2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
We continue to repeat familiar truths that, oddly enough, are sometimes forgotten. Our forgetfulness responds with a bad harvest, an invasion of diseases and pests, or even premature death of the plant. But after all, we do not spend time, effort and money for this, but in order to feast on a fresh cucumber taken from our own garden
Cucumber soil
Having a superficial root system, a cucumber gives people a high yield in a short period of time, and therefore requires a soil rich in organic matter from a vegetable grower. The most suitable are sandy loam soils rich in organic matter.
Fresh manure, which is harmful to many vegetables (onions, peas, potatoes, carrots …), is irreplaceable when it comes to cucumber beds. From 8 to 15 kg of fresh manure are applied per 1 square meter of the garden. It performs two functions at once: heats the garden and provides energy for the rapid growth of the plant.
Mineral fertilizer is added in portions. Part of the fertilizer is applied to the soil in spring before sowing seeds or planting seedlings. Then, during the growing season, once a week or every 10 days, additional mineral fertilizing is carried out.
In the open field, the best place for a cucumber garden will be areas on which root crops, tomatoes, onions or cabbage grew in the previous year.
A paradoxical moment should be remembered - a moisture-loving cucumber does not like to grow and develop in waterlogged areas.
Sprouted seeds
Seeds for sowing can be of two types: dry and germinated. Sowing with germinated seeds has several advantages:
• You do not have to wait longingly for the emergence of seedlings, wondering: "They will ascend - they will not ascend," but immediately reject those that have not germinated.
• Sprouted seeds can be sown into the soil earlier than dry ones. The fact is that dry seeds germinate actively at a soil temperature of 20 to 25 degrees. They can germinate at 18 degrees, but it will take more time, and the seedlings will be sparse. At a soil temperature just below 18 degrees, the seeds may not sprout at all, but rot.
As for pre-germinated seeds, they can successfully develop at a soil temperature of 15 to 18 degrees, which allows them to be sown earlier, and therefore to get a harvest of cucumbers earlier.
You should be careful when sowing germinated seeds, being careful not to damage the hatched root. If damaged, there is a possibility of root rot infection of the seeds, which will lead to their death.
Seeds or seedlings
Often a vegetable grower wonders which method of planting cucumbers is more profitable and more reliable: sowing seeds directly to the garden or through growing seedlings. Each method is good in its own way.
With the arrival of spring, I really want to sow the beds as soon as possible and wait for an early harvest. But we have already figured out that until the soil warms up to a certain temperature, sowing cucumber seeds in it is tantamount to their destruction. Therefore, to obtain a harvest at an earlier date, you should use the cultivation of seedlings.
For safety net, when planting seedlings in open ground next to a cucumber bush, you can sow a cucumber seed. If the spring frosts penetrate through an unreliable light shelter and destroy the seedlings, then the sprout from the seed will give a new bush, and after a month and a half the first harvest of cucumbers can be harvested.
The root system of plants from seeds sown directly into the ground develops better and stronger, and therefore better feeds its aboveground parts, guaranteeing longer fruiting.
So, the best option would be to use two methods at the same time. By the way, cucumbers that have ripened not on seedlings, but on those that have grown from seeds sown directly into the ground are more suitable for canning.
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