Secrets of growing, agricultural technology and caring for cucumbers in open ground

In order not to be left without a harvest, you need to properly organize the care of cucumbers in the open ground. There are subtleties in the agricultural technology of this crop, neglecting which you can waste your time and energy in the summer. The agricultural technology of cucumbers in open ground is determined by the origin of the crop. Since this plant is native to south-eastern India, from areas with a tropical climate, the humidity and temperature requirements are high.

How to grow cucumbers in open ground

Each gardener has his own secrets for growing cucumbers in open ground. Some grow them in a regular bed, while others prefer the warm bed method. It should be noted that the main advantage of the second method is the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the air layers bordering the ground.

The more it is, the faster the plants grow. Two types of cucumbers are grown: seedlings and seeds in the ground. The first method allows you to speed up the harvest of cucumbers, the second simplifies the cultivation and care of ground cucumbers.

Planting seeds in the ground

The technology for growing cucumbers in open ground with seeds depends on the weather. It must be remembered that planting cucumbers in cold soil will give a negative result. Cucumber seeds germinate if the soil warms up to 14 °C.

Frosts kill young cucumber seedlings; a prolonged drop in temperature to 8 °C reduces the germination of sprouted seeds.

Strong cucumber seedlings - a formula for success

Strong cucumber seedlings grown at home are the key to a high yield. Before planting in the ground, it is grown for 25 days. Not all beginning gardeners know how to properly grow cucumbers through seedlings. Sowing cucumbers for seedlings begins with soil preparation. The easiest way is to buy ready-made soil. A more difficult way is to prepare the soil yourself.

The following mixture is suitable for germinating cucumber seeds:

• humus (1 part);
• lowland peat (1 part);
• 1 tbsp. l. mineral fertilizer (“Aquarin”);
• 0.5 liters of ash per bucket of mixture.

Cucumbers do not tolerate picking well, so the seeds are planted in separate containers (glasses) with a diameter of 7 cm. Before this, the planting material must be disinfected. The usual option is 1 g of potassium permanganate and 100 ml of water. Before sowing, use Epin-extra to stimulate seed germination. Take 100 ml of warm boiled water, drip the product (2 drops). After this, the seeds are kept in a damp cloth at a temperature of 25–28 °C for 2 to 4 days. Seeds are planted in cups when the root extends 5 mm.

The soil in the cups is spilled with warm water, after 30 minutes the seeds are laid out in them and covered with a layer of soil, sowing depth is 2 cm. The cups are covered with film, removed after the cucumber sprouts appear. Standard care for cucumber seedlings:

• water the seedlings every other day;
• add additional light to cucumbers in cloudy weather;
• feed the seedlings twice;
• a week before transplanting into the ground, harden the seedlings by lowering the night temperature to 12 °C.

Warm beds are a paradise for cucumbers

Growing cucumbers in open ground using warm beds is very popular. The area for constructing a ridge should be fenced off from the north wind by tall vegetables or a structure. This makes it easier to create the microclimate the cucumbers need.

To fill a warm bed, you can use manure or plant residues (weeds, tops). To disinfect the plant mass, you can warm it up: pour it into an iron barrel, add water, and heat it over a fire. Pour the hot mass into a trench dug in advance: trench depth - 35 cm, width - 1 m.

Small branches and paper can be placed in the trench. Sprinkle the layers with fluff lime, and pour the excavated soil on top of everything. In the spring, carry out final cultivation of the soil: dig up, add humus, ash, nitroammophoska.

Starting in spring, the remains, rotting, release heat and create the microclimate necessary for cucumbers in the ground layer. A high concentration of carbon dioxide stimulates the appearance of female flowers, which has a positive effect on the volume of the harvest.

Transplanting cucumber seedlings into soil

You need to know some subtleties about how to grow cucumbers in seedlings. At the beginning of June (end of May), the seedlings can be transplanted into the garden. Ten days before this, start warming the soil: pour hot water, cover with film.

Plant seedlings in rows. Leave a distance of 50 cm between rows, and 30–40 cm in rows between holes. When planting, protect the roots from damage. Water the wells with rose water and potassium permanganate. Place plastic arches on top of the ridge and stretch the film.

During the day, at an air temperature of 25 °C, open the film slightly on one side to a height of 25 cm. Further growth of cucumbers and care of the plantings comes down to watering, fertilizing, keeping the beds clean, and preventing diseases.

About the features of care in the open ground

When caring for grown plants, you need to do more than just water them. It is equally important to promptly remove fruits that have grown to normal size. You need to collect greens in the morning, they retain their elasticity longer.

In order not to damage the lashes, do not tear off the fruits, but cut them with scissors or a garden knife. Do not turn the vines over again; the leaves should face up. Fruit collection is carried out every 2 days.

Secrets of proper watering of ground cucumbers

When growing cucumbers in open ground at the dacha, difficulties may arise with watering due to rare visits. You shouldn't rely on rain; it doesn't always help. You need to remember the benefits of rainwater - it is better than well or tap water, it contains more oxygen and nutrients.

Cucumbers need frequent watering, but there are growing conditions related to weather conditions. On cool days, when there is excess soil moisture, plants develop root rot. Proper care of cucumbers is to avoid watering at daytime temperatures below 15 °C. In such weather, dry watering is carried out in the open ground at the dacha - they loosen the soil between the rows.

Water for watering ground cucumbers should be warm (22 – 25 °C). Inexperienced summer residents, watering their beds with cold water, may encounter problems:

• plants grow slowly;
• there are few ovaries on cucumbers;
• cucumber ovaries crumble.

A gardener needs to include two more conditions for a good harvest related to watering in his growing rules. The first condition is watering in the furrows located between the rows. You should avoid watering at the roots. Cucumber roots are shallow and may become exposed. The second condition is not to water after 19 hours.

Fertilizers or how to care for cucumbers in open ground

Regular fertilizing helps to properly grow ground cucumbers. During the summer you need to feed the plants at least 3-4 times. With the right approach, root feeding alternates with foliar feeding. During the peak of fruiting of cucumbers, their immunity is increased with ash. To powder 1 sq. m cucumber ridge, take a glass of ash.

For cucumbers in open ground, soil fertility is important; it is improved with the help of fertilizers (organic, mineral). For the first time, gardeners prefer to feed cucumbers with mullein infusion. It’s easy to prepare the solution: add 1 bucket of manure to 2 buckets of water, stir, and let it ferment for 5 days. For healthy cucumbers, add 0.5 liters of liquid fertilizer to a bucket.

For sick and weakened plants, increase the solution concentration to 1 liter per bucket. You can add 1 tbsp to the working solution. l.urea or ammonium nitrate.

When the buds and first flowers appear on the cucumber vines, repeat feeding the plants. During this period, add fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium to the solution. The plant especially needs fertilizer during fruiting. During this period, feed the cucumbers every 10 days, add nitroammophoska to the mullein infusion (1 tbsp per 10 liters).

To avoid clumsy greens, take into account the proportions when applying fertilizers: % nitrogen is more than phosphorus, % potassium is more than nitrogen.

Gardeners achieve good results using foliar feeding cucumbers in open ground. For active growth of green mass at the beginning of the growing season, the bushes are sprayed with a urea solution. To treat a ridge 1 m wide and 10 m long, dilute 1 tsp in 10 liters of water. fertilizers Process cucumbers before the flowers appear. In June, spray cucumber bushes with soda solution (1 tbsp per 10 liters), the leaves will not turn yellow.

Formation of a cucumber bush

Formation cucumber bushes makes it easier for the summer resident to care for them. More and more gardeners are using trellises in their gardens. Tied cucumber bushes get sick less. Varieties and hybrids in open ground are formed in different ways.

Varietal ground cucumbers are pinched above 4 - 5 leaves so that more side vines grow. Hybrids should be planted in one stem, plucking out all the lower shoots to a height of 0.5 m. At the interval of the cucumber stem from 0.5 to 1 m, leave one leaf in the axils, above - 2 leaves, even higher - 3 - 4.

Diseases of ground cucumbers

Growing cucumbers in the countryside in open ground is not so easy. Diseases lie in wait for the plant in open ground throughout the entire season: immediately after planting, during the fruiting period.

Infection in open ground can be transmitted through the air. Most common diseases of ground cucumbers:

• powdery mildew;
• root rot;
• anthracnose

The first signs of powdery mildew often appear on ground cucumbers in cool (20 °C) weather with high air humidity. At the first stages, it is a white coating on the leaves, similar to flour. At later stages, the leaves on the cucumbers begin to turn yellow and dry out.

Fruiting cucumber bushes can be sprayed against powdery mildew with an infusion prepared from water (10 parts) and mullein (1 part). Severely affected cucumber leaves should be sprayed with a solution of iron sulfate (5%).

Root rot can leave a crop without crops. The first signs can be noticed immediately after planting the seedlings on the ridge. When the temperature rises during the day, the leaves on the plants wither, and with the onset of dusk, the elasticity of the leaves is restored. At the bottom of the stem of such plants the color becomes brown. Care during this time:

• add a biological product ("Baktofit") or a fungicide ("Hom") to the soil;
• Hill up the stems to stimulate the growth of new roots;
• To increase immunity, treat with the drug “Effekton”.

Anthracnose affects not only the canes and leaves of ground plants, but also the fruits. Yellow spots grow on the leaves, pink ulcers form on the green leaves, the stems dry out, and the fruits become unfit for consumption. The life of the cucumber bush depends on how quickly the plant receives help. To process cucumber leaves, take 1% Bordeaux mixture.

Pests in a garden with cucumbers

Often, with the onset of hot July days, care in the open ground is complicated by aphids. A small insect can cause great harm to plants in open ground.It’s easy to recognize damaged ground cucumbers:

• withered leaves;
• damaged buds and ovaries;
• yellow spots on the surface of the leaves.

The insect reproduces rapidly; aphid colonies can destroy an entire ridge in 10 days. If an insect is found, prepare a soap-ash solution. Take a liter of water, add 72% laundry soap (2 tbsp) and ash (2 tbsp) diluted in hot water.

Wash the leaves and stems of cucumbers with the resulting soap-ash water. Treat open ground plants in the morning. To avoid burning the leaves, cover the plants with covering material at noon. After 5 days, repeat the treatment in open ground. The ground under cucumber bushes should be powdered with ash to repel pests and feed weakened plants.

Simple protection of ground cucumbers from mole crickets

The mole cricket causes great damage to young ground cucumbers. A simple plastic bottle will protect ground cucumbers from pests. For a 1.5 liter bottle you need to cut off the bottom and top parts to create a cylinder. Cut the cylinder into 3 equal parts.

Press the resulting rings into the bed, leaving a protruding rim above the surface - 0.5 cm high. Plant 3 cucumber seeds in each ring, sprinkle them with soil.

Cover the cucumber ridge with cellophane until shoots emerge. The rings will protect the seedlings from mole crickets, will not interfere with the development of the plant, and will make it easier to grow.

Choosing varieties for growing in open ground

For open ground it is necessary to choose bee-pollinated varieties. Main advantages varieties for open ground: cold resistance, resistance to temperature fluctuations. A review of three current hybrids for open ground will help you choose cucumber seeds for the next season.

Cucumber Crunch F1

The hybrid is bee-pollinated and is characterized by long-term fruiting in open ground. Cucumbers are harvested 48 days after emergence. Female type flowering. The fruits are collected in bunches of 2–3 pieces. Zelentsy practically do not outgrow and are not prone to yellowing.

The pulp of cucumbers is dense, there are no voids. The fruits are one-size, the average weight of greens is 90-100 g. It is difficult to spoil a salad with a tasty cucumber; lightly salted and pickled greens are good. Valuable qualities of the hybrid for open ground: resistance to root rot, cladosporiosis, powdery mildew (downy, true).

Cucumber Appetizing F1

Early hybrid for open ground (ripening occurs after 45 days), bee-pollinated, productive (14 kg/m²). Fruiting is uniform and long-lasting. The hybrid is resistant to a range of diseases and adapts perfectly to any growing conditions. Female flowering type. In nodes it forms 2–3 ovaries. Cucumbers grow beautifully, not long, even. The shape of greens is cylindrical, weight from 80 to 100 g. The fruits can be used in preparations, fresh.

Cucumber Baby F1

The hybrid is early, bee-pollinated, and can be planted in open ground. Zelentsy begin to sing on the 47th – 50th day. Fruiting of the soil hybrid continues for a long time; green plants are formed on the central stem and on the side shoots. The length of greens is 7 - 10 cm, the shape is beautiful. Cucumbers are large-tubercular with white pubescence. The pulp of cucumbers is dense, juicy, crispy. Zelentsy is used for barrel salting; pickled cucumbers do not lose their elasticity.

How to easily increase the yield of cucumbers in open ground

Sometimes the advice of experienced gardeners helps to grow a lot of cucumbers in open ground. Here is one such tip: special watering of ground cucumbers using apple cider vinegar.Pour rain or tap water into the barrel. When the water is warm, add apple cider vinegar to it. For 200 l, 1.5 cups is enough. Water ground cucumbers with this sour water all summer. It will be possible to harvest 15% more grown ground cucumbers than when irrigated with regular water.