Cucumber is a fairly common and sought-after vegetable. It is often grown in vegetable gardens, as well as in garden beds. But, growing cucumbers in greenhouses with your own hands is very popular. This is due to the fact that this option allows you to harvest a decent harvest of this vegetable. To achieve the desired result, you need to know how to prepare the soil for cucumbers in a greenhouse.
Landing Features
When planting cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse, it is worth considering some features of this process:
- Cultivation is carried out in two stages. In this case, seedlings are planted in early spring. Cucumbers are harvested at the end of July.
- If we are talking about cultivation in one stage, then the seedlings need to be prepared and planted in the beds at the end of winter. Cleaning ends at the end of autumn. Of course, you should pay attention to weather conditions.
If planting cucumber seedlings is planned in the spring, then cultivation should be reduced to one stage. Work is carried out in early April. As for the harvest, it is received already in early autumn. Of course, to achieve such a result, you need to take the right approach to caring for the crop and know what cucumbers like in the greenhouse.
What kind of soil do cucumbers like?
For this crop, the best option would be loamy or sandy loamy soil. As for acidic soils, they are not suitable for planting cucumbers.. The acidity of the soil mixture is important. Neutral soil is considered the ideal solution. Soil with weak acidity is also suitable for cucumbers.
How to determine acidity
When preparing the soil in a greenhouse, it is necessary to conduct an analysis to determine the level of acidity. If the analysis shows a value of 7, then you can safely start planting plants. As already mentioned, soil acidity is of great importance for the growth and development of the plant. Not to mention the fertility of the crop. The pattern here is quite simple. The higher the indicator, the higher the likelihood of normal plant development. But, at the same time, too high acidity of the soil negatively affects growth.
This requires expert judgment. To do this, you need to seek help from a specialized laboratory. The analysis is carried out using a special Alyamovsky device.If desired and possible, you can purchase this device, which will allow you to determine the condition of the soil at any time. Of course, this option is suitable for farmers who grow cucumbers on a large scale.
An equally popular option is to use special litmus paper. It can be found in a store that sells chemical reagents. Soil analysis is carried out in the following sequence:
- cut off the top layer of humus 30 cm thick;
- moisten it with distilled water;
- Wrap part of the mixture in paper and knead.
As a result, the paper will change shade. The color is compared with a control scale. Next, by coincidence, the acidity of the soil is determined.
If this is not possible, then the usual method of observation and analysis must be used. So, if woodlice, horse sorrel or horsetail sprout in the area, this indicates that the soil here is highly acidic. The only solution is to lower the level. It is best to do this with slaked lime, which is freely available. If clover or thistle grows in the area, this indicates that its acidity is low.
The soil is prepared very carefully. This is very important, since the yield of cucumbers depends on it. If you prepare everything well, the result will be amazing.
Greenhouse preparation
Before planting cucumbers, it is necessary to carry out a number of preparatory work. And this applies not only to the soil, but also to the greenhouse itself. If a crop is planted in one place from year to year, then you should not hope for a good harvest. This problem can be solved in different ways. So, if there is such an opportunity, then the greenhouse is moved to another place.This method is used in the case of mobile structures. The problem can also be solved by changing or updating the soil.
After harvesting, the soil is cultivated and the greenhouse is disinfected. For this purpose, chloride of lime is used. Each crack is thoroughly coated with the sediment of the used solution. After this, the soil is dug up and thoroughly sprinkled with lime in powder form. In the spring, before planting, the top layer is removed, and then the area is dug up.
If we are talking about a rack greenhouse, then a complete change of soil is carried out here. Spent humus is thrown away. Cow dung is placed on the bottom of the containers. The thickness of the pillow is approximately 10 cm. New soil is poured on top of it. The work is carried out in several stages. First, 10 cm of soil is poured, and after a few days another 15 cm is added.
How to cultivate the soil in a greenhouse
Spring soil preparation is carried out very carefully. Particular attention is paid to the choice of soil base for cucumbers. It must have the following qualities:
- good throughput and absorption capacity;
- high fertility;
- acceptable acidity level.
The best option here would be to use humus, as well as turf soil. Peat, humus, and field soil are used as substrates. If we are talking about adding nutritional components, then the base can be made from all components in the following ratio:
- peat – 50%;
- humus – 30%;
- field soil – 20%.
To increase the yield several times, experts recommend adding tree bark to the peat, which can first be crushed. Rotted tree leaves are also often used instead.
When planting cucumbers in glass structures, hot biofuel is often used.A laying of this substance is made in mid-spring. Biofuel is laid in a 30 cm thick cushion. Immediately before planting, the soil is treated with lime fluff. Wood ash is also used for this. The next step is to cover the pillow with film. This will release harmful gases that negatively affect plant growth.
The land used for growing cucumbers is carefully checked for the presence of weeds. Backfilling is carried out in several stages. To begin with, an earthen cushion 15 cm thick is laid over the entire area. In the places where the beds will be built, another 15 cm of humus is added.
To ensure the normal development of the plant, you need to think about fertilizing the soil. For planting cucumbers in a greenhouse, the best option is ammonium nitrate and potassium sulfate.
How to prepare a bed
When growing cucumbers in a greenhouse, mid-level beds are often used. They are formed using the wide-row and strip method. In the first case, the distance between the rows is 0.8 m. As for the strip formation, here the gap is half as much - 0.4 m. Such a bed for cucumbers will allow you to harvest more crops.
Feeding cucumbers
Before sowing this crop in a greenhouse, special attention should be paid to fertilizing. A common option here is to use ash. With its help, you can significantly increase crop productivity. But, in addition to this, cucumbers need feeding using other fertilizers that have a certain effect. If the bed is prepared and fertilized correctly, the harvest will be very good.
In the first weeks after planting in prepared soil, cucumbers do not need fertilizer. Here it will be enough to use nitrogen feed. Phosphorus replenishment is applied before inflorescences appear. During the period of flowering and fruit formation, plants begin to consume large amounts of nutrients. Therefore, the culture must be processed very carefully. Fertilizers are applied a month after planting the seedlings. This will create a supply of nutrients that are necessary for the normal development of plants.
To begin with, experts recommend using nitrogen-potassium fertilizers. This is quite enough at the initial stage of growing the crop. It is better to fertilize vegetable gardens in the evening. After adding the substance, the plant is watered with warm water. Additionally, fertile soil is added under the root. It is worth noting here that greenhouse seedlings absorb liquid fertilizers better.
In addition to nitrogen fertilizers, cow and bird droppings, as well as manure, are widely used for fertilizing. To increase the effectiveness of the substance, they are combined with mineral fertilizers.
You can increase the yield of cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse by increasing the level of carbon dioxide in the air. To do this, you simply need to place a barrel half filled with manure in a closed space. Add water to the top. The contents of the barrel are stirred daily. After a few days, fermentation begins, which is accompanied by the release of carbon dioxide. The contents are subsequently used as fertilizer.
Preparing the soil for cucumbers in a greenhouse in the spring must be done very carefully. Here we are talking not only about updating or enriching the soil, but also about preparing the structure itself.Therefore, you need to approach this work very carefully.
