How and what to mulch cucumbers in a greenhouse and open field
An important condition for a rich harvest is constant moisture in the root zone, mulching cucumbers in a greenhouse allows you to maintain it without additional labor costs. Mulch makes it easier to care for moisture-loving crops, reduces water consumption. It is beneficial to use it for any growing method (open ground, greenhouse).
Benefits of mulching
It is not difficult to understand the benefits of mulching cucumbers, a long list of benefits that this agronomic technique gives convinces and motivates to use.
Let's consider all the positive points:
- Mulched beds suffer less from daily temperature fluctuations in early summer and late season. The roots of cucumbers are protected from low temperatures, which reduces stress from bad weather conditions.
- The mulching layer prevents moisture evaporation. Even with rare visits to the dacha, cucumbers in the open ground (greenhouse) do not experience a shortage of water. The soil remains moist for a long time, the roots do not suffer from overheating.
- In the greenhouse and on the ridge, the soil under the layer of organic material remains loose. Summer residents do not need to loosen the soil after each watering. No crust is formed on the surface of the earth. Earthworms reproduce well under mulch, loosen the soil, enrich it with oxygen. Roots develop best in loose, moist soil.
- The fertility of the soil is better preserved with the annual cultivation of vegetable crops. Organic material protects it from aggressive influences (washing out, weathering), organic matter, reheating, increases the humus content, increases the fertile layer.
- Weeds do not grow on beds covered with a layer of mulch. Reduced weeding time. Cucumbers (fruits, leaves) do not come into contact with the ground, therefore they are less susceptible to infection by fungi, less often they are exposed to pests.
How to mulch cucumbers
You can mulch cucumbers in a greenhouse (open field) using different materials. Their choice depends on specific conditions: the quality of the soil, the availability of this or that material in the country or the possibility of acquiring it.
There are two types of mulching material:
- organic (natural);
- synthetic, manufactured at an industrial plant.
Organic mulch
For cucumbers grown on depleted, poor soil, you should use your own compost, manure (horse, cow) or humus. Manure provides additional nutrition for cucumbers, releases nitrogen in a form available to plants. Manure is not used in its pure form; it is mixed with a small amount of hay or straw.
Using cut grass
Most summer residents have a reasonable question: is it possible to mulch the beds with cucumbers with lawn grass, weeds growing on wastelands or in the garden? Grass is the cheapest organic mulch and can be mowed with a trimmer, scythe, or lawn mower. If you follow the rules of use, there will be a good harvest of cucumbers.
The first rule is not to mulch the cucumbers with freshly cut grass. It must be dried. Fresh grass can rot, it cakes and does not allow air to pass through well. Slugs and other pests crawl onto wet grass. They can carry disease.
The dried cut grass is laid out in a layer of 7 cm. A thinner layer will not maintain the optimum level of soil moisture. Do not use grass with seeds for mowing.
It is not recommended to use straw that has begun to rot, it will slow down the development of cucumbers, we mulch only with fresh material.
Fresh straw, pre-fertilized, add for every 10 kg of raw materials:
- 200 g of urea;
- 200 g superphosphate;
- 120 g of potassium salt.
Accelerated preparation of sawdust
Suitable for use sawdust, completely rotted or semi-rotted. You cannot cover the soil with fresh sawdust, they will take nitrogen from it. It is recommended to carry out special processing of fresh sawdust before use.
For accelerated preparation of sawdust, you will need film, water, urea. Spread the film on the ground, sprinkle 3-4 buckets of fresh shavings on it. Scatter 200 grams of urea on top, pour over everything with water from a watering can. One such layer of water takes up to 10 liters.
Usually two layers are made, both are seasoned with urea and watered. The formed pile is wrapped in polyethylene and left for 2 weeks. Sawdust prepared in this way can be poured onto a cucumber ridge.
Mulching cucumbers outdoors with sawdust improves soil structure. In autumn, mulch that has not rotted over the summer is dug up, adding all the necessary mineral fertilizers. By the next season, the loose soil is ready for new plantings.
Decorative mulch
For many summer residents, the design of the cucumber ridge plays an important role. Decorative chips will decorate a tall warm garden bed and perform all the basic functions of mulch. Chips of any color can be purchased on the market and can be reused.
When planting cucumbers on low ridges, you can sprinkle with chips not only the surface of the soil under the cucumbers, but mulch the paths with it. Tapestry with cucumbers will become a decoration of the garden. To preserve moisture in the soil, the thickness of the covering layer should be at least 5 cm, this thickness is sufficient to protect against weeds.
If the summer resident has a woodworking machine, he can start making chips, saving on its purchase.
Synthetic mulching materials
Many gardeners mulch greenhouse cucumbers with black perforated film. It is laid on fully prepared soil before the seedlings are planted. Landing holes are made in advance or cut through already laid fabric. This method has a disadvantage - overheating of the soil in the summer heat. To avoid it, they additionally use a white covering material, lay on top of the black one.
When sowing cucumbers in the soil with seeds, many summer residents use transparent plastic wrap. The film creates a greenhouse effect, retains moisture. When shoots appear, it is carefully cut, releasing young plants outside. Black film and black non-woven material are used in the seedling method of growing cucumbers.
How to mulch cucumbers
In any work carried out in the garden, you must follow the rules so as not to harm the plants with your actions. Let's figure out how to carry out mulching in order to get more benefit from this simple agronomic technique.
It is better to mulch the prepared (dug up) bed in the spring, at the end, when the earth has already warmed up, but still retains the remnants of natural moisture. The protective layer will prevent the rapid drying of the soil, its compaction.
Before you start mulching a cucumber ridge, prepare the soil:
- remove the remnants of roots, grass, other debris from the surface of the ridge;
- scatter the required amount of fertilizer and dig up the soil;
- water if there is not enough moisture in the ground.
The thickness of the layer laid on the soil depends on the type of mulching material. It is necessary to pour sawdust and other dense materials in a thin layer from 2 to 5 cm.When covering the soil with straw or other light compounds, the thickness is greater, it can reach up to 7 cm.
Not the entire surface of the cucumber bed is covered. So that the cucumbers do not suffer from rot, the root zone is left open.
Avoid contact of the mulch with the cucumber stem. Put synthetic materials before planting seedlings (seeds), plant cucumbers in the slots.
In the summer, the mulch is overheated, turning into humus, so it is regularly added throughout the season. Not rotted residues in the fall must be raked and sent to compost. If they did not manage to remove them in the fall, then they are raked at the beginning of winter so as not to slow down the heating of the soil.
An overview of mulching materials and the basic rules for mulching the soil will help a novice gardener learn a simple but effective technique. care for cucumbers in the open field and in greenhouses.
