The summer season is gradually approaching and most vegetable growers are beginning to think about how to plant cucumbers to get a good harvest. Many people are interested in planting cucumbers under film, since with the help of covering material you can get a good harvest even in climatic conditions that are not at all suitable for cucumbers.
Planting seeds for seedlings
Before planting cucumbers in open ground, you should start growing seedlings. It is the grown young seedlings that in the future will be planted in the garden under covering material.Sowing cucumbers for growing seedlings is quite difficult and therefore it is better to familiarize yourself with the features of such work in advance.
Seed preparation
First, preliminary preparation of planting material is carried out, which is carried out in several successive stages. To protect cucumber seedlings in the future, it is necessary to disinfect the seeds. To do this, a fabric bag with seeds must be placed in a container with a special solution prepared from aloe juice, boric acid and copper sulfate.
The seeds are soaked in this liquid for 20-35 minutes. Then the seed is removed from the liquid and washed with heated water.
In order for the planted seeds to germinate well, after disinfection they need to be treated with biological stimulants. They contain special substances that help seedlings grow and develop better. To process cucumber seeds, it is better to use biostimulants such as sodium humate or Elin. The seed must be treated with these preparations for 10-15 minutes.
Soil for seedlings
Before transplanting them into the garden, you need to grow cucumbers only in the most suitable soil. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself in advance with how to properly make the soil mixture in which you will have to plant cucumbers.
There are several common methods of preparing soil for planting cucumber seeds. To create a soil mixture, many people mix part of the turf soil with part of fresh sawdust and two parts of humus. For better growth of seedlings, you can add 25 grams of urea and a small glass of ash to the resulting mixture.
There is another recipe for preparing a soil mixture for growing cucumbers. In this case, the turf soil is mixed with rotted humus, compost and ash.If necessary, you can add 15 grams of superphosphate and 10 grams of potassium with sawdust to the soil.
Landing
Peat cups are perfect for planting cucumbers, as seedlings grow much faster in them. Before planting, all containers are filled almost to the top with the prepared soil mixture. Then the soil in the pots is moistened with water and small holes are made in it for planting seeds. The holes are made 2-4 cm deep so that the seeds germinate faster.
When all the seeds have been planted, they are covered with soil and watered again. To speed up growth, all pots with cucumbers should be covered with film, which will have to be removed after the first shoots appear. However, there are gardeners who did not remove it before transplanting the seedlings into the garden.
How to grow cucumbers under film
Planting under film is carried out after real and well-developed leaves appear on the plant. Most often, seedlings are transplanted under film cover a month after the first shoots appear in pots.
Choosing a place to hide
Growing cucumbers on film should only be done in an area that is ideal for this. Cucumbers under film should grow in a place with sufficient sunlight, since this vegetable needs good lighting. Therefore, you should make sure that the plant is not shaded by anything throughout the day.
It is also recommended to plant seedlings in an area with the most suitable soil. You should avoid placing covering material for cucumbers in areas with heavy soil. Such soil often has high acidity, which significantly reduces the yield of cucumbers.It is necessary to grow cucumbers under film in sandy and loamy loose soils. In such areas you can get the highest quality harvest.
Installation of film cover
To grow cucumbers without a greenhouse or a greenhouse under a film, you need to install a shelter on the site in advance. For this you will need the following materials:
- leg-split;
- stakes;
- wire with rods;
- film;
- sackcloth.
Having prepared all the materials, you should start creating beds for growing cucumbers. First you need to decide on the size of the beds for cucumbers. It is recommended to make them not too large. It is enough to make 2-3 beds with a length of about three meters and a width of one meter.
After creating the beds, planting cucumber seedlings in the ground begins. Cucumbers in open ground are planted very carefully so as not to accidentally damage the seedlings. Seedlings should be planted at a distance of 70-80 cm from each other so that the leaves of the plants are not shaded by neighboring bushes.
When the cucumbers are planted, you should start making arches and covering the plants with film. Arcs are made of durable wire or rods. The distance between them can be made equal to 60-70 cm. After installing the arcs on the beds, they can be covered with film material. In this case, first cover only part of the structure. This greatly simplifies the installation process of covering material. Then cover the rest of the structure.
To make the structure with film and covered arches more reliable, it is recommended to drive special pegs along the edges and tighten the cover with twine. If you plant cucumbers under such shelter and grow them in it, then you don’t have to worry about low temperatures on the streets and heavy rainfall, which can damage the leaves.
Rules of care
Some vegetable growers don't know what to do to get a good harvest of cucumbers in film. The productivity of this vegetable can be improved by properly caring for the planted seedlings.
Watering
Even when growing cucumbers under a film in the sun, the soil will still dry out quickly. To prevent the soil from becoming too dry, it must be watered periodically. During watering, you can open the film cover to make it easier to get to the bushes.
It is recommended to water cucumbers at the root so that the liquid does not fall on the leaves. It is especially dangerous to get moisture on the leaves on hot summer days, as this can lead to burns. Burnt leaves cannot be restored and therefore can be immediately removed from the bushes. If you notice that all the bushes are burning or one of the leaves is burning after watering, then immediately protect it from the sun and quickly cover the cucumbers with film before other plants burn.
You should not water too often to prevent the roots from starting to rot. It is enough to water the cucumbers under the film twice a week.
Top dressing
It is necessary to feed cucumbers in order to achieve a good yield. Before applying fertilizers, you need to find out which fertilizer is best to use. To improve the yield of grown seedlings, it is recommended to add 20 grams of potassium sulfate, 100 grams of superphosphate and 50 grams of urea to the soil. At the same time, remove the film from the structure to make it easier to apply fertilizer.
Conclusion
Many vegetable growers plant cucumbers in open ground under film. Before you start growing cucumbers under covering material without a greenhouse, you should familiarize yourself with the basic recommendations that will help you do everything correctly.
