How to properly plant, grow and care for cucumber seedlings

Cucumbers are a fairly common vegetable crop, which is often found in the summer cottages of vegetable growers. Growing this vegetable is not so easy, especially for beginners who are doing this for the first time. Therefore, before you start planting, you need to familiarize yourself with how to feed cucumber seedlings and how to grow cucumber seedlings at home.

How to properly grow cucumber seedlings

Growing cucumber seedlings at home is carried out in several successive stages, which you should definitely familiarize yourself with.

When to sow cucumbers for seedlings

First, you need to decide when is the best time to sow cucumber seeds for seedlings. It all depends on where the germinated seedlings will be planted in the future. When further transplanting into a greenhouse, the seeds should be planted in the first half of March. If the vegetable will be grown in the garden, then it is better to plant the planting material in May, so that by the beginning of summer the bushes can be transplanted into open ground.

Preparing seeds

Before sowing seeds for cucumber seedlings, you need to prepare them in advance. First, all planting material must be sorted. This is done to get rid of bad seeds with obvious defects or damage on the surface. Irregularly shaped seeds are not suitable for sowing.

When the seed sorting is completed, you can begin calibration. This procedure is carried out to select the highest quality cucumbers before planting. To carry out calibration, prepare a saline solution consisting of a liter of water and 50 grams of salt. Then all the seeds for planting are added to it. They are soaked in the liquid for about 10 minutes, after which all the defective seeds will begin to float to the surface.

You need to get rid of them immediately, as they will not grow into healthy cucumber seedlings.

Before planting cucumber seeds for seedlings at home, they should be disinfected. With the help of timely disinfection of seeds, all microbes and bacteria can be removed from their surface, which in the future can cause the development of serious diseases. To disinfect cucumbers with folk remedies, it is recommended to use potassium permanganate.The seeds are placed in a manganese solution for 40 minutes, after which they are washed with running water and dried.

Soil preparation

Cucumber seedlings are planted in a special soil mixture, which should be prepared in advance. To improve the germination of seedlings and grow strong seedlings, it is necessary to add organic components to the soil. To grow seedlings, a lot of peat should be added to the soil, which promotes faster development of cucumbers. Also, for planting, compost mixed with humus is added to the soil. These components promote the development of seedling roots and loosen the soil well.

Some people, to sow cucumbers at home, add a little overripe sawdust with ash to the ground. With their help you can stabilize the acidity of the soil.

Selection of capacity

It is necessary to plant seeds only in containers most suitable for cucumbers. The roots of cucumber bushes need a lot of space. This should be taken into account when choosing a container for germinating seeds.

It is recommended to grow cucumber seedlings in cups made from peat. Such containers are very convenient, since seedlings can be planted in open ground along with cups. However, before planting, it is better to wrap such pots in plastic bags so that the moisture does not evaporate too quickly.

The main advantage of peat containers is that they quickly absorb moisture. Thanks to this, you will not have to water the planted seeds too often.

How to plant cucumbers for seedlings

To plant cucumber seedlings correctly, you need to familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of planting this vegetable.

Before planting cucumbers in cups, the containers should be filled two-thirds with the prepared soil mixture and watered with warm water.Some vegetable growers place drainage at the bottom of the container to prevent moisture from evaporating too quickly. After this, the pots of soil should sit for 2-3 days so that the soil is completely ripe.

When the containers are filled with soil, you can start creating holes. Their depth should be at least more than one centimeter. If you dig the holes too deep, the seeds may not germinate. Sow 2-3 seeds in each hole and then sprinkle them with soil. Containers with planted cucumbers must be moved to a room with an air temperature of about 20-25 degrees.

How to grow seedlings

It is recommended to grow seedlings in well-lit areas. Therefore, it is necessary to take care of additional lighting in advance. Several phytolamps and fluorescent bulbs should be installed near containers with planted vegetables. With their help you can compensate for the insufficient amount of natural sunlight. Lamps must work at least 10 hours a day.

If the cucumber bush is not growing well, water it with settled water at room temperature. Watering must be done regularly so that the soil does not have time to dry out too much. At the same time, you should not spend too much liquid on each bush. It is enough to pour a tablespoon of water under the sprouts.

People who have been growing seedlings for many years claim that they need to be fed regularly. It is not recommended to experiment when fertilizing cucumbers, so they are fed with special store-bought mixtures that contain all the necessary nutritional components.

How to properly plant seedlings in the ground

It is no secret that grown seedlings must be transplanted into open ground for further cultivation. Many people are interested in when they can start replanting cucumbers after germination.It is recommended to do this in the second half of May, so that there is no severe frost at night.

Before planting seedlings, you should familiarize yourself with the recommendations that will help you do it correctly.

Site selection

It is recommended to plant cucumber seedlings in an area where there is constant sunlight. Shaded areas are not suitable for cucumbers, as they develop very poorly in such conditions. Many vegetable growers recommend planting seedlings near water bodies. In such an area there is humid air, which promotes the development and growth of young bushes.

When choosing a place to plant, you need to carefully examine the soil. Permeable loamy soil with a lot of humus is ideal for vegetables. Cucumbers also grow well in soil with a low level of acidity. Some vegetable growers plant them on sandy or clay soils. However, in this case you will have to carefully care for the bushes in order to get a good harvest.

Preparing the area

It is necessary to prepare the site for planting in early autumn. In September, all remnants of plants that were previously grown there are removed from the garden. It is recommended to bury them in the ground or simply burn them, and use the ash in the future to fertilize cucumbers.

The next stage of preparation begins in the spring. In the second half of May it is necessary to start preparing the beds. Each of them should not be wider than 80-90 cm. If the seedlings are planted in heavy soil, then each bed will have to be fertilized with manure and compost mixed with soil. In order for the bushes to grow better, the soil must be insulated in advance. To do this, a small trench is made in the beds, into which fresh manure and warm water are added.

How to plant seedlings

Planting cucumbers begins with creating holes. They are done at a distance of 20-30 cm so that the bushes do not shade each other too much. Also, before creating them, the optimal depth should be determined. It is recommended to deepen them by 10-20 cm in order to completely cover the roots of the seedlings with soil.

Before placing seedlings in the soil, each hole is watered with warm water. Seedlings are placed in the ground very carefully so as not to damage the roots of the plants. After planting, all holes are filled with soil, re-filled with water and compacted a little. Near each bush, supports are installed, to which the grown cucumber bushes will then be tied.

How to care for cucumbers

Proper care of cucumber seedlings contributes to a good harvest. Therefore, it is recommended to familiarize yourself in advance with how to care for seedlings in order to collect a lot of cucumbers.

First you need to familiarize yourself with the features of watering this vegetable. Cucumbers do not like drought and therefore grow rather poorly in dry soil. To prevent the soil from drying out too much, they must be watered at least five times every 10 days. On summer days, you need to water the area daily, since at this time the soil dries out much faster. For irrigation, only thoroughly settled warm water should be used. When watering, make sure that the liquid does not get on the leaves of the plants.

You should also regularly fertilize cucumber seedlings at home. It should be fertilized correctly to significantly increase yield. Before feeding cucumbers, you should familiarize yourself with the features of this procedure.

Fertilizers are applied to the soil every day.In this case, organic fertilizers are added first, and then mineral ones. Before fruit formation, potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen are added to the soil, and then the plants are fed with magnesium.

It is recommended to monitor the number of tendrils on the plant and remove them regularly. This is done so that more nutritional components are spent on the formation of fruits, and not on the growth of antennae. In addition, you should inspect each plant being grown and remove any excess shoots.

Conclusion

A large number of gardeners are engaged in planting cucumber seedlings. To plant correctly, you need to familiarize yourself with how to plant cucumber seedlings and transplant them into open ground.