Temperature and timing of planting cucumbers in open ground
Most growers grow cucumbers on their plots. Growing cucumbers on your own in the open field is not so easy, therefore, it is recommended to prepare for planting. It is necessary to decide in advance when to plant cucumbers in open ground and get acquainted with the peculiarities of planting this vegetable.
Growing seedlings
Before planting cucumbers in the open field, you need to start growing its seedlings. After all, most vegetable growers do not planting cucumbers in open ground seeds, and planted with seedlings.
Landing time
First you need to decide when to plant your seeds. The sowing time for cucumbers directly depends on the climatic characteristics. Residents of the southern regions are advised to engage in planting in late winter or early March, so that the time for planting cucumbers in open ground is mid-May. Residents of the northern regions need to plant them a little later so that the dates for planting cucumbers in open ground fall in June, when the temperature at night will be above zero.
When planting cucumbers with seeds in open ground, the sowing time is completely different. In this case, they will have to be planted only when the night temperature outside does not drop below 10-15 degrees Celsius.
Seed preparation
Before sowing cucumbers in open ground, you should pre-prepare the seeds for planting. To begin with, you will have to do the calibration of the planting material so that you can select the most suitable seeds. During calibration, only large seeds with a perfectly flat surface should be selected. After that, they are placed in a saline solution and soaked in it for about 5-10 minutes.
During this time, all rejected seeds will float to the surface. They should be disposed of immediately as they will not sprout.
Quite often, cucumbers die from various diseases. In order to somehow protect them from this, one should deal with their disinfection. To do this, all the planting material is placed for half an hour in a weak solution prepared from manganese. The next day, the procedure is repeated again.
Preparing the soil
When the time comes for sowing seeds, it is recommended to start preparing the soil. For planting cucumbers, you need to use a specially prepared soil mixture, which should contain a considerable amount of nutrients. To prepare it, you need to mix humus with turf soil in equal amounts. If there is no sod soil, then compost soil can be used instead. Some gardeners add some stove ash to the soil.
Also, do not forget that the soil has an optimal temperature for growing cucumbers. Heat treatment of the soil must be carried out before planting. Especially if he was outside for a long time or in a room with a low temperature. Seeds can be planted in soil, the temperature of which is not lower than 15 degrees.
Preparation of containers
Planting cucumbers should be carried out in special containers, where the cucumbers could grow as comfortably as possible.
The best type of container for growing young seedlings is peat pots. Their main advantage is that they are very easy to use. To do this, it is enough to fill them with a small amount of soil mixture and place them on pallets. Also, the advantages of peat pots include the material from which they are made. Indeed, thanks to it, there is an optimal water-air regime in the containers, which has a very beneficial effect on the planted seeds.
Landing
It is recommended to plant the seeds before the deadline for planting cucumbers. During sowing, all containers are filled with prepared soil and special holes are made in them for planting. No more than one seed is sown in each pot. If you plant too many seeds in one container, they will grow much slower because of this.
The next day after planting, all containers with cucumbers are transferred to a warm room. The minimum temperature for cucumbers should not be less than 15 degrees, and therefore, you should choose a room in which such a temperature regime could be maintained.
Planting seedlings
When all the seeds that have been planted have germinated well, it will be possible to plant the cucumbers in open ground. However, before that, it is recommended to decide up to what number you can plant them and how to do it correctly.
Site selection and cleaning
For sowing cucumbers in open ground, you need to choose the most suitable site. It is recommended to look for cucumbers only in the most illuminated places with good protection from strong gusts of wind. However, it is not always possible to find a windless area. In order to somehow protect the cucumber bushes from wind gusts, tall crops should be planted near them.
It is recommended to prepare the site for cucumbers in the middle of autumn. At this time, the territory is completely cleared of plant residues. It is recommended to burn them or bury them in the ground. If you do not clear the area of plant residues, then over time they will become a source of diseases that can infect cucumbers.
Soil preparation
It is recommended to do preparatory work in the fall or spring. During this period, 10-15 kg of manure is added to the soil, which will then have to be dug up from the ground. In the spring, it is advisable to use fresh hot manure to warm the soil. For this, several beds with a depth of 40 cm are made on the site, to which fresh manure mixed with soil is added. From above, the site is sprinkled with a special garden mixture or ash. Thanks to this, the soil will be able to warm up to the optimum temperature within 2-3 days.
Also, soil preparation includes mulching the site. Most often, ordinary film is used for this. In the fall, it must be removed from the site, thoroughly washed and transferred to the basement for further storage.
Basic recommendations for choosing the sowing time
To determine the optimal or last date for planting cucumbers in open ground, many vegetable growers are guided by the lunar calendar. It should be noted that it is not always possible to use it to determine the best day for planting cucumbers in the ground. Therefore, the following recommendations should be taken into account:
- The average daily temperature for the growth of cucumbers should not be lower than 15 degrees.If there is a possibility of a serious drop in the night temperature, then it is better to transfer the transplant of seedlings. When growing cucumbers in a greenhouse, you do not need to monitor the outside temperature, since you can independently control the climate in the greenhouse.
- The soil temperature should also be more than 15 degrees. This is the most favorable temperature for growing this vegetable.
- It is best to plant cucumbers in the last month of spring, when westerly and southerly winds prevail outside most of the time. In this weather, the probability of frost is extremely small.
Types of sowing dates
For planting cucumbers, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the varieties of sowing dates:
- Early. Early planting of cucumbers should be carried out in early May. Early sowing is most often used by residents of the southern regions, since at this time they no longer have night temperature drops. However, residents of the northern regions can plant cucumbers later. Only they will have to plant the cucumbers in the greenhouse to create optimal conditions for the greenhouse cucumbers.
- Middle. Many people are unsuitable for sowing early and therefore decide to plant the cucumbers later. In this case, the planting of cucumbers is carried out in mid-June. Almost all varieties of cucumbers are suitable for this. If you grow the bushes in June, then the crop will need to be harvested in early August. However, the collection of ripe fruits depends not only on the planting period, but also on the varieties planted.
- Late. The latest date for planting cucumbers is recommended to be used only during planting of early ripening cucumbers, which can ripen 40 days after planting. Thus, the planted vegetable will ripen with the tomatoes. The last sowing date has its advantages. For example, if you plant seedlings at the end of summer, you can harvest fresh fruits before the first frost. However, you should not plant cucumbers too late, as frosts can begin in the fall and because of this, the plant dies even before fruiting. Therefore, the last planting should be in late July or early August.
Landing
It is recommended to plant only good seedlings in the garden. It should be seasoned and have a good stem with several developed leaves. To harden young bushes, it is recommended to take them outside during the day. At the same time, it is necessary to monitor what temperature is kept outside. If it is more than 15-17 degrees, then the seedlings can be taken out for the whole day. The hardening time should be gradually increased. Therefore, a few days before transplanting, the plants should be outdoors not only during the day, but also at night.
Before planting cucumbers, you should start creating planting beds. To prevent the plants from shading each other, the distance between the holes should be at least 50 cm. Between the rows, the gap should be slightly larger - 60-70 cm. When all the holes are prepared, you can start transplanting.
Carefully remove all seedlings from peat pots and plant them in an upright position on the beds. Then they should be sprinkled with soil, poured with water and tamped a little. The day after planting, all bushes should be watered with warm water.
Conclusion
Growing cucumbers is not as easy as it might seem. After all, for this you need to figure out at what temperature cucumbers grow and when cucumbers are planted.
