Cucumbers are a type of cucurbit crop that can grow up to two meters in height. Many inexperienced vegetable growers do not pay attention to this feature of cucumbers and believe that it is not necessary to tie them up. Also, some people think that untied plants will receive more moisture.
However, this opinion is erroneous, and cucumbers need support.If you do not tie the bushes in a timely manner, they will begin to dry out and break. Therefore, before growing such plants, you need to figure out how to tie cucumbers in open ground.
Why tie up bushes?
Not all gardeners know whether cucumbers need to be staked in open ground. To understand this, you should familiarize yourself with the main reasons for creating supports for tall bushes.
Gartering cucumbers in open ground is done to ensure proper formation of bushes and increase their fruiting. There are also other advantages of using this growing method:
- If you tie cucumbers correctly, their vines will grow better and their shoots will become longer. Over time, large fruits and inflorescences will begin to appear on them.
- Tied plants suffering from certain diseases will still trudge towards a healthy vine, which will not be able to become infected with the disease.
- Bushes tied to a support look much more beautiful.
- The design does not take up much space, since cucumbers grow vertically and do not grow much.
- You need to tie cucumbers in order to quickly collect ripe fruits and not waste a lot of time searching for them in overgrown bushes.
- Gartering of cucumbers in open ground is mandatory, since in its absence large bushes will begin to break due to heavy fruits, which will lead to the death of the plant.
Materials and tools
Before tying cucumbers in the open ground, you should figure out what tools and materials will be needed to complete such work. It is very important to use the most suitable materials that can securely fix the stems. A do-it-yourself cucumber garter is created using the following devices:
- rods made of wood or metal;
- strong wire or twine;
- plastic or metal mesh;
- garter material that will fit tightly to the stems of the bushes.
The new material with which you need to tie cucumbers is selected very carefully, since unsuitable garter products can harm the fragile and delicate stems.
It is not recommended to use wires, threads and fishing lines. They will crash heavily into the bushes and pinch them. This can lead to the death of the plant.
The best material with which to tie cucumbers is cotton fabric. Its strength will be sufficient to securely hold the plant. It is also quite wide and will not harm the stems of the bushes. Instead, nylon synthetic fabrics can be used. For example, damaged tights are sometimes used to tie up bushes. They are durable, soft, stretch well and do not pinch the stem.
You can also use special clips for gartering cucumbers, which are reusable devices. They are made of plastic and are great for supporting brushes with heavy cucumbers. You can use clips for many years until they break.
For people involved in growing cucumbers on an industrial scale, it is better to tie up the bushes with a special tool, the principle of which is very similar to a stapler. With its help you can tie the stem to a support.
Basic methods
Many people don’t know how best to tie cucumbers. There are two main methods of fixing bushes. The methods for gartering cucumbers in open ground differ from each other and therefore each of them must be considered separately.
Horizontal
To understand how to properly tie up bushes horizontally, you should familiarize yourself with its features.
This method is the most profitable and simple for people who have not previously grown cucumbers. To do this, you need to drive two supports near the bed, which can be used as ordinary wooden posts or metal pipes. A strong rope should be stretched in several rows between the supports. The distance between them is not too large and is about 35-40 cm.
To carry out the garter, the stems are carefully tied in a knot to a support from below. When the bushes begin to grow upward, several knots are made on the supports to attach additional vertical ropes.
The main significant disadvantage of the horizontal method is that the stems that have reached the top support will hang down. To prevent this problem from occurring, it is recommended to periodically remove long shoots or make a very high support.
Vertical
This simplest method is also often used by gardeners. To understand how to make a vertical garter, you should familiarize yourself with the basic recommendations.
First, special supports are installed at the edges of the beds. Then a strong rope is stretched horizontally at their top. It serves as a support for tying fabric about 4-5 cm wide. The number of vertical fabric strips directly depends on how many cucumber bushes grow in the garden bed.
The lower edges of the strip are tied to the base of the bushes. In this case, a loose loop is made so that the plant can wrap around the support and grow upward without any problems. Vertical garter of cucumbers allows you to plant a considerable number of cucumbers in your garden.
Instead of strips of fabric, you can use special support sticks.In this case, several such fasteners will have to be placed near each bush in order to securely fix the bush.
Unusual ways
There are several methods that are not used by gardeners as often as others.
cucumber tree
Not everyone knows how to tie cucumbers in the garden in this way. After using it, tied bushes become similar to ordinary trees.
When attaching the cucumbers to the supports, make a sliding loop and tie them to the trellis. The lashes located on the sides are spread in different directions and attached to the lower supports. When female ovaries begin to appear on them, they can be connected to the main trellis. The side and central shoots need to be tied in such a way that the angle between them is about 50-60 degrees.
Use of plastic bottles
Many people who do not know how to properly tie cucumbers think that they only need to use special tools for this. However, this can be done even using plastic bottles. Plastic is a fairly durable and high-quality material, so experienced gardeners use it as a fixative for shoots.
You can make a retainer of optimal thickness and length from any plastic bottle. You can attach them to the support using a regular stapler.
Application of barrels
Many people do not know how to fix bushes cucumbers in barrels. This method is used by many summer residents when they need to save free space on their site. In this case, cucumbers are planted in barrels filled with pre-prepared soil. Over time, the bushes begin to grow and reach towards the ground.
Arc garter
Most people are accustomed to using U-shaped trellises for fixing cucumbers. However, plants can be connected to arches instead. To do this, several ropes are tied under the arches, to which tall bushes will be tied.
Using a natural trellis
This method is one of the simplest, since you do not have to create and install supports yourself. It is enough to plant cucumbers not far from the fence so that they can wrap around it and calmly grow upward. The only drawback of this method is that in the fall you will have to clean the fence from dried leaves.
Applying grids
To tie up bushes, a special mesh is sometimes used, which you can make yourself or purchase in a store. It is perfect for growing plants that climb a lot. For garters, you can use products with sections of different sizes. The choice of the optimal mesh size depends on how large the bushes will be tied to it.
The products are attached to supports installed at the end of each bed. As they grow, the bushes will attach to the sections of the mesh and weave around their base.
Common Mistakes
When gartering cucumbers, it is recommended to avoid the following mistakes:
- Late garter. The lashes of cucumbers are very fragile and without a garter they can break due to the weight of the fruit. If you cannot tie up the bushes in time, it is better to grow them spread out.
- Tight garter of plants. Cucumber shoots should not be tied too tightly, as this may damage the stem. This also leads to a deterioration in the nutrition of the lash, and sometimes to the death of the plant.
- Using too hard materials.Tying the stems with plastic clamps and harsh twines can damage the surface of the shoots. At first, these injuries are not noticeable, but over time they can cause diseases transmitted by fungal spores.
- Late curling of the apex. It must be twisted around the support in a timely manner. If this is not done, the top will begin to fall down and eventually break.
Conclusion
When growing cucumbers, they should be fixed to special supports. This is quite easy to do, so anyone can do this job. To do this, just familiarize yourself with all the options for gartering cucumbers in open ground.
