How to blind cucumbers outdoors and in the greenhouse
Dazzling cucumbers must be done without fail when growing them in a greenhouse or on a windowsill. It can be carried out in open ground, in greenhouses, if a trellis has been built for the culture. When the whips are on the ground, it is rather difficult to do it.
What it is
The question, what is it, may arise from a novice gardener who is planting cucumbers for the first time. The term denotes the removal of leaves from the axils from the beginning of the stem to a total height of 50 cm. The concept of everything includes: flowers, ovaries, stepsons, mustaches.
The need to dazzle cucumbers in greenhouses is dictated by the following points:
- characteristics of the hybrid (variety);
- shortening the time for obtaining an early harvest;
- getting the maximum yield in the greenhouse;
- reducing the incidence of greenhouse cucumbers;
- prolongation of the fruiting period.
What sorts of blinding is necessary
Let's figure out which varieties of the blinding procedure are necessary and which ones are not. The summer resident, in addition to blinding, must understand how to carry out the formation of the bush. The gardener can deal with this at the stage of buying new seeds by carefully reading the description of the variety (hybrid).
Types of cucumbers and options for the formation of bushes
All varieties and hybrids are divided into two large groups according to the method of pollination:
- bee-pollinated;
- parthenocarpic.
With bee-pollinated varieties and hybrids, everything is clear. There are male and female flowers on the bushes, insects are needed for pollination.
These varieties are bought for growing cucumbers in the open field. Planting such species in a greenhouse is not justified. The yield will be low due to poor pollination. You will have to attract bees to the greenhouse, and this is an additional investment of time.
Parthenocarpic hybrids do not need insects for pollination, they do not need pollination in principle. It is cucumbers of this type that need dazzling and formative pinching of the bush. The exception is plants, which practically do not form lateral shoots, in this case, plants do not need to be formed, cucumbers themselves grow in one stem.
A well-known hybrid that grows in one stem is Sarovsky F1, the cucumber Petrovsky F1 is no less relevant. Greenhouse cucumbers with few side shoots are F1 hybrids:
- Valdai;
- Izhorets;
- Winter storm;
- Northerner;
- Blizzard.
About the correct formation of cucumber bushes
The rules for the formation of bushes are different for bee-pollinated varieties and parthenocarpic hybrids, this is due to the peculiarities of fruit formation.
Varieties for open ground have female flowers, which means that the fruits are located on the side lashes. In greenhouses, cucumbers form the bulk of the crop on a central conductor.
We form bushes in the open field
One can give an example of bee-pollinated cucumbers, which have been planted by summer residents for pickling for many years:
- Vyaznikovsky;
- Poplar F1;
- Far Eastern;
- Spring F1;
- Monastyrsky.
In the hybrids and varieties given for example, fruiting is concentrated on the lateral lashes. Male flowers bloom on the central shoot. You can often hear a complaint from summer residents that today his cucumber harvest was poor because of the barren flowers.
Unlucky gardeners blame the seeds, the weather, but in fact they themselves are to blame. It was necessary to forcibly stimulate the growth of lateral shoots, then there would be more female flowers, which means that the yield is higher.
It is easy to distinguish between female and male flowers: male flowers are larger and are attached to pedicels, their purpose is to pollinate. Female flowers are located at the ends of the ovaries, from which, after pollination, fruits begin to form.
To stimulate the accelerated growth of the side lashes, the central stem should be pinched as early as possible.... Experienced gardeners are waiting for 6 leaves to appear on young bushes, and then pinch the top of the head.
From the shoots that have appeared in the axils of 2, 3, 4 leaves, they form a bush. The sinuses of 1 and 2 leaves need to be blinded - to remove everything that appears there: stepsons, mustaches, flowers. It is also necessary to remove the ovaries from the first two sinuses, they will not give a large harvest, but they can delay the forces of the bush for their formation. Therefore, they should always be plucked out without any regret.
The benefits of forming bushes
Forming a cucumber bush, pinching the tops of the heads, blinding the lower nodes, the gardener gains significant advantages over those summer residents who ignore these operations. The following positive points can be noted:
- The growth of lateral shoots is accelerated, which means that the number of female flowers increases.
- The blinded bush directs all its strength to the growth of green mass.
- Fruiting begins much earlier, the cucumbers ripen together.
- The palatability of fruits is higher, bitterness is less common.
Pollinating varieties
Pollinating varieties, planted in 1 - 2 pieces per 10 sq. m, can significantly increase the yield of bee-pollinated varieties in the open field. A pollinator variety should be planted on a garden bed with varieties, a pollinator hybrid should be planted on ridges with bee-pollinated hybrids.
Noteworthy are F1 Runner and F1 Cheerleader. Both the one and the other hybrid are good pollinators. A large number of long-flowering male flowers are formed on their bushes. In the Runner, up to 25 male flowers can form in the nodes.
Formation of bushes in the greenhouse
Parthenocarpic varieties (hybrids) are suitable for greenhouses. Plants of this type are dominated by female flowers, which do not require pollination. If in the summer there is no time for work on the formation of bushes, choose hybrids (varieties) that are weakly branching. The fewer stepchildren, the easier the care.
It is preferable to keep cucumbers in a greenhouse in one stem. Such bushes are easier to care for. They are easier to fix to the trellis. The harvest on the bushes ripens more amicably due to the good illumination of all parts of the plant.
The bushes are less sick, as the air circulates freely between the bushes, does not stagnate. Good ventilation in the root zone reduces the risk of fungal diseases at times.
How to pinch greenhouse cucumbers
In the greenhouse, the scheme for the formation of a cucumber bush is different. The main crop will be concentrated on the central stem, so there is no need to pinch it. When 5 leaves are formed on the bushes, attach the stem with twine to the trellis. When the crown reaches a height of 50 cm, the bushes dazzle - they remove everything from the leaf sinuses.
When the next section of the stem grows (from 50 cm to 100 cm), leave the ovaries in the axils, pinch the lateral shoots over the first leaf.Along the entire length of the stem from 100 cm to 150 cm, pinch over the third or fourth leaf.
When the top of the stem reaches the top of the trellis, throw it over the top wire and point it down. At a stem interval of 150 cm, leave 4 leaves on the side shoots. It is important to leave at least one leaf above each ovary, which is needed to feed the fetus. The cucumber whip should not grow indefinitely. When 50 cm remains from the top of the head to the ground, the growth point should be pinched.
These recommendations should be used throughout the summer. It makes no sense to engage in pinching the lateral shoots if the formation of the bushes is late and the lashes are already long. Large wounds from cutting off adult lashes can harm: weaken the immune system, become a gateway for infection.
You can greatly simplify your life if you choose the varieties correctly. It is easier to keep track of the bushes of weakly branching hybrids, it will take little time to care for them. It is easy to master the technique of forming cucumber bushes according to the schemes.
