How to pinch cucumbers in the open field
The mistake of many inexperienced owners who do not know the nuances of how to pinch cucumbers correctly is to apply one chosen scheme to all types and varieties of the cultivated crop. In fact, there are several methods by which cucumbers are pinched, and they strictly share the procedure for carrying out the procedure in open and closed ground.
Why pinch the side shoots of cucumbers and is there any real benefit from it?
The essence of the procedure for pinching cucumbers
Pinching cucumbers has another name - blinding. This operation is performed in order to provoke the formation and contribute to the early growth of lateral shoots from the main stem of the cucumber bush. What is it for and why pinch cucumbers?
With the natural growth of the bush, without human intervention in this process, the plant basically gives "blank", male shoots, characterized by the fact that when the flower withers on them, no fruit ovary occurs. Needless to say, such a plant will respond with a meager harvest even to the most careful care.
For full fruiting, each plant must have a paired set of female and male inflorescences and the creation of female ones, and there is the actual task of such a method as pinching cucumbers.
An important condition of the procedure is the preservation of healthy leaves of seedlings. The value of the leaf is in a unique combination of trace elements, after passing into growing vegetables. For the same reason, it is necessary to remove leaves that are rotten, damaged by insects or starting to turn yellow in time.
With the correct algorithm dazzling cucumber, in the end we get a bush of the following type: a long vine with short shoots coming from the stem. Experienced owners go further and prevent the shoots of the lower sinuses from growing, removing them from the base. The same procedure is used for stepchildren forming in a leafy rosette and small cucumbers that arise in the lower four leaves. Such pinching of cucumbers in the open field or in a greenhouse preserves the strength of the plant for abundant fruiting.
Competent pinching
Even when the seedlings are only transferred from the seedling box to the ground, it is already taken into account that in the future the bushes will need to be pinched. The optimal distance between the cucumbers is predetermined at least 30 cm, and trellises are installed near each liana for the future garter. It is customary to tie up cucumber seedlings 12-15 days from planting the seedling, and it is recommended to use soft copper wire or dense twine.
Hybridity or purity of the variety, the type of plant by the type of pollination - all these nuances are taken into account when the question arises of how exactly to pinch the cucumbers, and whether it should be done at all.Since there are a huge variety of these bush varieties, it is conventionally accepted to divide them into two main categories: parthenocarpic (self-pollinating) and insect-pollinated. The following differentiation of culture occurs according to the timing of fruit ripening: rennet, mid and late ripening varieties.
The main method, how to pinch cucumbers correctly, can be applied both indoors and outdoors:
- first, a garter is made, and the attachment of the cotyledon leaves is avoided, and the twine itself is not tightly applied, just to fix the top in the desired position;
- six sheets are counted from the bottom and the crown is trimmed over the sixth sheet;
- in cucumbers pollinated by insects, only weak, non-viable shoots are removed, leaving four points of growth;
- hybrids retain 3 strong shoots;
- with the beginning of flowering, the formation of the bush stops.
The leaves need to be preserved to the maximum, but only if they are completely healthy and not damaged, therefore, you need to pinch the cucumbers in open or closed ground carefully, without pinching the leaves with twine or twisting them with wire. You should also pay attention to the presence of insects and remove those parts of the plant that have been severely affected by their activity.
Pinching outdoors
Whether it is necessary to pinch cucumbers in the open field again depends on the plant variety, which in turn is characterized by the length of the side shoots. If there are scanty branches, it is not necessary to pinch the cucumbers in the open field. If the shoots are of medium and high length, the top is removed, as soon as the central shoot reaches a meter length. The development of shoots on other shoots is also corrected.
When holding the garter is impossible due to the fact that the planting was made too densely, pinching the cucumbers means removing the growth points that are on top of the fourth leaf on the main shoot and on top of the second one on the side.
Hybrids are blinded in a slightly different way - they have side shoots and all axillary shoots removed.
Insect pollinated cucumbers, as those most in need of care, require pinching with mandatory preliminary tying, therefore, they are placed at a sufficient distance from each other in the garden bed and the trellis is installed in advance. Step-by-step instructions for blinding such varieties include strict adherence to important conditions:
- the distance between seedlings is from 30 to 45 cm;
- tying is carried out no earlier than the 10th and no later than the 15th day from the disembarkation of seedlings;
- from the bottom of the bush, not only shoots are removed, but also the very first ovaries, because the forming cucumbers pull over all the plant juices and do not allow the upper ovaries to form;
- all healthy deciduous greens are necessarily preserved.
The vine is modeled in this way:
- above the 6th sheet, the top is cut off, and the side branches can be tied up so that they calmly curl further;
- all but the 3 most viable shoots break off;
- shoots are examined, while all weak ovaries are removed and no more than 4 pieces are left on each shoot.
Late varieties of these vegetables require the most close attention - when growing such cucumbers, pinching is carried out in any case.
Blinding parthenocarpic varieties
Self-pollinated cucumbers quite independent and more often than others are supposed to be sown in the regions of the middle lane. Growing them does not require much hassle in terms of modeling the pattern of the vines, since the bush quickly throws out the required number of shoots, on which, over time, a full-fledged ovary is formed from almost every flower.
Why pinch cucumbers in the open field at all, if the yield does not depend on it? The fact is that letting a cucumber vine grow as it pleases, there is a risk of getting a wild, longest and completely useless plant, randomly strewn with immature fruits.Therefore, by adjusting the growth, the gardener at the same time improves the quality of each fruit unit. When to pinch such cucumbers? Just like any others, between 10 and 15 days from the moment of planting seedlings.
Scheme of how to pinch cucumbers in the open field, if they are self-pollinated varieties:
- the bush is tied to a supporting element;
- when the main stem reaches a height of 50 cm, all shoots are removed from the bottom, along with flower rosettes and small cucumbers - this will become an area of blinding;
- on top of the designated area, the lateral lashes growing over the first sheet are cut off;
- at a distance of 40-50 cm from the blinding area, a formed ovary and 2-3 leaves are left;
- further, at a distance of already a meter, four shoots with 2-3 ovaries on each are preserved;
- even higher, after 40-50 cm, on the same number of shoots, 4 cucumbers and 3-4 leaves can be saved.
Often, the plant, after the manipulations carried out, begins to grow even more intensively - in this case, the vine is thrown over the plank filled from above and the bush grows further down. When 25-30 cm remains to the ground, the growth point of the cucumber is cut off, and it stops stretching in length.
Do hybrid cucumbers require pinching
For a long time, the task of breeders engaged in breeding convenient for home cultivation, unpretentious crop varieties has been to create species that do not need pinching at all. These varieties belong to the single-stem type - take Sarovsky F1 as an example, or to hybrid derivatives that release a small amount of underdeveloped shoots. These varieties were given the name: Valday F1, Doubler F1, Blizzard F1.
On the main (or only) stem of cucumber hybrids there is a sufficient number of fruiting inflorescences, but in some cases it is necessary to provoke their appearance, for which pinching is used. When buying seeds of one of the hybrid varieties, you need to check with the seller about the need for this procedure.
Plucking in hybrid varieties has its own scheme:
- lateral lashes must be removed at the stage of formation of the fifth leaf;
- after counting the next 6 leaves, you need to pinch off a little at the lateral process, leaving about a quarter of a meter on the bush;
- the next pinch is done even after 6 leaves, but leaving already about half a meter of the process;
- in conclusion, after waiting for the formation of six more leaves, pinch the top.
- gardeners with extensive experience are unequivocally sure that no matter what variety is in the ground, pinching is necessary until the barren flowers are completely removed, since the presence of "male" flowers is one of the reasons why cucumbers give off bitterness. Accordingly, the more barren flowers take away the strength from the cucumber stalk, the more clearly the bitterness will appear.
Greenhouse procedure
Cucumbers intended for planting in a greenhouse are formed into one stem, removing the processes in such a way that they contain no more than two fruiting inflorescences. Varieties Ritual, Malachite, Topolek, that is, varieties that actively hit the branchiness, are organized in this way.
On the contrary, varieties with conditionally degraded lateral shoots require consideration for this procedure. If the plant independently emerges into one stem, and the branches do not reach the interfering length, it is not recommended at all.
Pay attention to the varieties to which this warning applies: April, Zozulya, Double. They are all marked F1 and require minimal adjustments.
Among the owners who emphasize the cultivation of crops in greenhouses, a method is popular that allows harvesting within 5-6 months. For this method, it is required at the part of the ogudina, located on the wire or the trellis crossbar, to pinch the top of the head, and start two branches down the support, on which more shoots will subsequently grow.They do not need to be touched, as the flowers that appear on the lashes will become fruitful.
Do not forget about the organization of the so-called glare area, which forms at a distance of half a meter from the ground. On the site entering this zone, there should be no ovaries or side shoots. You should also regulate the mass of foliage - at least one full-fledged healthy leaf should remain for each ovary.
