How to feed cucumbers in a greenhouse so that the vegetables end up tasty, crispy and enriched with vitamins? To do this, you need to feed them properly throughout their growth. Greenhouse soil does not always have the necessary supply of nutrients, especially low in nitrogen. When adding additional nutrition, the stage of development of the cucumber, the appearance and condition of the soil are taken into account.
Home option
To grow cucumbers at home, several conditions must be met. The most important thing is to choose a specific variety that has enough space on the windowsill.
Another important condition is the correct soil.It should contain components such as humus, sawdust, peat. The first fertilizer can be nitrophoska (30 g), wood ash (200 g), urea (15 g). It is not recommended to use fertilizer when sowing.
Before the fruiting stage begins, it is necessary to carry out three feedings:
- Two weeks after seed germination (superphosphate and urea are dissolved in 10 liters of water).
- Another 10 days after the previous feeding.
- The latter is carried out after another 10 days (ash and nitrophoska are suitable).
As soon as the fruiting period begins, fertilizing indoor cucumbers should be accompanied by the addition of wood ash. How often should further recharge be carried out? Then, every two weeks, standard complex fertilizers purchased at the store are used.
Staged recharge
Now in almost every area of the dacha you can find a polycarbonate greenhouse. This material is suitable for growing many crops and makes plant care easy. Polycarbonate does not interfere with the penetration of daylight, retains heat and is easy to assemble. After installing it, another question arises: how can you fertilize cucumbers in a greenhouse?
Feeding cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse should be based on potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen substances. During the growth period, the vegetable needs nitrogen, especially when shoots and ovaries form. During fruiting, the need for potassium and phosphorus nutrition increases.
How to properly feed cucumbers in a greenhouse, starting with tillage? To get a rich harvest, you need to prepare the soil. Cucumber seeds should be planted in a well-lit place. Fertilizers for cucumbers in the greenhouse begin to be prepared in October, when the area is dug up and covered with manure.
If it was not possible to apply fertilizer in the fall, then fresh manure cannot be used in the spring, since the weak roots of the seedlings are burned. Before transplanting, you can use humus or peat. Spring mineral fertilizing may contain urea, superphosphate and potassium chloride. When planting cucumbers, fertilizers should not be applied immediately, but only after a few days.
What to feed cucumbers in a greenhouse depends on the stage of development. Caring for vegetables during development requires at least three feedings, but the schedule can vary and include more feedings. Just no more than once every two weeks.
The scheme for feeding cucumbers in a greenhouse can be imagined approximately like this:
- The first feeding of cucumbers after planting in the greenhouse should be before flowering begins, when the first few leaves appear. You can use organic or mineral fertilizers, but always contain nitrogen.
- The second feeding coincides with the appearance of color and the formation of ovaries. This is about 2 weeks after the last feeding. The fertilizer should already contain less nitrogen, but enough potassium. As a mineral fertilizer after planting, it is suitable to use fertilizer obtained from superphosphate, ammonium nitrate and potassium sulfate. All components are diluted with 10 liters of water.
- When the vegetable is actively bearing fruit, it will be the turn to apply the next fertilizing, approximately in another two weeks.
- Additionally, during fruiting in the greenhouse, a fourth feeding is carried out after another 12 days. Cucumbers in a greenhouse are fed with a composition containing phosphorus and potassium. Mineral fertilizing from superphosphate, ammonium nitrate and potassium sulfate at this time is taken in slightly larger proportions.
How to feed cucumber seedlings immediately after planting in a greenhouse? You can water the cucumbers with superphosphate, mullein or ammonium nitrate. Names of ready-made fertilizers that are of the best quality: Crystallin A, Potassium sulfate, Humatized fertilizers.
Calcium is necessary for the growth and healthy development of fruits. If it is deficient, there is a high probability that the process of rotting will begin, the ovaries will fall off, and growth will stop. The fruits turn yellow, change shape, and taste bitter. Cucumbers can be treated a second time with one of the recipes based on eggshells or with calcium nitrate 0.2%. Fertilizer for cucumbers is applied before flowering.
Fertilizing cucumbers during the fruiting period should contain potassium, nitrogen and magnesium, and there should be more potassium than nitrogen. The best care at this time is accompanied by fertilizer in the form of potassium nitrate, which removes excess bitterness and activates fruit growth.
Feeding is especially important during flowering and fruiting of cucumbers. The yield will depend on feeding. You can make a solution for watering at the roots, for spraying leaves and dry dusting plants. It is allowed to add manure, herbal infusion, urea, and superphosphate.
Possible problems
If cucumbers wither and do not bear fruit in the greenhouse, what should you do in this case? Watering and fertilizing cucumbers should be carried out according to the rules and in moderate quantities. Even good care of vegetables does not exclude problems. The fact that cucumbers grow poorly and lack nutritional components can be recognized by their appearance:
- if yellow spots appear on the leaves, it is quite possible that there is not enough magnesium or there is an excess of potassium;
- iron deficiency leads to vegetables growing poorly and leaves turning white;
- if the fruits become uneven and resemble the shape of a pear, then you need to compensate for the lack of potassium;
- a lack of nitrogen is indicated by curling of the fruits and thickening of the base;
- When cucumbers grow slowly in a greenhouse, and pale spots appear on young leaves, it means there is not enough calcium - the fruits are small and tasteless.
If the problem cannot be determined by the appearance of the cucumbers, then complex fertilizers are used, which can be bought in the store:
- Diammofosk is available in the form of granules that dissolve in water. Water the soil between the beds before flowering. Due to the nitrogen content, the growth of cucumbers is accelerated, and phosphates help to gain strength. Potassium helps increase yield.
- Among the best fertilizers is Ammofoska, which contains all the necessary components. Recommended to buy for those who have a dry planting area.
- Sulfur Nitrophoska is produced in granules. An additional component is sulfur. The composition not only nourishes the plant, but is also able to repel insect pests.
In a greenhouse, feeding all cultivated plants, including cucumbers, cannot be uniform. Care should be based on the characteristics of the soil composition, greenhouse material, weather conditions during planting and during growth. Not only a deficiency of some nutrients, but also an excess of them can lead to a poor harvest or death of the plant.
Types of food
When feeding cucumbers in a greenhouse, what fertilizers should you use and when? Natural solutions often contain manure, herbs, bird droppings, ash and other ingredients that can help save money. Feeding cucumbers in a greenhouse with folk remedies can be carried out with the following compositions:
- Mullein, nitrophoska are diluted in water, wood ash, boric acid and manganese sulfate are added. Cucumbers in a greenhouse may need this composition during the beginning of flowering and the formation of ovaries.
- Vegetables are fed with wood ash throughout their growth with an interval of 9 days. Can be used dry or made into an infusion. For the infusion, you will need about 200 g of ash, which is poured with warm water and left to infuse for two days. Before watering, the solution is diluted in 10 liters of water.
- A popular recipe is with manure, chicken droppings and slurry. Each component should be pre-diluted with water.
- Feeding cucumbers in a greenhouse is not complete without fresh or rotted chicken droppings. The rotted composition is diluted with water 1:10, fresh litter is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20. Before cultivating the soil, you need to water the cucumbers with plain water. Only the space between the beds can be watered with the solution containing droppings.
- An infusion of herbs is used to water the beds. Nettle is considered the most useful for its high content of microelements. Summer residents note the benefits of such supplements: “I use an infusion not only of nettles, but also add quinoa and plantain.” The herbs are crushed, filled with water and infused for three days.
- Greenhouse feeding of cucumbers is not complete without eggshells, as they contain many microelements. You can simply crush the shells and sprinkle them on the beds, or you can make a tincture. The shells of several eggs are crushed, filled with water and left for three days.
- You can supplement the plant with an infusion of onion peels. Add 200 g of onion peels to a bucket of water and put on fire. As soon as the water boils, remove from the stove and leave to infuse for 5 hours.For each root, 1 liter of such a solution is calculated.
- You can make your own yeast fertilizer, which you can water flowering plants with. The composition will compensate for the deficiency of phosphorus, potassium, vitamins and minerals, resulting in increased yield and quality of taste. You can dissolve the yeast in water and leave it for fermentation for a day. You need to add nutrients under the base.
For cucumbers in a greenhouse, mineral fertilizer can also be chosen:
- The first feeding of cucumbers in the greenhouse, when the first two leaves bloom, may include urea and superphosphate.
- During the second feeding, water the plants with a solution of potassium and ammonium nitrate and superphosphate.
- During the period when the fruits appear, it is recommended to water the cucumber beds with potassium nitrate or urea diluted in water.
There are two ways to feed cucumbers in a greenhouse. Beneficial ingredients are distributed throughout the plant not only during root feeding.
It is useful to use foliar feeding. Several recipes suitable for spraying the leaf parts of cucumbers:
- superphosphate, manganese sulfur, potassium nitric, boric acid and zinc sulfate are diluted in water;
- It is useful to use a urea-based solution;
- A composition of potassium permanganate and boric acid is considered effective.
Fertilizer for cucumbers must be chosen correctly. You should not water or treat the soil with any compounds that are at hand. Be sure to take into account the stages of growth and the problems encountered. Only in this case can you reap a good harvest, which will delight you with its quantity and quality.
