How and when to properly plant cucumber seedlings in open ground
Planting cucumber seedlings in open ground is the most difficult stage in growing cucumbers. Not all novice vegetable growers are familiar with the peculiarities of planting this vegetable. Therefore, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself in advance with how to plant seedlings correctly.
How to plant seeds correctly
Before transplanting cucumbers into the garden, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of planting seeds for growing young seedlings. It is recommended to do this in early spring so that you can transplant cucumber seedlings in open ground in June or May.
Seed preparation
To grow healthy seedlings, you need to prepare the seed in advance. The preparatory work consists of several sequential stages that you should familiarize yourself with.
Calibration
Calibration is carried out to select seeds that will emerge better. To select the highest quality seeds, a special saline solution is prepared, consisting of a liter of warm water and 100 grams of salt. To get rid of low-quality seeds, you need to pour all the seeds into the prepared solution and soak them in it for about 15 minutes. During this time, seeds will float to the surface, which it is better not to plant, since they still will not rise.
Disinfection
After selecting seeds that can be planted for growing seedlings, it is necessary to decontaminate them.
For disinfection of cucumbers, you can use a solution made from manganese. During disinfection, all the grains are placed in a container with a weak 1% manganese solution. They must be soaked in it for at least half an hour, after which they are dried and placed in an ash solution for a day.
Also, heat treatment of seed is often used for disinfection. However, it is worth considering that during the processing of seeds at high temperatures, you can not only destroy all pathogens, but also damage the grain. Therefore, heat treatment must be done very carefully. For heat treatment of cucumbers, it is necessary to soak them in water, the temperature of which should be at least 45 degrees. The processing time is about 45 minutes. If you heat the seeds longer, the seeds may deteriorate.
The use of biostimulants
To bring the time of planting seedlings closer and speed up the germination of seeds, you can use special biostimulants.They include special components, with the help of which the development of the root system is accelerated several times and the immunity of cucumbers is improved. Many vegetable growers use drugs such as "Sodium Humate" or "Epin".
Soil preparation
Before planting cucumbers for growing seedlings, you need to prepare the soil. Soil mixture for cucumbers should be prepared from the following components:
- Peat. It is recommended to plant cucumbers in soil with a sufficient amount of peat. With the help of this component, the soil is made looser, due to which it better permits moisture. If there is little peat in the ground, the roots of the plant will receive insufficient moisture.
- Humus. Cucumbers grow much better in soil with humus, with the help of which almost any soil can be made fertile and nutritious. If humus is not added to the soil mixture before planting, then in the future the seedlings may wither due to a lack of nutrients.
- Leafy land. Growing cucumber seedlings is best done in soil mixed with leafy soil. It is recommended to collect such land in forests with deciduous trees. The soil collected near chestnuts and oaks should not be used, as it contains too many tannins.
Choice of capacity
Before planting, it is recommended to select containers for cucumbers that can be used for planting. You can use peat pots for this. The main advantage of such a cup can be considered the guaranteed survival rate of seedlings during transplantation. The fact is that seedlings can be transplanted together with a glass and therefore during transplanting it is impossible to damage the roots of the bushes.
When choosing such a container, you need to carefully study its composition. Some manufacturers add cardboard to them, which negatively affects the growth of seedlings.
Also, the planted seedlings can be grown in plastic containers. They can grow 5-10 bushes at once. Some vegetable growers refuse to use plastic containers, since it is rather difficult to get the grown seedlings from them.
How to plant seeds
To plant seeds in peat glasses, you need to add the previously prepared soil mixture. It should fill containers up to two thirds of the total height. After that, the soil in the cups is poured with warm water and compacted.
In each pot, dimples are made for planting seeds. Many are interested in whether it is possible to deepen the grains of cucumbers. Seeds with deeper holes germinate much more slowly. Therefore, the depth of the holes should not be more than 1-2 cm.
When all the cucumbers are planted in cups, they should be covered with plastic wrap and transferred to rooms with temperatures above 20-25 degrees. The pots are opened only after the first shoots appear.
How to plant cucumbers in open ground with seedlings
Transplanting cucumber seedlings into the ground is a rather complicated process for which you should prepare in advance.
When to plant cucumber seedlings in open ground
Not everyone knows when to transplant cucumber seedlings into the ground. It is recommended to do this one month after planting seeds in pots. If the cucumbers are grown in greenhouses, then sprouted seedlings can be planted in mid-spring. When planting in the garden, it is better to wait for warm weather so that night frosts do not damage the planted seedlings.
Site selection
Having decided when you can transplant cucumber seedlings, you should start choosing the most suitable site for growing a vegetable. It is recommended to plant seedlings only in those parts of the garden that are well lit throughout the day and protected from strong north winds.
During selection places for planting cucumbers you need to pay attention to the ground.The best choice would be an area dominated by loamy soil with a lot of humus. Also, a good harvest can be harvested if the seedlings are grown in black soil mixed with peat.
In addition, you need to pay attention to what kind of vegetable was grown on the site before planting the cucumbers. Planting cucumber seedlings is best done in an area where tomatoes, cabbage or perennial herbs were previously grown.
Site preparation
Before planting cucumber seedlings, you need to start preparing a vegetable garden. It is necessary to do this in the fall, before the onset of cold weather. First, all plant residues that were previously grown here are removed from the entire site. If they are not removed in time, then in the spring they will become the main source of diseases that can become infected with seedlings.
Having got rid of plant residues, it is necessary to start fertilizing the soil. For this, about 20 kg of rotted manure is added for each square meter. Re-fertilization is carried out in the spring 2-3 weeks before planting the seedlings. In this case, hot manure is added to the ground in order to warm the soil a little after winter. Literally in a week, the soil should warm up by 10-20 degrees.
How to plant cucumber seedlings
To figure out how to properly plant cucumber seedlings, you should study in more detail the features of planting seedlings.
Planting cucumber seedlings in open ground begins with the preparation of holes for planting. The distance between the transplanted seedlings depends on their variety. When planting low-growing cucumbers, there should be no more than five plants on one square meter of the plot. Tall varieties are planted at a greater distance and therefore about 3-4 bushes should grow on one square meter of the garden.
After preparing the holes, you should start extracting each seedling from the pots. Seedlings should be removed from containers along with the soil to protect the roots from damage. When growing seedlings in plastic disposable cups, you can simply cut out the bottom and pull out the seedling.
Planting cucumber seedlings in the ground should be done very carefully. They must be planted so as not to accidentally cover the hypocotal knee with soil. When all the cucumbers are planted, the holes should be covered with dry earth and moistened with heated water.
Care
Immediately after transplanting cucumbers, you should think about proper care for them. It is proper care that contributes to the formation of good and large fruits on the bushes.
Watering
For the full growth of planted seedlings, it is necessary to regularly water the cucumbers. Also, soil moisture affects the taste of the fruit. If you water the bushes regularly, the cucumbers will not be bitter.
In normal weather, moisten the soil at least once a week. However, in the summer, the amount of watering should be doubled, as the land dries out faster on hot days. At least 10 liters of water should be consumed per square meter of land.
Top dressing
The soil should be regularly fed with nutrients. If you completely abandon fertilization, then the cucumbers will be small and bitter. Three or four dressings are carried out per season. In this case, the first time fertilization should be added two weeks after transplanting the seedlings. Chicken droppings, ash and mullein are added to the ground. If necessary, mineral fertilizers such as potassium sulfate, superphosphate and urea are added to the soil. During the formation of fruits, the amount of dressings applied is doubled.
Conclusion
Transplanting cucumbers is of interest to many vegetable growers who plan to grow them. In order to properly transplant seedlings, you must familiarize yourself in advance with the features of planting cucumbers.
