The desire to get a harvest faster sometimes backfires for the summer resident. Due to the vagaries of the weather, a hasty gardener often does not know how to protect cucumbers from the cold in open ground. Delay during the coming frosts at night threatens complete loss of the crop.
Temperature
Each garden crop has temperature thresholds, if violated, the plant stops growing and may become ill and die. A summer resident needs to know at what air temperature of a heat-loving cucumber problems can begin and the vegetable does not grow.
The table shows threshold temperatures (air, soil) and associated problems:
| Air temperature | Soil temperature | Problem |
| Average daily temperature below 15 °C | Productivity falls, plantings suffer from powdery mildew | |
| At night temperatures below 8 °C for more than 5 days | Cucumber seedlings may die | |
| Below 12°C | Cucumber seeds germinate poorly, seedlings stop growing, and yellowed leaves appear | |
| 6 – 8 °C for 1 night | Without consequences | |
| Daytime from 23 °C, night from 15 °C | Above 15 °C | The seeds germinate within a week, the seedlings are actively growing |
Waiting for frost
In spring, the problem of night frosts is especially pressing for summer residents who live in the city all week. All garden work needs to be done over the weekend and make sure that the cucumbers do not freeze.
It is easier to protect cucumbers from freezing in a greenhouse. If your greenhouse has electricity, you can install an electric heat gun. If it is not available, use other types of fuel and install for frost protection:
- gas heater;
- air heater running on diesel fuel;
- wood-burning stove for greenhouses.
It is more difficult to protect cucumbers in open ground. When planting cucumbers in the garden early with seeds or seedlings, it is worth creating not ordinary ridges on the ground, but warm ridges that have become fashionable lately or easier-to-construct ones - manure ridges.
dung ridge
In cold weather, a manure bed will provide not only warmth, but also the nutrients necessary for growth. It must be done wisely. In the active burning phase of a garden bed, young plants can be destroyed.
You need to build a bed of manure 2 weeks before sowing the seeds. Manure needs to be piled in a high ridge and spilled. To make it burn faster, you can cover the structure with cellophane.
When the ridge starts working, it will be visible by the steam coming from it. After 2 days of active burning, you can plant the seeds in holes filled with soil. The soil thickness should be at least 30 cm. While there is a threat of low temperatures, cover young shoots with film or spunbond to prevent them from freezing. Cucumber vines grown on manure rarely suffer from diseases.
Warm ridge
A warm ridge is an analogue of a dung ridge, only the following can act as biofuel:
- food waste;
- leaves;
- branches;
- grass;
- tops
Cucumber seedlings on an organic cushion, covered with film on top, are not susceptible to frost. The effect of the design is observed in rainy summers. Organic matter overheats, releasing the necessary heat and nutrition for growth.
A decoratively decorated warm bed will make it easier to care for cucumbers and at the same time decorate your summer cottage.
The advantage of warm ridges:
- conveniently fix the arches and covering material;
- the soil warms up much faster, so you can sow seeds earlier;
- less weeds;
- drainage in the form of large branches eliminates stagnation of water and promotes the development of the root system;
- decaying organic matter warms the soil at night, which stimulates night growth.
Arches plus covering material
Cheap kits for summer residents, equipped with plastic arches and covering material, can protect cucumber vines in cold weather not only in a greenhouse.
By installing them above the holes in the spring, the gardener copes with the problem of how to protect cucumbers during the period of May frosts. Dense covering material saves seedlings from freezing.
How arcs and covering material can protect cucumbers from the cold in open ground is shared by summer residents on forums and in their videos.Their advice can help many people protect heat-loving plants.
You need to buy white spunbond to protect plants from spring cold snaps. The optimal density of non-woven material is 23 g/m2. m. Such strength is enough to protect from the cold and withstand the pressure of the wind.
Saving cucumbers
If you are unlucky and the frost has caught the cucumber leaves, you need to revive them. For such a case, every summer resident should have an “Epin”. A drug that will help if cucumbers:
- frozen;
- the leaves have turned yellow for some reason;
- which day it rains and it gets noticeably colder;
- attacked by aphids or other pests.
How to help cucumbers with Epin is indicated in the instructions. A single treatment restores the plant's immunity. The main thing is not to use fertilizers for two weeks until the plant leaves on its own. Be sure to buy a biogrowth stimulator.
Help cucumbers using any popular remedy:
- Zircon;
- Narcissus;
- Amulet;
- Silk.
With the help of these remedies, harmless to people and vegetables, you will quickly restore cucumber vines. It is important that during processing the solution reaches most of the leaves.
Most vegetable growers experience yellowing of leaves. Experienced gardeners know how to feed cucumbers during illness, how to save vines from rot and pests.
Fertilizers
Prolonged summer cold spells have a bad effect on cucumbers. The tips on the leaves become lighter, and the formation of ovaries slows down. In this case, feed with a solution of carbamide or urea.
The solution is prepared immediately before use. Dilute 1 tbsp. l. the drug in 10 liters of settled water. The weather during processing should be dry and cloudy.
Let's revive this way several times. The interval between feedings is 3 days.When the leaves turn dark green, you can stop saving the cucumbers.
Simple folk methods
For novice vegetable growers, it will be interesting to learn how to care for cucumbers using simple folk methods. Did you find out that the temperature will be below zero at night? What to do if you don’t have covering material on hand and don’t have time to build a shelter?
You can pick some grass or branches, you can take the straw and throw it on the young cucumbers, and lower the ones that are taller and tied to the trellis below. A layer of mulch will prevent freezing. In the morning, rake it, but do not remove it from the ridge. It is needed for further care; it will help retain moisture in the soil and prevent the soil from freezing.
If there is an unnecessary roll of roofing felt lying somewhere in the shed, you can use it. Build bags to cover young cucumber seedlings. In the morning they will need to be removed, and at night they will serve as excellent protection from slightly sub-zero temperatures.
You can help the plant during periods of prolonged bad weather using boric acid. Dilute a packet of powder (5 g) in hot water and pour into 10 liters of water. Cucumbers can be sprayed with this solution after sunset.
Such treatment will protect cucumber plantings from diseasesthat occur in bad weather:
- bacteriosis;
- powdery mildew;
- root rot.
Variety selection
Think, how to grow cucumbers in open ground, it is necessary not in the spring, when it is time to sow seeds, but in the fall or winter. To do this, the summer resident needs:
- Prepare a place for planting in the fall. Build a warm bed or greenhouse to obtain early production.
- Before spring, purchase covering material of the required size and density. For protection from bad weather, spunbond with a thickness of 35 microns is suitable.
- Select cucumber seeds with characteristics that are suitable for the climate.
You can choose from the ten most popular ones, bred specifically for open ground:
- April F1 - cold-resistant, mid-ripening, the fruits are not small, used for preparing light salads.
- Masha F1 is the queen of the market. They like to grow this variety for sale because of its early ripening, good taste and excellent immunity. The fruits are tuberous, good in marinades.
- Zozulya F1 is a cold-resistant, early-ripening hybrid that gives good yields in greenhouses and in protected ground.
- Fontana F1, a hybrid, has long been used by summer residents of different climatic zones. The variety is cold-resistant, productive, rarely gets sick, and is good for harvesting.
These varieties can be recommended to beginning vegetable growers. Having mastered the technology of growing cucumbers with seeds in the OG, you can expand the collection and study methods of propagating the crop through seedlings.
Conclusion
Using modern biological products and fertilizers, we grow cucumbers in any weather. Covering material, plastic arches, PVC film will help cope with spring cold snaps and summer bad weather.
