Then a strong rope is stretched horizontally at their top. It serves as a support for tying fabric about 4-5 cm wide. The number of vertical fabric stripes directly depends on how many cucumber bushes grow in the garden.
The lower edges of the strip are tied to the base of the bushes. In this case, a free loop is made so that the plant can wrap around the support and grow upward without problems. The vertical garter of cucumbers allows you to plant a garden with a considerable amount of cucumbers.
Instead of strips of fabric, you can use special support sticks. In this case, several such fasteners will have to be placed near each bush in order to securely fix the bush.
Unusual ways
There are several methods that are not used as often by gardeners as others.
Cucumber tree
Not everyone knows how to tie up cucumbers in the garden in this way. After using it, the tied bushes become like ordinary trees.
While attaching the cucumbers to the supports, a sliding loop is made and tied to the trellis. The whips located on the sides are parted in different directions and attached to the lower supports. When female ovaries begin to appear on them, they can be connected to the main trellis. It is necessary to tie up the lateral and central shoots in such a way that the angle between them is about 50-60 degrees.
Using plastic bottles
Many people who do not know how to tie cucumbers correctly think that only special devices should be used for this. However, this can be done even with the help of plastic bottles. Plastic is a fairly durable and high-quality material, so experienced gardeners use it as a fixer for shoots.
Any plastic bottle can be used to make a retainer of optimal thickness and length. You can attach them to the support using a conventional stapler.
The use of barrels
Many do not know how to fix bushes cucumbers in barrels... This method is used by many summer residents when they need to save free space on the site. In this case, cucumbers sit in barrels filled with prepared soil. Over time, the bushes begin to grow and reach for the ground.
Garter on arcs
Most people are used to using U-shaped trellis for fixing cucumbers... However, plants can be connected to arcs instead. To do this, several ropes are tied under the arcs, to which tall bushes will be tied.
Using natural trellis
This method is one of the simplest, since you do not have to create and install supports yourself. It is enough to plant cucumbers near the fence so that they can twine around it and grow calmly upward. The only drawback of this method is that in the fall you will have to deal with cleaning the fence from dried leaves.
Applying grids
To tie the bushes, a special net is sometimes used, which you can make yourself or purchase in a store. It is perfect for growing plants that curl strongly. For a garter, you can use products with sections of different sizes. The choice of the optimal mesh size depends on how large the bushes will be tied to it.
Products are attached to supports installed at the end of each bed. As they grow, the bushes will attach to the mesh sections and braid their base.
Common mistakes
When tying cucumbers, it is recommended to avoid the following mistakes:
- Late garter. The lashes of cucumbers are very fragile and without a garter they can break due to the weight of the fruit. If it is not possible to tie up the bushes in time, then it is better to grow them in spread.
- Tight garter of plants. Cucumber shoots should not be tied too tightly, as this may damage the stem. It also leads to a deterioration in the nutrition of the whip, and sometimes to the death of the plant.
- Using materials that are too rigid. Tying the stems with plastic ties and harsh twines can damage the surface of the shoots. At first, these injuries are not conspicuous, but over time they can cause diseases transmitted by fungal spores.
- Late twisting of the apex. It must be twisted around the support in a timely manner. If this is not done, the top will begin to fall down and break over time.
Conclusion
During the cultivation of cucumbers, they should be fixed to special supports. It is quite simple to do this, so everyone can cope with such work. To do this, it is enough to familiarize yourself with all the options for garter cucumbers in the open field.
I use the horizontal method, which seems to me to be the easiest and most efficient one. It is better to install a long support immediately, so that later there will be no problems with those cucumbers that have reached its limit.
I always tie up cucumbers. Firstly, it is very convenient to collect, weed, water. Secondly, it's beautiful. I have cucumbers growing along the fence, so I don't bother. The side is sunny, there are always a lot of cucumbers. And this year I tried a new cultivation method for me. We tied a bag of earth from the side to the garage. I punched holes in it and planted cucumber seeds. You will not believe how beautiful it is when the whips hang down, and cucumbers are on them. But this method is more suitable for site decoration. Good harvests.