Why Is The Harvest Of Cucumbers Not Happy?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

A good harvest of cucumbers is the dream of any summer resident, because you really want to taste delicious salads with fresh cucumbers, and make more preparations for the winter! Cucumbers are always in use, and they are usually assigned a rather impressive part of the personal plot! But the harvest of cucumbers does not always please gambling summer residents. Why is this happening, and can something be done about it?

Illiterate crop rotation

This is one of the most common reasons for the poor harvest of cucumbers - if you plant this crop in the same corner of the plot annually, this will inevitably lead to a gradual decrease in harvest volumes, and the cucumbers themselves will become much more vulnerable to all kinds of ailments. Roughly the same will happen if you plant them after any other pumpkin crops: for example, watermelons, zucchini, etc. That is why it is extremely important to follow the basic rules of crop rotation when growing cucumbers.

The best precursors for cucumbers are cauliflower or cabbage. They will grow just as well after tomatoes, beets, as well as peas or potatoes. As for the return of cucumbers to their previous place, it is possible no earlier than in the fourth year.

Bright sun

Another serious mistake is growing cucumbers in the bright sun: the fruits in this case become bitter and very rough, and the leaves get quite serious burns. To avoid such troubles, it is best to grow this crop in partial shade. If there is no such place on the site, you can simply plant next to cucumbers that can shade their plants (a couple of rows of corn or something like that). The most important thing is to plant them in such a way that, in case of hot weather, they provide the cucumbers with a vital shade for them.

Incorrect watering

Cucumbers boast a truly incredible moisture-loving nature, so it is unacceptable to dry them out, otherwise the fruits will taste bitter, and the ovaries will crumble. Until the moment of flowering, it is quite permissible to water cucumbers by sprinkling, and in the future, water is allowed to be poured exclusively under the bushes. As for the temperature of the water, it is always necessary to try to water cucumbers only with warm water, since from the cold, forming fruits either acquire an irregular and extremely unattractive shape, or, again, they are bitter.

Lack of pinching and garters

If you do not tie up cucumbers in a timely manner and neglect the proper formation of their lashes, the harvest is also unlikely to please. Cucumbers on trellises and supports are much easier to form and much easier to collect, moreover, they do not spread on the soil surface, which means they get sick much less often than their other brethren.

When shaping cucumbers, it is important to try to remove all stepchildren from them (up to the 4th internode) and shorten the grown upper shoots. And it is advisable to have time to start pinching when the length of the stepsons does not exceed three to five centimeters, since when removing the stepsons of a larger size, the cucumbers can experience quite a lot of stress.

"Close" placement

You should not plant cucumbers too close to each other - all cucumber whips should be properly blown by the wind. The result of thickened plantings can be a noticeable decrease in the volume of fruits, their gradual shrinking and even defeat by some fungal ailments.

The most acceptable distance between cucumber bushes is considered to be at least twenty centimeters, and the distance between rows should not be less than a meter. As for greenhouses, the distance between the rows should exceed one meter at all - only in this case the growing crops will receive the amount of sunlight they need for full growth.

Overexposed seedlings

Ideally, seedlings of cucumbers should be planted in the ground after thirty-five days, maximum from the moment the first shoots appear, and not later. If you overexpose the seedlings on the windowsill, the seedlings, due to nutritional deficiencies, will begin to weaken and wither little by little. That is why it is necessary to plant the seedlings that are younger in the ground - in this case, it will take root much better and will be much more active in growing. By the way, some gardeners practice planting seedlings in open ground as early as the second week after pecking young seedlings!

If we take into account all the possible mistakes that occur when growing crispy cucumbers and try to avoid them in every possible way, the resulting harvest will be enough not only for light vitamin salads, but also for delicious preparations!