The frantic rhythm of life in the metropolis does not leave the opportunity to escape into nature, which is why the owners of city apartments are increasingly using their balconies as greenhouses, and some even grow greens and vegetables on them. Cucumber culture grows quite successfully on the loggias. However, in order to enjoy its juicy fruits, it is important to know some of the subtleties of balcony cultivation.
Advantages and disadvantages
There are many advantages of growing greens and vegetables on balconies and glazed loggias:
- Not everyone can afford to buy land. In addition, many are not sure that they will cope with the cultivation of the land, which is why they begin experiments without leaving their own apartment.
- Growing vegetables on the balcony, you do not need to go anywhere – it saves time, money and effort.
- The owner of the apartment has the opportunity to observe the growth and development of cucumber culture daily. Therefore, in the event of an attack by pests or the appearance of signs of a disease, they take action as quickly as possible.
- Vegetables on the balcony can be protected from heavy rains or the scorching sun and thus create almost ideal conditions for them. It’s no secret that just a week of drought, heavy rains or critical temperatures – and you can forget about a good harvest. On the loggia, you can always hide the bed under a canopy from the hot sun and excess moisture, or give them a shower.
- On the balcony, you do not have to fight weeds, as happens on a regular garden plot.
- If you think over the design correctly, then the loggia will take on a flourishing picturesque look and will become not only a garden, but also a full-fledged recreation area.
However, there are also disadvantages. They lie in the fact that not every balcony and not every variety of cucumbers is suitable for balcony cultivation.
In addition, you will need to make several purchases – lamps and heaters that will allow the cucumbers to bear fruit.
Variety choice
The very first experimenters who decided to sow and grow cucumbers on the window faced bitter disappointments. Even when using high-quality seeds for greenhouse cultivation, the yield was extremely small. That is why, especially for the limited possibilities of enclosed spaces, new hybrid varieties of cucumbers were bred.
Balcony cucumbers must meet the following requirements:
- be self-pollinating, as bees are unlikely to fly to them;
- be resistant to lack of lighting and low humidity;
- form a powerful root system and a central stem with reduced leaves and a small number of shortened side shoots.
The following varieties have proven themselves best:
- City cucumber – one of the most hardy and unpretentious species. The fruits are represented by gherkins, formed in clusters. The length of the cucumber is 10-12 cm, weight 80-90 g. The fruits can be used for salad and for preparing blanks for the winter.
- Machaon – a type of cucumber with increased immunity. It is characterized by early ripening, belongs to the group of gherkins.
- Balcony miracle – unpretentious variety, which, thanks to compact roots, requires little soil. The length of the fruit is about 10 cm, weight – up to 100 kg. Cucumbers are tasty, can be used for pickling and pickling.
- April – self-pollinating variety, large fruits, weighing up to 250 g.
- Balagan – early ripening shade-resistant variety, forms a compact, but at the same time powerful root system. Cucumbers are medium-sized, the pulp is very juicy, without bitterness.
- Debut – self-pollinating hybrid, characterized by high yield. Fruits are 12-15 cm long, weight – up to 100 g. It is characterized by resistance to fungal diseases and does not require special care. Cucumbers are not suitable for harvesting, they can only be consumed fresh.
- Elegant – this is the only variety intended for planting on the loggia that requires pollination by insects. It is distinguished by increased productivity, up to 5-8 kg of fruits can be harvested from each square meter of plantings. Cucumbers can be eaten fresh or pickled.
Varieties of cucumbers from our catalog
- Category: hybrid
- Terms of maturation: early
- fruit shape: cylindrical
- Fruit weight, g: 210
- Fruit length, cm13-22
- fruit coloration: green
- Category: hybrid
- Terms of maturation: mid-early
- growth type: medium height, indeterminate
- fruit shape: cylindrical
- Fruit weight, g110-140
- Fruit length, cm8-10
- Category: hybrid
- fruit shape: oval-cylindrical
- Fruit weight, g: 90
- Fruit length, cm8-10
- fruit coloration: green, with short light stripes
- appointment: salad, for pickling and canning, for fresh consumption
- Category: hybrid
- Terms of maturation: early
- growth type: indeterminate
- fruit shape: cylindrical
- Fruit weight, g: 135
- Fruit length, cm12-14
- Category: hybrid
- Terms of maturation: early
- growth type: vigorous
- fruit shape: cylindrical
- Fruit weight, g: 115
- Fruit length, cm12-14
- Category: hybrid
- Terms of maturation: early
- fruit shape: oval
- Fruit weight, g75-90
- Fruit length, cm9-12
- fruit coloration: green with short stripes
- Category: hybrid
- Terms of maturation: early
- growth type: determinant
- fruit shape: fusiform
- Fruit weight, g60-80
- Fruit length, cm5-8
- Category: hybrid
- Terms of maturation: ultra early
- growth type: determinant
- fruit shape: cylindrical
- Fruit weight, g85-90
- Fruit length, cm6-10
- Category: hybrid
- Terms of maturation: early
- growth type: determinant
- fruit shape: elongated cylindrical
- Fruit weight, g70-100
- Fruit length, cm: up to 15
The necessary conditions
The greatest difficulty in planting cucumbers on balconies and loggias is the creation of comfortable temperature and light conditions. For active growth and rich fruiting, cucumbers need a lot of heat and light. If in summer a sufficient amount of sunlight passes through the double-glazed windows on the window sills, then in early spring natural insolation is not enough for the full growth of vegetables. To eliminate the lack of light, it is necessary to equip the balcony with specialized paws for greenhouses, it is advisable to leave them working all night.
The ideal temperature for cucumber culture will be 18-22 degrees. To support this level, conventional glazing is not enough when it comes to cucumbers planted in late winter and early spring, when temperatures are low outside. That is why balconies must be additionally insulated for growing vegetables.
It is important to consider the orientation of the room. If it is oriented to the north, then this area is unsuitable for a home garden. In this case, additional lighting will have to be provided above the bed.
It is undesirable to place the culture in the south side, since direct ultraviolet rays can burn young plants. If there is no other option, you need to create light shading with tulle so that the lighting is diffused.
The optimal solution will be the eastern, as well as the southeastern loggias.
You should not cultivate cucumbers in open spaces, where there is often a draft. Best of all, bushes grow and develop on balconies glazed from top to bottom. Tinted windows, as well as thick curtains, are undesirable here, as they prevent the sun from entering in the required amount.
Thus, if you intend to grow cucumber bushes on the balcony, you must additionally provide for artificial lighting, high-quality ventilation and a heater in the room.
Prepare
Particular attention should be paid to the pre-sowing preparation of seeds, soil and containers for growing seedlings.
ΠΠΌΠΊΠΎΡΡΡ
To obtain seedlings of cucumbers, small containers are required; plastic or peat glasses will fit. For seedlings, more voluminous containers, such as boxes, are needed. You can grow cucumbers on the balcony in buckets, pots and trays. The main thing to remember is that the root system of this culture prefers space, so at least 5-10 liters of substrate are required for each adult plant.
Any container for growing cucumbers should include drainage holes to drain excess moisture. And so that the water does not spread throughout the loggia, it is advisable to put the container on a pallet or stand. Some apartment owners plant seedlings in bags, each can plant 2-3 bushes.
Ground
The soil mixture for cultivating cucumbers on open balconies and closed loggias needs the same as for seedlings. In each store for gardeners, gardeners, you can buy specialized soil. But if you wish, you can cook it yourself – for this you need to mix compost, soddy soil, peat, wood ash and sawdust in equal amounts and mix thoroughly.
To increase the nutritional value of the substrate, fertilizer based on nitrophoska and urea is added to it at the rate of 10 g of the drug per bucket of earth. Immediately before use, the soil is shed with a solution of potassium permanganate or calcined in an oven for pest control.
This applies only to home-made soils, store ones have already been processed at the stage of their preparation.
seed
Before planting, cucumber seeds must be disinfected, stimulated and germinated. To do this, you need to take the following steps:
- soak the seedlings in a pale solution of potassium permanganate for 7-10 minutes;
- rinse under cool water;
- spread on moistened gauze;
- spray with warm water from a spray bottle;
- cover with another layer of gauze.
When the seedlings hatch, you can move them to the ground. Keep in mind, the seedling should not be too long. Otherwise, it may break.
Sowing seeds and caring for them
The optimal time for sowing cucumbers on thermally insulated loggias is in the second half of April-May, when the temperature during the day is about 20 degrees, and at night it does not drop below 13 degrees. During this period, planting can be done immediately in cups or pots. To achieve early fruiting – you need to use seedlings. In this case, sowing is done in late February-early March, approximately one and a half to two months before planting the crop in containers.
The instructions for sowing step by step are as follows:
- the bottom of the tank is covered with rubble, expanded clay, broken stone or any other drainage;
- the container is filled with moistened substrate;
- seeds are planted in the ground to a depth of 2-3 cm;
- the landing site is sprinkled with earth and sprayed with warm water from a spray bottle;
- the container is closed with plastic wrap or glass.
The pot must be placed in a warm place at home. Every day, the film is slightly opened for 1,5-2 hours to ventilate and remove excess condensate. Usually the first shoots appear on the third or fourth day.
As soon as the first shoots appear, the pots are moved to a well-lit area, but protected from direct sunlight.
How to transplant seedlings?
When 3-4 true leaves appear on the bushes, you can transplant the seedlings into a larger container. This is easy to do:
- the day before the manipulation, young plants are well watered;
- holes are made in the soil so that their depth and width exactly correspond to the dimensions of the pot;
- carefully remove seedlings from a temporary container and move them along with an earthen clod;
- then water the seedlings again.
In order for the bush to adapt faster, it is better to keep them in a dark place for the first 3-5 days. When they take root, you can rearrange them where there is a lot of sun and light.
How to care for seedlings?
Caring for cucumbers on the balcony is practically no different from plants grown outdoors. Agrotechnics involves watering, fertilizing, tying, pinching and forming a whip.
Watering
Young cucumbers do not tolerate drought. They should be watered as soon as the top layer of the soil dries out. At the same time, excessive waterlogging should also be avoided, as this will lead to rotting of the roots.
Keep in mind that in small containers, such as a plastic bottle, the substrate dries out much faster – the soil in them will have to be moistened more often. In large containers, the soil is moistened to a depth of 10-15 cm. As the green mass grows, develops and builds up, the volume and frequency of watering is increased.
Tip: Determining whether or not to water young cucumbers is very simple if they grow in transparent containers. To do this, just look at the color of the earth. Raw soil has a dark shade, but as it dries, it gradually brightens.
Feeding
The first feeding of cucumber seedlings on the balcony is carried out 10-14 days after germination. At this stage, plants require nitrogen, which contributes to the growth of green mass. A good effect is given by urea, diluted at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. drug in 3 liters of water. For one sprout you need half a glass of such a solution.
After two or three weeks, the seedlings are fed a second time. The greatest result during this period is given by complex fertilizer:
- potassium nitrate – 20 g;
- superphosphate – 20 g;
- magnesium sulfate – 5 g;
- ammonium nitrate – 5 g.
The resulting mixture is diluted in a bucket of water.
You can also fertilize cucumbers on the loggia with folk remedies:
- Wood Ash – this fertilizer provides the cucumber crop with phosphorus and potassium, which are so important for cucumbers at the flowering stage. Processing is subjected to soil and lashes. To make a nutrient solution 1-2 tbsp. l. crushed ash is diluted in 2 liters of warm water, infused, mixed thoroughly and watered.
- Shell – is a pantry of useful trace elements that are required for balcony cucumbers throughout the growing season. For 5 liters of water, you will need shells from 6 chicken eggs. The container is kept in a dark place with the lid slightly open. The appearance of a specific odor will indicate the readiness of the solution, immediately after that processing can be performed.
- An important role is played by foliar top dressing, especially at the stage of flowering and fruit formation. To do this, the bushes are sprayed with a weak solution of boric acid, the treatment is repeated at intervals of 1 time in 7-14 days. After the formation of ovaries, a solution of potassium permanganate is used from a proportion of 10 crystals per 1 liter of water. Alternatively, you can resort to spraying with urea at the rate of 5 g per 3 liters of water.
Such processing gives cucumbers improved taste characteristics.
Shrub formation
Under comfortable conditions, rooted cucumbers grow quickly, so their lashes need to be properly tied up. For this, twine is used. It is tied up at a height of 1,5 m, lowered to the container and wrapped around the stem – in no case vice versa. At this stage, it is important to create a “dazzle”, that is, pinch off all the empty flowers.
In addition, cucumbers need shaping. The technique largely depends on the variety:
- For self-pollinating cucumbers, it is necessary to pinch off the first 2-3 ovaries, then remove the side lashes on the third and fourth sheets. However, for these varieties, pinching is not a mandatory procedure; it can even be omitted.
- In pollinated varieties of varieties, fruits are tied mainly on lateral shoots. Therefore, here you need to pinch the main stem. As soon as a real third leaf appears, it should be carefully cut off, while capturing the growth point.
Pollination
In order not to experience problems with pollination on balconies, it is better to give preference to self-pollinated varieties. Otherwise, you will have to pollinate the flowers yourself. To do this, you need to learn to distinguish between male and female – in females, the ovary resembles a microcucumber, they have a large corolla painted in rich colors.
The pollination process looks like this:
- Find a male flower, it must be open and fresh.
- Pick off all the petals.
- Run the stamens of the male flower across the pistil of the female flower.
- One male flower can be used for several female ones. However, keep an eye on the amount of pollen. If it is not enough, then you should not count on a large harvest.
- If pollination is successful, then after 12-14 days, fruits will begin to form. Empty flowers turn yellow and fall off.
It is very important not to miss the moment: female flowers remain open for only 4 days, and male flowers – only a day.
Winter Care
If artificial lighting and sufficient heating are provided in the balcony, then the cultivation of cucumbers in winter is carried out according to the same scheme as in any other season:
Vegetables grown on balconies lack natural insolation. This problem is especially true in winter, when daylight hours are shortened. In this case, you need to get artificial lighting lamps. At the seedling stage, it is necessary to provide the young plant with light from 4 to 24 hours. Phyto- or fluorescent lamps are best suited for this, they are hung at a distance of 15-20 cm from the plants, and as the seedlings grow, they are gradually taken.
It must be borne in mind that in winter the humidity is already increased, so it will be necessary to spray the leaves of an adult plant a little less often.
Particular attention should be paid to inspecting plants for rot and disease. If necessary, you need to promptly use means of protection against the fungus.
Diseases and pests
Growing cucumbers on balconies and loggias does not guarantee 100% pest protection. They can get on the balcony during ventilation or along with the ground. When growing cucumbers indoors, you should try to do without chemicals as much as possible. In the early stages of the defeat, the main part of the pests can be dealt with by “grandmother’s” means:
- aphid – tobacco decoction gives a good effect against aphids. To prepare it, you need to buy a pack of cheap cigarettes, extract tobacco from them and pour a liter of water. The mixture is boiled for a quarter of an hour, then another 1 liter of water is diluted, cooled, filtered and the leaves are sprayed.
- whitefly – from this pest they also use a tobacco solution, only more concentrated than from aphids. In addition, the whitefly can be harvested by hand.
- spider mite – Produce processing infusion of garlic. A medium-sized head is crushed, insisted in a liter of water for 1,5-2 hours. The finished solution is filtered, 10 g of any soapy substance is diluted in it and sprayed.
Harvesting
Cucumbers grown on the balcony must be plucked as soon as they reach the size normal for their variety. If the fruits are too large, they will significantly weaken the bushes and prevent other cucumbers from developing normally. At the same time, fruits will be harvested more often – the more they will grow.
The vast majority of varieties bear fruit 50-75 days after planting seeds. Ripe cucumbers have a rich green hue, they are firm and dense. It is best to cut cucumbers with secateurs, if you blow them up with your hands, you can damage the fruiting lash.
So, growing cucumbers on a loggia is not particularly difficult. If you create comfortable conditions for them, then the resulting crop will be enough not only for salads, but also for conservation.
From each plant, you can collect at least 10 fruits, and if you try – up to 30-40.
