How To Get A Good Harvest Of Cucumbers

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

In order for the harvest of cucumbers to be good and as large as possible, it is necessary to take care in advance about the choice of varieties and compliance with the basic requirements and standards for crop care

But even buying great seeds will not be the only condition for a great and high yield. In addition, you need to pay attention to the biological properties of the plant in order to better provide care for the growth of cucumbers. Do not forget that any cucumber is very fond of warmth, light and moisture. Therefore, the soil for sowing such vegetables must be fertile.

In open soil, cucumbers pollinated by bees and the so-called parthenocarpics grow well. The latter develop well in greenhouse conditions. In addition, there are always many insects in the greenhouse that can pollinate the flowers of the plant. It is imperative to plant more than one type of cucumber. And several at once.

Optimum temperature for growing cucumbers

Cucumbers grow best in an air temperature of approximately twenty-five degrees, if the seeds are just planted. Before the formation of the first flowers, twenty-three degrees is enough, and then the temperature should be about twenty-five degrees. These plants develop poorly in frosts and at low air temperatures in summer. Below ten degrees of heat is already considered an unfavorable circumstance for the development of culture.

There is no need to rush to plant plants in open ground. It is necessary to clearly and competently choose the ideal time for planting seedlings in a specific place. In greenhouses located in the temperate Russian climate, you can start planting cucumbers as early as mid-May. But plants should be transplanted into open ground only when the risk of frost is completely absent. The soil in such a situation should also be already well warmed up. Thus, the sowing date falls on the beginning of June, more often after the 10th. No one forbids placing seedlings in the open air earlier, however, if frost occurs, you need to be prepared to stop the growth and development of cucumber crops.

Can cucumbers be grown in shady conditions?

With a lack of sunlight, any plant begins to develop more slowly and reluctantly. Male flowers are very often formed in cool weather, low light levels. You should not also thicken the planting of cucumbers, since the plants will shade each other, and as a result, the crop itself will be obtained in smaller quantities. And often in such a situation, the fruits themselves grow crooked.

Only three or four cucumbers need to be planted per square meter in greenhouse conditions. It is constantly necessary to monitor the tying and formation of fruits in the greenhouse.

Fertilizing cucumbers

The soil that is optimal for good yields should be of a simple composition and rich in humus. These vegetables cannot be planted in heavy types of soil with a close location of water. During the cultivation of cucumber seedlings, you need to feed the crops with the help of special nutrients with fertilizers. In order for the cucumber seedlings to be healthy, you need to feed them with complex fertilizers. Before the planting process itself, you need to add about two or one and a half buckets of humus per square meter to the soil. About twenty grams of the nutrient mixture is also added here.

After the plant is planted in the ground, it is necessary to feed the plants once every one or two weeks until the ovaries form. During the procedure, you will also need to water the plants. In the early days of the appearance of fruits, you need to fertilize the cucumbers with a mixture of 40 grams of fertilizer and ten liters of water. When the fruits appear in large quantities, the dose of fertilizer will need to be increased to fifty grams. If the cool weather drags on for a long time, then each plant will have to be fed separately with the help of fertilizers that dissolve in water. The concentration will be one gram of the mixture per liter of water.

What can the plant lack?

Poor growth of cucumbers, pale green leaves and yellow ovary indicate a nitrogen deficiency in plants. But here, too, you need not to overdo it, because with a surplus of the component, crop growth will become strong, but flowering and the appearance of fruits will slow down. The lack of phosphorus will be indicated by the smallness of the leaves and the slow growth of the bushes.