Gardeners are using new recipes for nutrient solutions when caring for cucumbers. Not long ago, treatment of cucumbers with whey and iodine began to be used. Many people talk about its benefits for vegetable plants. But you need to be able to prepare the solution correctly and know how and when to use it.
A new method of combating cucumber diseases
Cucumber is one of the delicate plants that is often susceptible to various infections.During the humid summer, the vegetable suffers from attack by pathogenic fungi that cause mold to form on the stems and leaves. And only spraying cucumbers with iodine serum can save the future harvest of the vegetable. Traps for garden pests are also prepared using serum.
How do the components of the mixture work?
A feature of whey, a product of milk processing during the preparation of cottage cheese, is an acidic environment that suppresses the activity of pathogenic microorganisms. The liquid remaining after curdling of milk contains no proteins or fats, but contains amino acids in large quantities. Fermentation of the product is associated with the activity of fungi, which have a detrimental effect on their counterparts that cause plant diseases. Whey It is not without reason that the liquid is classified as a natural fungicide.
Iodine contains an excellent antiseptic, which all garden pests fear. An iodine solution will not only get rid of mold and aphids, but will prevent cucumbers from being attacked by them.
Together with whey, iodine will help improve the health of cucumber plantings.
Preparation of the solution
Cucumbers must be treated correctly. Therefore, prepare the mixture, observing the proportions:
- The serum is diluted with water at room temperature, taking them in the same quantity 1:10.
- If pure whey is replaced with kefir, then the dilution proportion is the same.
- You need a little iodine per ten liters of whey solution, only ten drops.
- To enhance the therapeutic effect, add twenty grams of crushed laundry soap. This will help the mixture adhere better to the affected parts of the plant.
The prepared solution can also be used for prevention cucumber diseases. It gives results when the plant is infected with powdery mildew or root rot.
How to treat cucumbers from diseases and pests
To spray diseased plants, choose the morning hours, when the dew has already subsided. The day should be calm and not hot. Cucumber bushes are treated with a sprayer. If this is not possible, then a watering can will do. It is better to spray the leaves from above. When pathogenic fungi have already infected parts of the plant, they will die in an acidic whey environment after treatment.
Preventive measures also include spraying cucumbers with whey and iodine. It is better to carry out the procedures three times a season with a break of seven to ten days. The advantages of this treatment are that vegetable plants can also be sprayed with fruits. There are no harmful substances in the mixture of whey and iodine. Apart from benefits, it will bring nothing to cucumbers or humans.
Traps for insects - aphids, fleas, flies - are prepared by pouring serum into small jars. Both slugs and earwigs, which eat the green leaves of cucumbers, love the sour smell. Insects get into the jars and die, unable to get out. You can lubricate the walls and edges of containers with odorless oil, which will prevent garden pests from escaping the trap.
Can whey be used as a fertilizer?
Caring for cucumbers includes, in addition to abundant watering, the application of fertilizers. For the rapid growth of vegetables and obtaining a high yield of greens, amino acids, calcium, phosphorus, and copper are needed. All useful elements for cucumbers are contained in sufficient quantities in whey, which can be enriched with iodine and wood ash.
It is recommended to use the serum to feed cucumber seedlings. It is better to water young seedlings when two or three true leaves appear on them. Having received the microelements and amino acids necessary for active growth, the seedlings will not stretch, but will become strong and healthy.
The serum is also used for root and foliar feeding of cucumbers in greenhouses and in open ground. But we must not forget that the acidity of the soil will increase. Therefore, it is imperative to dilute the whey before processing cucumbers.
Ways to use fertilizer
In the garden, fertilizer is applied at the root, diluting the whey in water at a temperature of at least 23 degrees Celsius. It is better to water cucumbers within a radius of half a meter from the main stem. If the acidity of the soil in the garden bed is slightly higher than normal, it may still rise. But this is harmful for cucumbers, so after some time, water the soil with milk of lime diluted in water.
You can also fertilize with whey liquid using the foliar method. For spraying, take a ten percent solution of a dairy product. The diluted whey is beneficial and will not burn the cucumber leaves. You need to know how to spray plants and when to do it.
Choose calm, preferably cloudy, weather for processing. To ensure that the fertilizer adheres well to the leaves, add a little laundry soap in the form of shavings to the nutrient solution. It is necessary to leave the fertilizer for three to four hours for the soap to dissolve. After mixing, begin spraying the cucumber seedlings.
You can pour the whey solution over the compost, then it will ripen quickly and be enriched with useful microelements.
What fertilizers are prepared based on whey?
To make whey as a fertilizer more beneficial, additional ingredients are added to it:
- Chicken droppings are mixed with wood ash in a twenty-liter container. Fill everything with acidic liquid. Yeast is dissolved in warm water with added sugar. They are introduced into the resulting whey mixture.Fertilizer is infused for one or two weeks. Fertilizing of cucumbers will take place after the concentrated solution is diluted in a ratio of 1:10. Half a liter is enough for one plant.
- Whey, together with freshly cut grass, makes an excellent fertilizer. After two days of fermentation, the liquid is diluted by feeding the cucumbers at the root.
- It is useful to use serum with iodine, honey and ash. For two liters of dairy product, take a glass of ash, five tablespoons of honey and ten drops of iodine tincture. After mixing, leave the mixture for two to three days. Good results from using fertilizer during flowering of cucumbers. The ovaries do not fall off, and the cucumbers produce tasty fruits.
The whey, in combination with other substances, will give the plants those elements that are needed for the development of cucumbers and high-quality fruiting. Yeast will compensate for the deficiency of magnesium and B vitamins, and chicken manure – nitrogen. Due to the fermentation of the grass, the cucumbers will receive the amino acids and trace elements necessary for active growth. You need to know how to water cucumbers. Do this in the morning, in the absence of dew.
It is also useful to spray the tops of cucumber leaves with nutrient solutions. Cucumber seedlings respond well to such fertilizers.
The use of whey as a fertilizer has been tried by gardeners and has many positive reviews. In addition, the product does an excellent job of eliminating the causes of fungal diseases of cucumbers. Iodine will only enhance the healing qualities of the serum.
