Secrets of growing, agricultural technology and care for cucumbers in the open field

In order not to be left without a crop, you need to properly organize the care of cucumbers in the open field. There are subtleties in the agricultural technology of this culture, neglecting which you can waste time and energy in the summer. The agricultural technology of cucumbers in the open field is due to the origin of the culture. Since this plant is native to southeastern India, from areas with tropical climates, the requirements for humidity and temperature are high.

How to grow cucumbers outdoors

Each gardener has his own secrets of growing cucumbers in the open field. Some grow them on a regular bed, others prefer the warm bed method. It should be noted that the main advantage of the second method is the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the air layers adjacent to the ground.

The more it is, the faster the plants grow. Two types of cucumber cultivation methods are used: seedlings, seeds in the ground. The first method allows you to bring the picking of cucumbers closer, the second simplifies the cultivation and care of ground cucumbers.

Planting in the ground with seeds

The technology of growing cucumbers in the open field with seeds is tied to the weather. It must be remembered that planting cucumbers in cold ground will give a negative result. Cucumber seeds sprout when the soil warms up to 14 ° C.

Frosts kill young cucumber seedlings, prolonged temperature drop to 8 ° C reduces the germination of nesting seeds.

Strong cucumber seedlings - the formula for success

Strong seedlings of cucumbers grown at home are the key to a high yield. Before planting in the ground, it is grown for 25 days. Not all novice gardeners know how to properly grow cucumbers through seedlings. Sowing cucumbers for seedlings begins with soil preparation. The easiest way is to buy ready-made soil. A more difficult way is to prepare the soil yourself.

For germinating cucumber seeds, a mixture is suitable:

• humus (part 1);
• low-lying peat (1 part);
• 1 tbsp. l. mineral fertilizer ("Aquarin");
• 0.5 l of ash per bucket of mixture.

Cucumbers do not tolerate picking well, therefore they plant seeds in separate containers (glasses) with a diameter of 7 cm. Before that, the planting material must be disinfected. The usual option is 1 g of potassium permanganate and 100 ml of water. Before sowing, use "Epin-extra" to stimulate seed germination.Take 100 ml of warm boiled water, drip the product (2 drops). After that, for 2 to 4 days, the seeds are kept in a damp cloth at a temperature of 25 - 28 ° C. Seeds are planted in cups when the root is extended by 5 mm.

The soil in the cups is spilled with warm water, after 30 minutes the seeds are laid in them and covered with a layer of soil, the sowing depth is 2 cm. The glasses are covered with a film, removed after the appearance of cucumber sprouts. Cucumber seedling care is standard:

• water the seedlings every other day;
• light up cucumbers in cloudy weather;
• feed the seedlings twice;
• harden the seedlings for a week before transplanting into the ground, lowering the night temperature to 12 ° C.

Warm beds - a paradise for cucumbers

Growing cucumbers outdoors using warm beds is very popular. The site for the construction of the ridge should be fenced off from the north wind with tall vegetables or a structure. This makes it easier to create the microclimate necessary for cucumbers.

For filling a warm bed, you can use manure or plant residues (weeds, tops). For disinfection, the plant mass can be warmed up: pour it into an iron barrel, fill it with water, heat it over a fire. Pour the hot mass into a trench dug in advance: trench depth - 35 cm, width - 1 m.

Small branches and paper can be laid in the trench. Sprinkle the layers with fluffy lime, pour the removed earth on top of everything. In the spring, carry out the final cultivation of the soil: dig up, add humus, ash, nitroammophos.

Starting from spring, the remnants, rotting, release heat and create a microclimate in the surface layer necessary for cucumbers. The high concentration of carbon dioxide stimulates the appearance of female flowers, which has a positive effect on the volume of the crop.

Transplanting cucumber seedlings into the ground

You need to know some subtleties about how to grow cucumbers in a seedling way. In early June (late May), seedlings can be transplanted into the garden. Before that, in ten days, begin to warm up the soil: pour hot water, cover with foil.

Plant seedlings in rows. Leave the distance between the rows by 50 cm, in the rows between the holes - 30 - 40 cm. Protect the roots from damage during planting. Pour the wells with rose water with potassium permanganate. Install plastic arches on top of the ridge, stretch the film.

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In the daytime, at an air temperature of 25 ° C, open the film a little on one side to a height of 25 cm. Further growth of cucumbers and caring for plantings is reduced to watering, fertilizing, keeping the ridges clean, and preventing diseases.

On the features of outdoor care

When caring for grown plants, you need to do more than water them. It is equally important to harvest fruits that have grown to normal size in a timely manner. You need to collect greens in the morning, they retain their elasticity longer.

In order not to damage the lashes, do not tear off the fruits, but cut them with scissors or a garden knife. Do not turn the whips once again, the leaves should look up. Collect fruits every 2 days.

Secrets of proper watering of ground cucumbers

When growing cucumbers in the open field in the country, there may be difficulties with watering due to rare visits. Hope for rain is not worth it, it does not always help out. We must remember about the benefits of rainwater - it is better than well or tap water, it contains more oxygen and nutrients.

Cucumbers need frequent watering, but there are cultivation features associated with weather conditions. On cool days with excess soil moisture, the plants develop root rot. Proper care of cucumbers is to avoid watering at daytime temperatures below 15 ° C. In such weather, dry irrigation is carried out in the open ground at the dacha - they loosen the earth in the aisles.

Water for watering ground cucumbers should be warm (22 - 25 ° C). Inexperienced summer residents, watering the beds with cold water, may encounter problems:

• plants grow slowly;
• there are few ovaries on cucumbers;
• cucumber ovaries crumble.

The gardener needs to prescribe two more conditions for a good harvest associated with watering in his growing rules. The first condition is watering in the grooves located in the aisles. Watering at the root should be abandoned. The roots of the cucumber are shallow and may be exposed. The second condition is not to water after 7 pm.

Fertilizers or how to care for cucumbers outdoors

Regular feeding helps to properly grow ground cucumbers. Over the summer, you need to feed the plants at least 3 to 4 times. With the right approach, root dressings alternate with foliar. During the peak fruiting of cucumbers, their immunity is increased by ash. To powder 1 sq. m of cucumber ridge, take a glass of ash.

For a cucumber in an open field, soil fertility is important, they improve it with the help of fertilizers (organic, mineral). For the first time, gardeners prefer to feed the cucumbers with mullein infusion. It is easy to prepare the solution: pour 1 bucket of manure into 2 buckets of water, stir, leave for 5 days for fermentation. Add 0.5 l of liquid fertilizer to healthy cucumbers in a bucket.

For sick and weakened plants, increase the concentration of the solution to 1 liter per bucket. You can add 1 tbsp to the working solution. l. urea or ammonium nitrate.

When buds and the first flowers appear on the cucumber lashes, repeat the feeding of the plants. During this period, add fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium to the solution. The plant especially needs fertilization during fruiting. During this period, feed the cucumbers every 10 days, add nitroammofosk to the mullein infusion (for 10 liters of 1 tbsp. L.).

To avoid gnarled greens, take into account the proportions when fertilizing:% nitrogen is more than phosphorus,% potassium is more than nitrogen.

Gardeners achieve good results with foliar dressing cucumbers in the open field... For active growth of green mass at the beginning of the growing season, the bushes are sprayed with a urea solution. To process a ridge 1 m wide and 10 m long, dilute 1 tsp in 10 liters of water. fertilizers. Carry out the processing of cucumbers before the flowers appear. In June, sprinkle cucumber bushes with a soda solution (10 liters 1 tbsp. L.), The leaves will not turn yellow.

Cucumber bush formation

Formation cucumber bushes makes it easier for the summer resident to care for them. More and more gardeners are using trellises in their gardens. Tied cucumber bushes are less sick. Varieties and hybrids in the open field are formed in different ways.

High-quality ground cucumbers are pinched over 4 - 5 leaves so that more side lashes grow. Hybrids should be kept in one stem, plucking out all the lower shoots to a height of 0.5 m.At the interval of the cucumber stem from 0.5 to 1 m, leave one leaf in the axils, above - 2 leaves, even higher - 3 - 4.

Diseases of ground cucumbers

Growing cucumbers in the open field in the country is not so easy. Diseases lie in wait for the plant in the open field throughout the season: immediately after planting, during the fruiting period.

Outdoor infection can be transmitted through the air. The most common ground cucumber diseases:

• powdery mildew;
• root rot;
• anthracnose.

The first signs of powdery mildew often appear on ground cucumbers in cool (20 ° C) weather with high humidity. In the first stages, it is a white coating on the leaves, similar to flour. In later stages, the leaves on the cucumbers begin to turn yellow and dry.

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Fruiting cucumber bushes can be sprayed from powdery mildew with an infusion made from water (10 parts) and mullein (1 part). Severely affected cucumber leaves should be sprayed with a solution of ferrous sulfate (5%).

Root rot can leave no crop. The first signs can be seen immediately after planting seedlings on the ridge. When the temperature rises in the daytime, the leaves on the plants wither, and with the onset of dusk, the leaves are restored. At the bottom of the stem of such plants, the color becomes brown. Leaving at this time:

• add a biological product ("Bactofit") or a fungicide ("Hom") to the soil;
• spud the stems to stimulate the growth of new roots;
• to improve immunity, treat with the drug "Effekton".

Anthracnose affects not only the whips and leaves of soil plants, fruits are affected. Yellow spots grow on the leaves, pink ulcers form on the greens, the stems dry out, the fruits become unusable. The life of the cucumber bush depends on how quickly the plant is helped. For processing cucumber leaves, take Bordeaux liquid 1%.

Pests in the cucumber garden

Often, with the onset of hot July days, outdoor care complicates the aphids. A small insect can cause great harm to plants in the open field. It is easy to recognize damaged ground cucumbers:

• sluggish leaves;
• spoiled buds and ovaries;
• yellow spots on the surface of the leaves.

The insect multiplies rapidly, aphid colonies can destroy an entire ridge in 10 days. If an insect is found, prepare a soap-ash solution. Take a liter of water, add 72% laundry soap (2 tbsp. L.) And ash (2 tbsp. L.) Diluted in hot water.

Wash the leaves and stems of cucumbers with the resulting soapy-ash water. Treat open ground plants in the morning. To avoid burning the leaves, cover the plants with covering material at noon. Repeat the treatment in the open field after 5 days. The ground under the cucumber bushes should be powdered with ash to repel pests and feed weakened plants.

Simple protection of ground cucumbers from the bear

Medvedka inflicts great damage on young ground cucumbers. A simple plastic bottle will protect ground cucumbers from pests. For a 1.5 liter bottle, you need to cut off the lower and upper parts, you get a cylinder. Cut the cylinder into 3 equal pieces.

Press the resulting rings into the bed, leave a protruding rim above the surface - 0.5 cm high. Plant 3 cucumber seeds in each ring, sprinkle them with soil.

Cover the cucumber ridge with cellophane until shoots appear. The rings will protect the seedlings from the bear, will not interfere with the development of the plant, and will facilitate its cultivation.

The choice of varieties for growing in the open field

For open ground, it is necessary to choose bee-pollinated varieties... Main advantages varieties for open ground: cold resistance, resistance to temperature fluctuations. A review of three topical outdoor hybrids will help you pick cucumber seeds for next season.

Cucumber Crunch F1

Bee-pollinated hybrid, characterized by long-term fruiting in the open field. Cucumbers are harvested 48 days after germination. Flowering female type. The fruits are collected in bunches of 2 - 3 pieces. Zelentsy practically do not outgrow, they are not prone to yellowing.

The flesh of cucumbers is dense, there are no voids. The fruits are uniform, the average weight of the greens is 90-100 g. It is difficult to spoil the salad with a tasty cucumber, the greens are good in lightly salted and pickled form. Valuable qualities of a hybrid for open ground: resistance to root rot, cladosporium disease, powdery mildew (false, real).

Cucumber Appetizing F1

An early hybrid for open ground (ripening occurs in 45 days), bee-pollinated, fruitful (14 kg / m²). Fruiting is uniform and long lasting. The hybrid is resistant to a complex of diseases, perfectly adapts to any growing conditions. The flowering type is female. Forms 2 - 3 ovaries at the nodes. Cucumbers grow beautiful, not long, aligned. The shape of zelents is cylindrical, weight from 80 to 100 g. The fruits can be used in blanks, fresh.

Cucumber Baby F1

Early hybrid, bee-pollinated, can be planted in open ground. Zelentsy begin to sing on days 47-50. Fruiting of a soil hybrid lasts a long time, greens are formed on the central stem and on the lateral shoots. The length of the zelents is 7-10 cm, the shape is beautiful. Cucumbers are large tuberous with white pubescence.The flesh of the cucumbers is dense, juicy, crispy. Zelentsy are used for barrel salting, pickles do not lose their elasticity.

How to easily increase the yield of cucumbers in the open field

Sometimes the advice of experienced gardeners helps to grow a lot of cucumbers in the open field. Here's one of those tips: special watering ground cucumbers with apple cider vinegar. Pour rainwater or tap water into the barrel. When the water warms up, add apple cider vinegar to it. For 200 liters, 1.5 glasses are enough. Water ground cucumbers with this sour water all summer. It will be possible to collect 15% more grown ground cucumbers than when watering with ordinary water.