When growing cucumbers, you need to carefully care for the bushes. Many vegetable growers are engaged in gartering them, which prevents young fruits from rotting on the ground. It is quite difficult for inexperienced people to do this. Therefore, it is recommended to familiarize yourself in advance with how to tie cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse.
Why is this done?
Not everyone knows whether cucumbers need to be tied up or whether they can do without it.To understand, you should familiarize yourself with what the garter is used for.
There are several main reasons why it is necessary to make a garter to the supports. This is done to:
- simplify the process of picking ripe cucumbers;
- prevent the tendrils from sticking to neighboring bushes;
- preserve the harvest and prevent the flowers from falling off;
- improve lighting of bushes.
Cucumbers belong to the pumpkin family and therefore, during cultivation, they spread over the surface of the soil. If you do not tie them to supports in a timely manner, then in the future it will be possible to lose most of the fruits even during flowering. Bushes that are not tied to a support suffer from a lack of light and because of this, their flowers begin to crumble. Also, some of the fruits can be lost during their ripening. If they lie on the ground for a long time, the process of rotting will begin.
The lighting of tied bushes improves several times, since they are closer to the light source. This allows light to reach even the ovaries and fruits of the plant, and not just its leaves. Thus, the growth and development of young bushes improves.
If a vegetable grower refuses to tie cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse, there will be a risk of the shoots of neighboring bushes sticking together. This leads to them growing worse. It is also much more difficult to harvest from untied bushes. You often have to bend down and look for fruits.
During harvesting from the ground, there is a possibility of damage to the plants. Therefore, it is better to figure out in advance how to properly tie cucumbers in a greenhouse and do it.
Gartering cucumbers in a greenhouse is done a month after planting the seedlings in the soil. By this time, the young bushes should have grown to 30-40 cm and about five flowers should appear on them.It is better not to postpone this procedure and perform it within such a time frame. It is much easier to tie young seedlings, since their stems are still quite elastic. Older bushes often break if they are bent too much.
Tools and materials
Proper tying of cucumbers in a greenhouse should be done using tools and materials that can secure the bushes well to the supports. For this you will need:
- supports made of iron or wood;
- strong wire that will not sag;
- plastic or metal mesh.
It is very important to choose the most suitable tying material that would not damage the fragile stems of the bushes. Some gardeners use wires or fishing lines for this. However, such material is completely unsuitable, since over time it will begin to pinch the plant and because of this it may die.
The best choice would be cotton fabric, cut into several small strips 2-5 cm wide. It is quite durable and can easily cope with heavy loads. At the same time, it will not harm the stems, since the wide fabric strips will not pinch them. You can also use synthetic fabrics made from nylon instead. Their advantages include the fact that they do not pinch the plant and stretch well. Before using any tying material, it should be disinfected. It is carried out using chlorine solution or boiling water.
To more securely attach the bushes to the support, you can use special devices. Some garden stores sell plastic clips that are used to hold fruits and tie up stems. Their main advantage is that they can be used for several seasons in a row.
Experienced gardeners use a special garter, the principle of which is very similar to a stapler. Using this device, the support is grasped together with the stem and attached with a strong tape.
Basic methods
Before growing cucumbers, you should study methods for gartering them. There are various ways to garter cucumbers in a greenhouse. However, there are two main methods that are used most often.
Vertical tying
Before tying cucumbers in a greenhouse, you need to familiarize yourself with the vertical method. When using this method, you will have to use a strong cord. The rope is stuck into the soil using a peg, anchor or staple. The second end rises to the tire, located almost under the roof itself. You can make the top tire yourself. Quite often it is made from ordinary wire, twine or a small wooden strip.
After creating and installing the tire, the stem of the bush can be tied to a rope.
The stem can also be tied at the bottom. Some gardeners tie an additional string between the second and third leaves. To prevent the lace from being torn out and damaging the bush, it is recommended to pull it with a little slack. Tie the cord at the top with a slip knot or loop. This is done so that its position can be adjusted in the future.
It is better to collect cucumbers tied vertically. The vertical arrangement of the stems improves lighting. Also, this method of gartering makes it possible to monitor the position of the stems and, if necessary, adjust it.
Horizontal tying
Not all gardeners know how to tie cucumbers in a greenhouse horizontally.For this, a rope and several laces are used, which must be pulled with a ladder. This is done at a distance of 45 cm from the soil. The interval between each attached rope is made approximately the same.
Sometimes people don't want to waste time tightening their shoelaces. In this case, they can be replaced with mesh or trellises. The mesh is fixed between two high supports, which are located at the edges of the beds. The stems of tied bushes will twine along a horizontal line, and ripe cucumbers will begin to hang down. As the bushes grow, you will have to periodically move the mustache. If side shoots appear, they will have to be placed on the nearest horizontal line.
This method is most suitable if you are growing cucumbers in a greenhouse, since in this case the bushes will not grow too high. However, because of this, there is a possibility that neighboring antennae will cling to each other.
Other methods
In addition to the main methods of tying, there are also other methods that are used a little less frequently. You also need to familiarize yourself with them in order to understand which of the considered methods is the most suitable.
Mixed method
Most often it is used if the cucumbers were planted using a circular pattern. In this case, 10-15 iron rods are dug into the ground in such a way as to form a cone. Then a fine mesh is stretched over them, into the holes of which the stems and tendrils of the bushes will be launched.
It is quite easy to make a garter on the made conical structure. To do this, just stretch the antennae into the holes, and over time they will begin to weave around the mesh on their own. It is not recommended to use a mixed method to establish too young seedlings.
Using twine
It is recommended to use this method when the bushes have already grown 20-25 cm in height and have five true leaves. If you use twine to tie up seedlings that are too young, you may accidentally break them.
Most often, vertical twines are used to tie greenhouse cucumbers. In this case, the loops are tied around the third or second leaf. Moreover, you should not tighten the loop too tightly, as this may negatively affect the development and growth of the stems.
Sometimes stakes are used to secure the twines. They must be placed near the planted bushes. It is recommended to use pegs that are not too high. The optimal height is one meter, but sometimes higher supports can be used. In addition to the stakes, you will also need fabric strips that will be used to attach the lashes.
Strips of fabric will be needed until the bush grows to the intersection of the twine with the peg. After this, they can be removed, since the stem can be secured to the twine.
Use of a fence
This method is not popular among vegetable growers, but it is quite convenient. To make a hedge for a garter, you will need a strong mesh, which will have to be stretched along the row with the planted cucumbers. To ensure high-quality fastening, the bushes are tied to the fence with a strong rope. Installing the mesh is quite simple. To do this, you will have to place several high stakes along the entire length of the row, to which the mesh will be attached.
The main advantage of this method is that in the future the bush can be gradually tied up to different levels.
Arch garter
Quite often, cucumbers are planted under arches to which they will be tied in the future. To create arcs, use strong wire, which is dug in near each row. This method is not very common among gardeners, since it is most often used when growing large quantities of cucumbers.
Blindness
This method has been used by gardeners for many years to tie cucumbers. In this case, the main stem of the bush is tied to a special trellis. After this, all excess shoots and tendrils located in the upper part of the bush are removed from the plant.
Rules for organizing a garter
There are several basic rules that must be followed when tying cucumbers to supports:
- Only seedlings over 30 cm high need to be tied up.
- First, it is recommended to dig in supports and only then plant seedlings.
- The stem is tied only after the third or second leaf. At the same time, you should not press down the plant too much, as this may negatively affect the supply of nutritional components.
- High lashes are cut at the height of the garter. This is done to improve the development and growth of seedlings.
- When leaving two lashes, only the strongest side shoots should be selected.
- When creating supports, it is better to use pegs made of wood. Iron supports will begin to oxidize over time and harm the bushes, and plastic strips will not be able to cope with serious loads. Also, good supports are made from plastic pipes. However, they will have to be dug deep into the ground for greater reliability.
- The stems need to be tied with garden ropes, twine or fabric strips. Some gardeners use strips made from plastic bottles.
- To reduce the load, it is recommended to install supports every one and a half meters.
Conclusion
Learning how to make a cucumber garter yourself is very simple. To do this, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with how to properly tie cucumbers in a greenhouse and what materials you will need for this.
