Cucumbers are a favorite vegetable of many gardeners. They love warmth and therefore it is recommended to plant them in special warm beds. Setting up such places for growing is not so easy. To do this, you need to determine what kind of soil cucumbers like and where exactly it is best to place a warm bed for growing.
Varieties
Before setting up beds for cucumbers, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with their main varieties. This will help in the future to choose the most suitable beds for cucumbers.
Trench
Quite often, before planting cucumbers in open ground, trench-type beds are created. In this case, the place for planting cucumbers is located in a pre-dug trench, into which all the necessary nutritional components are placed. The trench is created for better decomposition of the fertilizer and for warming the soil. Before planting cucumbers, all fertilizers in the trench are covered with soil almost to the very top.
High
Some gardeners grow cucumbers in a high bed. To create such a bed for cucumbers with your own hands, you need to create a special wooden frame. Mineral fertilizers with fresh bird droppings are placed in it. All fertilizers are covered on top with a thick layer of soil, which should be slightly raised above the ground. Experienced vegetable growers say that it is better to plant cucumbers in such structures, since they are reliably protected from weeds.
Combined
You can also grow cucumbers in combined beds. This growing method consists of the main components of the above types. A combined cucumber bed consists of a small underground trench and a frame installed on top, which is made from durable wood.
Where to plant cucumbers
After familiarizing yourself with the main beds, you should determine a place to plant cucumbers in the spring. First you need to figure out what exactly cucumbers like - sun or shade. Cucumbers are light-loving vegetables. The area for growing them should be well lit throughout the day and therefore the beds should not be located under trees.
The choice of garden plot for spring planting cucumbers in the ground directly depends on the region in which the vegetables will be grown.For example, in the southern parts of the country, you may not have to worry about planting vegetables in sun or shade. They will grow even better in shaded areas, since in summer some bushes may dry out due to the sun's rays. In more northern regions, the cucumber bed should be located on southern slopes, which are well illuminated by the sun's rays.
Also, when choosing a place in the garden, you need to consider what soil is most suitable for cucumbers in open ground.
Loamy and sandy loam soils are considered the most suitable for growing this vegetable. At the same time, the acidity of the soil should not be too high. If you plant cucumbers in soil that is too acidic, the seedlings will develop very slowly. To make sure that the soil is not very acidic, you should use litmus paper. During the test, soil from the garden is mixed with a liter of boiled water, after which litmus paper is applied to the mixture. The most optimal soil acidity is 7-8 Ph.
How to prepare the soil
Before you prepare a bed for cucumbers, you should do some preliminary soil preparation on the site.
The first preparation of the soil without manure and the addition of other organic fertilizers is carried out in the fall. First, the area is cultivated to get rid of weeds and loosen the soil a little. Then the entire area must be watered with a solution prepared from Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate. In the fall, it is not necessary to water the soil with alkaline liquid, since it is better to do this before planting cucumbers.
In the spring, the garden is fertilized with humus and other organic matter is added to the soil. However, you should not use too much organic fertilizer.We treat a square meter of plot with 3-5 kg of rotted manure and 50 grams of mineral fertilizers. Some gardeners advise adding 100 grams of lime to the soil to slightly reduce its acidity level. When the soil is prepared, it should be dug up and leveled with a rake.
How to make a bed for cucumbers
Preparing a bed is a complex job that is not easy for beginners to handle. There are various useful ideas to help prepare beds for the lazy. To understand how to make beds correctly, you need to familiarize yourself with the main stages of its manufacture.
Creating a trench
First you need to dig a trench, which is needed for growing vegetables. Its size should not be too large. The width of the trench is no more than one meter, and the height is 40-50 cm.
Laying grass
To make the trench more durable and the cucumbers do not fall under the ground, a small layer of grass should be laid on the bottom. To do this, any tall grass is mowed, placed on the bottom and carefully trampled underfoot. If this is not done, then after the rains the soil in the garden bed will sag greatly and because of this, the young cucumber bushes will begin to rot.
Preparing the fertilizer mixture
To get a good harvest of cucumbers prepare a special mixture for feeding. It is made from moldy bread mixed with potato skins. Before treating the bed with the prepared solution, the trench should be watered with warm water. Then the soil layer with grass in the trench is covered with the mixture. Over time, a fermentation process occurs, during which bacteria begin to appear. Cucumbers need them for normal growth.
Landing
We fill the entire layer with fertilizers with soil, then we plant cucumbers in the garden. To do this, the cucumber bed is first watered with water and small holes are made in it. Their size should be 10 cm wide and 5-7 cm deep. Before planting cucumbers, the seeds must be disinfected.
Some people are wondering whether it is possible to plant cucumbers too close. This should not be done, as the bushes can shade each other and grow slower because of this. It is recommended to install special supports near each bush, from which the plants are suspended for better growth.
Rules of care
Any smart housewife who grows vegetables knows that they need proper care.
Watering
It's no secret that bushes need to be watered periodically. Watering is a must for growing cucumbers, as it directly affects the quality of the resulting harvest. You need to moisten the soil 2-3 times a week, if it is not too hot outside. On hot summer days, plants need to be watered daily so that the soil does not have time to dry out.
Top dressing
Treating the soil with fertilizers stimulates the development of plants, since the treated soil contains a large amount of nutritional components. Not every vegetable grower knows which component should be added to the soil when fertilizing cucumbers. At the moment the leaves appear and the vines form, nitrogen fertilizers with potassium should be added to the soil.
Organic fertilizers should also be added to the soil with crops. Many people recommend adding bird droppings and horse manure to the soil. Sometimes slurry made from cow manure is used instead.
Pinching
Cucumbers are pinched repeatedly during cultivation.For the first time, this procedure is carried out after the appearance of the first true leaves. In this case, the pinching is done above the second leaf. Next time the procedure is repeated, but this time on sheets 7-9. Next, you will have to pinch the plant every three leaves.
Conclusion
Any smart vegetable grower has at least once had the idea of growing cucumbers in special warm beds. Therefore, some are interested in how to make a bed for cucumbers in open ground. To figure this out, it is recommended to study a few basic ideas that will help you create a cucumber bed in open ground.
