Many vegetable growers are engaged in growing cucumbers. Moreover, most of them plant them not on the street, but in greenhouses. To obtain large fruits, it is necessary to properly care for cucumbers. During care, it is recommended to periodically remove unnecessary shoots on the bushes. This can cause some difficulties for inexperienced gardeners. Therefore, it is recommended to familiarize yourself in advance with how to plant cucumbers in a greenhouse and whether it is necessary to do this at all.
Why is this done?
Before planting cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse, you should decide why this is being done.After all, there are people who doubt whether it is necessary to get rid of excess shoots on the plants they grow.
Some vegetable growers argue that it is not necessary to remove stepchildren. However, it is better not to listen to them, since stepsoning has many advantages. Using this procedure, you can not only increase the amount of harvest, but also get it much earlier. If you get rid of excess shoots in a timely manner, then all the useful components will be spent only on fruits, and not on greens.
Of course, you don’t have to remove the side shoots. However, in this case, the likelihood of obtaining a high-quality harvest will sharply deteriorate.
Everything will depend on the growing conditions and the variety of cucumbers. If you do not plant greenhouse cucumbers, their bushes will begin to develop quickly. Branches will begin to appear from the axils of the leaves, which in the future will grow and become additional stems. Over time, shoots will appear on them, which will consume a lot of nutrients. Because of this, the fruits will receive insufficient nutrients and they will develop too slowly.
When to plant bushes
Having decided on the reasons for carrying out this work, it is necessary to figure out when to plant cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse.
To determine the optimal time for removing shoots on cucumbers, you need to carefully examine the young bushes. The first time the procedure should be carried out when 5-8 leaves are formed on the seedlings. In this case, all side shoots located above the fifth leaf are removed. Only the strongest shoot is left. During growth, you will have to periodically monitor the appearance of new ovaries and regulate their formation. It is recommended to shorten all side stepsons to the third node.
Next time, it is recommended to carry out the procedure after the formation of the ninth leaf. In this case, you will have to get rid of all the stepsons on the bushes.
Features of pinching
To understand how to properly plant cucumbers in a greenhouse, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of such work. In a greenhouse, pinching is carried out in several successive stages, which you must familiarize yourself with.
First stage
It is necessary to start forming seedlings into one stem immediately after planting them in greenhouses. To begin with, cut off all the extra buds and side shoots that are located near the fourth leaf. At the same time, all this must be done very carefully so as not to accidentally damage the plant.
Correct pinching of cucumbers should be done with sharp scissors or a sharpened knife so that everything goes painlessly for the plant. However, some gardeners prefer to remove everything themselves.
When all the extra shoots are removed, the bushes will need to be tied to a special net. To properly tie the cucumbers to the supports, you need to tie one edge of the rope to the main stem. The second edge is tied directly to the support. This procedure will further simplify the process of planting cucumbers in the greenhouse.
Second phase
Well-known vegetable grower Oktyabrina Ganichkina recommends applying fertilizer to strengthen the plants before starting the second stage. To do this, it is recommended to use ready-made fertilizers from stores. For example, you can use Giant or Breadwinner fertilizers. After applying fertilizer, each bush should be watered with warm, settled water. It is recommended to spend at least 1 liter of water per plant.
Having finished with the preparatory work, you can begin to remove excess shoots. This pinning scheme is quite simple. It is necessary to begin removing stepsons when 5-8 leaves are fully formed on each bush. At the same time, we must not forget that at the second stage, at least one ovary should be left on the cucumbers.
During the procedure, it is necessary to pull back the leaf near which the stepson is located and carefully pinch it off. There is no need to rush so as not to accidentally hit the main stem or leaf. When all the work is completed, all the bushes are again tied to the supports.
Third stage
When about 10 leaves have formed on one of the bushes, you can begin the next stage of removing shoots. During the third stage, two leaves and one young fruit are left on the bushes. In this case, all other stepsons of the cucumbers are removed.
Further care of cucumbers in the greenhouse is very simple, since after the formation of the eleventh leaf it will be possible to get rid of all unnecessary ovaries. It will be enough to leave 2-3 leaves and fruits on each side of the bush.
After removing the ovaries, the bush is tied to supports. However, at this stage this must be done very carefully, since the bushes are already too large. If during gartering you accidentally damage their crown, the plant will gradually dry out and die as a result.
At this point we can consider that the stepsoning is completely completed. However, many vegetable growers still recommend monitoring cucumber bushes during cultivation. Over time, extra ovaries will appear on them, which can slow down the development of the fruit. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly inspect the plants and remove excess shoots before harvesting.
Conclusion
Planting and growing cucumbers interests many vegetable growers. At the same time, not everyone knows how to properly remove excess shoots from cucumber bushes. To learn how to do this, you need to familiarize yourself with the correct stepson pattern in a picture or video. You can also find many resources that will describe step by step the removal of excess shoots.
