Cucumber affairs: a short guide to useful tips for growing “in season”

Crispy cucumbers are good at any time of the year, be it summer sun or winter cold. And their additional beauty is that growing this crop does not require special skills. But this does not mean at all that there are no tricks in cucumber affairs that experienced gardeners prefer not to disclose.

Features of planting and care

Do you want the sprouts to appear early and quickly? To do this, hybrid seeds are simply sent to a pre-watered hole, and after sprinkling them with soil, the soil should be compacted. To preserve moisture.

If we are talking about seed collected with your own hands, then just take the time to soak the seeds in a nutrient solution (1 tsp of wood ash and nitrophoska per 1 liter of water) for 12 hours and lay them out for two days on a damp cloth in a warm place . And then the hole, water and compaction.

What needs to be done before the first flowers appear

Basic care of the garden bed during this period comes down to weeding, loosening the soil to a depth of 2-4 cm and weekly watering. But if there is doubt about the fertility of the soil, after a couple of true leaves appear, you can feed the cucumber bush with a solution of 1 tsp. nitroammophoska diluted in a liter of summer water. This solution only the soil around the bush is watered, without moistening the leaves.

To increase the yield, after the formation of 6-7 leaves on the main vine, it is pinched, which stimulates the development of lateral shoots and is a good contribution to increasing the vitality of the bush.

Care during fruiting period

After the first ovary is found on the bush, the intensity of watering is increased to 2 times a week. At the same time, it is still important to avoid getting water on the stems and leaves - we only moisten the soil.

Starting from the moment the flowers appear, cucumbers need feeding, which is carried out at intervals of 1.5-2 weeks. The best composition for these purposes: take 1 tsp for 5 liters of water. nitrophoska and a glass (200-250 mg) of any natural humic fertilizer or mullein. And all this is consumed per 1 m².

Another important point is the regularity of harvesting. Ideally this should happen daily. But most gardeners collect fruits every other day, carefully choosing greens that exceed 3-4 cm in length.

Is it worth raising cucumber vines above the ground?

Growing on trellises is becoming increasingly popular, but the advisability of unnecessary fuss in the beds is poorly argued. Therefore you should know that:

• bush cucumbers do not need garter;
• increased productivity is achieved through the use of more prolific climbing varieties;
• when grown “in spread” it is easier to avoid thickening than on a trellis (by simply pinching out excess side shoots).

The only really worthy argument in favor of raising cucumber vines above the ground is powdery mildew, which attacks everything that comes into contact with the ground. And the second most important thing is beauty and space saving. But you can do without them if time is precious.

How to prevent bitterness from appearing

The tendency for cucumbers to develop bitterness is hereditary. Therefore, when choosing seeds for growing fruits consumed fresh, it is recommended to pay attention to hybrids without the bitterness gene (for example, Egoza, Quadrille and similar salad varieties). But they are not suitable for canning.

For this reason, you should know that intensive production of cucurbitacin (substance that produces bitterness) is the bush’s response to unfavorable conditions, which include:

• sudden changes in temperature;
• significant difference in soil and air temperatures;
• insufficient air humidity.

conclusions:

1. You need to sow early so that the plant gradually gets used to the summer heat, and does not find itself in it “from infancy.”
2. During periods of short-term cold snaps, it would be a good idea to cover the beds with at least plastic film.
3. It is better to select a shaded area without drafts for cucumbers.
4. When the weather is dry and hot outside, it is recommended to please the bushes by sprinkling through small nozzles.
5. Watering should only be done with water heated in the sun.

By following these simple rules, you can count on abundant harvests of cucumbers that will not become capriciously bitter or curl into bagels. But the above recommendations apply only to growing “in season”. But early “greenhouse” or late cucumbers of the “second wave” require a slightly different approach. True, that's another story.