Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Growing cucumbers in a greenhouse is not a very common practice, but it is not exclusive either. And at the same time, the advice of an agronomist (or just an experienced summer resident) will not be superfluous. Because there are many important points in this issue: from the timing of disembarkation to the prevention of diseases.

Deadlines

Seedlings are ready to be planted in greenhouse conditions when they are 25-30 days old. That is taking into account these data, it is possible to count 30 days of growth and 5 days for stably emerging sprouts, and in this way it will be possible to find the optimal date for sowing seed material. And this is true for any region, whatever the weather conditions there may be. At the same time, you need to monitor the temperature indicators.

For example, the in the Central region in mid-May it is already possible to plant cucumbers in a greenhouse. Only before that you need to determine the temperature of the soil in it, it should not be lower than +15 degrees. And in order to measure the degree of the soil, the place of measurement must first be covered with a board (otherwise the indicators may be false if the sun warms the earth too much). And the measurement is carried out in the morning, at this time it is most objective. Dig a thermometer into the bed no more than 20 cm.

And if you want to warm the soil faster, black plastic wrap will help. Sometimes biofuels are also used, which are simply dug into the ground, then poured with boiling water, and a covering is also made on top.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

The necessary conditions

A rich harvest can only be expected from those cucumbers that grow on soils with a good organic composition. Since the roots of the plant are rather weak and will not germinate deeper than 20 cm, the culture is very sensitive to soil fertility. And, as experienced gardeners say, without manure, the cucumber will be empty. Therefore, you definitely do not need to be afraid of high doses of organic matter, which cucumbers love so much. One square meter can contain from 4 to 20 kg of organic matter. You can fertilize the soil with manure or leaves, peat, rotted garbage, sawdust, straw. And necessarily nitrogen, introduced into the compost. And it is better to apply fertilizers locally: dig a groove along the beds, and lay out a layer of 15 cm top dressing, and then cover it tightly with earth.

With regard to the microclimate in the greenhouse, the recommendations will be as follows:

  • regular watering, but without the risk of swamping the beds – it is better to warm up the water in the sun or take it from those containers that are filled in the greenhouse itself;
  • loosening the soil, also regular, is a prerequisite for the normal growth of cucumbers, so it will be easier for air to flow to the roots;
  • to maintain the desired level of moisture in the beds, it is better to mulch the soil;
  • sprinkling is a mandatory measure, and it consists in significantly spraying the green part of the crop with water, after which the liquid will slowly drain to the roots, and so the plant will be saturated with moisture;
  • the light regime is 10 hours of light every day, but if this figure is reduced, cucumbers grow worse (if there is not enough sun, you will have to extend the daylight hours with a phytolamp);
  • seedlings are planted when it is +22 in the greenhouse, it will bloom when the degree rises to +25, and bear fruit – from +25 to +30 (growth will stop at +15, and at +7 the culture will die);
  • humidity should be high, from 90 to 95%;
  • ventilation (but not drafts) is an indispensable condition, which is also the prevention of diseases, such as rot.

Often the neighbors of cucumbers in the greenhouse are tomatoes. But such a neighborhood is far from ideal, because plants require different conditions. With pepper and zucchini – the same story. But next to the cabbage you can plant. Like with corn, for example.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Greenhouse preparation

In loose and fairly fertile soil, which perfectly retains moisture and allows air to pass through, cucumbers will be fine. If the soil in the greenhouse is clayey or sandy, a good harvest is unlikely. What are the requirements for land in a greenhouse:

  • if melons or pumpkins grew here in the previous season, it is better to change the soil altogether – it is poor, which the cucumber does not tolerate, and even common diseases / pests can affect the crop;
  • it is better to plant cucumbers where onions or carrots, cabbage or potatoes, peppers previously grew;
  • it is necessary to prepare the beds, in a good way, from the fall – remove all the remains of plants, dig up the soil, add humus (or compost) in a bucket per 1 m2;
  • in the fall, superphosphate and dolomite flour can be added to the ground (the first – 2 tablespoons per square meter, the second – 1 tablespoon), and in the spring, 2 weeks before the seedlings are sent, peat, humus, sawdust can be added to the soil, and again dig deep;
  • a solution of copper sulfate for disinfecting beds is also a mandatory measure (for 10 liters of water, 1 tablespoon of the drug);
  • in the fall, it would be nice to plant green manure in this place, for example, leafy mustard, and before the first serious frosts, dig up beds with mustard – during the winter it will decompose calmly, which will not only enrich the soil, but also will be disinfected.

The heating of the soil has already been mentioned above. By the way, straw can also help him warm up. To do this, you need to remove 15 cm of the top layer of the earth, lay straw on all the beds, compost and humus on top, and then the soil layer returns to its original place.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Landing patterns

There are several of them, but it is worth describing the most common one in more detail. It looks like this:

  • 2 rows of cucumbers will be placed in the longitudinal bed;
  • a distance of 30 cm (or even 40 cm) must be maintained between adjacent bushes;
  • seedlings in one bed, but at the same time in adjacent rows, are planted strictly either in parallel or in a checkerboard pattern (the distance should be at least 50 cm);
  • the hole should be strictly under the trellis, or the cucumber mesh is stretched between the rows.

But this is an option for standard greenhouses, and in fact it can be very wide, for example, 350 cm and wider. And then it is more convenient to place the beds not only near the walls, but also use the middle space (that is, there will be an additional bed). The main thing is that the plants will have enough light. On narrow beds, there are 3 landing options: in 2 lines, chess seating and single-line.

The planting process

Before planting, the soil in the greenhouse can be moistened with hot water. Then you need to make holes in the ground, and distribute the seedlings in them. Ideally, if she grew in special peat pots. Wherein the recess is made so that the upper edge of the peat container protrudes above the soil surface. The soil can be slightly compacted. And on top of the ground, where the seedlings have already been planted, a two-centimeter layer with sawdust is sprinkled – it is the root part of the cucumbers that needs to be mulched. Two days do not need to water the beds.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Care

Planting is, one might say, the easiest part of growing cucumbers. Even for beginners, it will not be difficult. But then cultivation begins, which requires systemic care.

Watering

Cucumbers are probably the most responsive crop to watering. Therefore, the irrigation regime must be regular, otherwise you can not expect high yields. Watering should be frequent, in dry seasons – especially frequent. Plant leaves should not be allowed to wilt. The root system of a cucumber sits very close to the surface of the soil, so it will not be able to take water from the depths (unlike tomatoes, for example). And the condition of the plant will directly depend on watering.

When the heat is on, and the process of fruit formation has begun, greenhouse cucumbers need daily watering. And sprinkling technology will be a good solution – water will pour out in a drip way, evaporate a little. In the greenhouse, the humidity of the air will increase, and this is also important for the plant. In general, for 1 sq. m beds should account for 15-25 liters every day or every other day (depending on the weather). When fruiting, consumption increases by a third.

Cucumbers are not watered with cold water, this is excluded. This is not due to the fact that they necessarily become bitter. But if watered cold, the risk of disease will increase significantly.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Feeding

Cucumbers grow rapidly, and this is the norm. The same new hybrids give the richest harvests, but they still need to be “fed”. Therefore, fertilizers are applied once or twice a month, but not from the first days of cultivation. Organic fertilizers are natural compounds: manure, ash, chicken manure, green herbal fertilizer. Seedlings already planted in the ground are not fed with organic matter, but they are fed with ash when they are still preparing a substrate for seeds. But in the greenhouse, mineral fertilizers will also be required. But first, seedlings ready for planting are fed with nitrogen or complex (but with a large inclusion of nitrogen), because the task of the plant at the first stage is precisely to increase the green mass.

After the seedlings are planted in the greenhouse, the ground is not fertilized for 2 weeks. The plant must first take root. Yes, and in the holes when planting put enough top dressing for the first time. And then a solution of mullein, and ash, and chicken manure will do. As soon as the cucumbers are tied, potash fertilizers will be required.

Ventilation

At first, this process should be treated with great care – small seedlings are extremely sensitive to drafts. Therefore, if you open the windows, only on one side. If the temperature rises to +30, be sure to ventilate.

Formation

To grow cucumbers correctly, you need to correctly form a plant.

How to pinch cucumbers:

  • the first 40 cm completely “blind” the shoots;
  • the second 40 cm – pinching over the first sheet;
  • the next 40 cm – above the second;
  • further – over the third and so on.

Without pinching, the crop is reduced, so it is better to process the bush in this way. You can pinch cucumbers at the beginning of growth, half a meter above the ground. There is no need to do higher, because a lot of ovaries fall on lateral shoots. The sheet must be carefully folded over and the shoot removed with a cloth. The leaves at the bottom of the lash will dry out, the stem will become bare, but very soon roots will begin to grow here, and this will give more nutrition to the bush.

It is also important to tie up cucumbers. In a tied position, they are better illuminated, the whips are well ventilated (which means there is less risk of getting sick), and it is much easier to care for them in protected ground conditions. It is important that the plants do not intertwine with each other when tied. Picking fruits on tied cucumbers is also easier.

With pollination, everything is both simple and complex. If the varieties are bee-pollinated, you need to attract bees to the greenhouse. If you pollinate by hand, you need to do it with a cotton swab or a paint brush.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Loosening and hilling

Without this, agricultural technology will not be optimal. It is necessary to loosen and hill up so that air can get to the roots. Without this, their decay is not ruled out. It has already been said that cucumber roots are not particularly strong, and therefore one of the secrets of their strengthening lies precisely in systematic loosening. There should be no crust on the earthen surface.

Diseases and pests

It seems that in a film or glass greenhouse, as well as in a polycarbonate greenhouse, plants get sick less. But it is not so. Here are some diseases found in the greenhouse.

  • White rot – This is a fungal disease in which the fruits and the entire surface of the bush turn white. The disease progresses very quickly, cucumber beds get sick, and the fungus remains in the soil. We’ll have to get rid of the affected plants, and even change the soil.
  • Gray mold – gray spots form on the surface of the fruit, slippery and outwardly unpleasant, they can also be on flowers and ovaries. At the initial stages, the disease can be removed by the “Barrier”.
  • Root rot – leaves dry and fall, cracks appear on the stems. Excessive watering and cold water can lead to such a disease. Treatment in sprinkling the affected areas with ash or crushed chalk. Nothing can be done with heavily affected plants, it will not work to fight the disease, you will have to dig up the bushes.
  • Mučnistaâ rosa – white bloom first appears on the leaves, and then on the stems. The fungus begins to actively spread with heat and high humidity. You need to treat with “Topaz” and “Barrier”.
  • Downy Mildew – spots on cucumbers resemble burns. Stop watering, ventilate the greenhouse, treat the disease with Quadris.
  • brown spot – wine-brown spots on the fruits, which even ooze from the inside, after which the whole plant begins to rot. The sick must be destroyed and taken out of the greenhouse.
  • Black mold – resembles a black web, prevention helps more than treatment.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Whatever happens to the plant: leaves or fruits turn yellow, turn white, darken, you need to react very quickly. Not everything is cured, some neglected fusarium jeopardizes the entire crop. And in order to quickly restore cucumbers after a disease that eats away their strength, you can use “Epin”, for example. If we talk about relatively universal drugs against cucumber diseases, this, of course, is Fitosporin.

Pest attacks are also possible. For instance, melon aphid leads to twisted leaves, and to wrinkled. Aphids eat the plant, feed on its juices. An infusion of onion peel helps well, as well as an ash solution + laundry soap. Another misfortune – a spider greenhouse mite, is determined by a spider web. You can treat with “Fitoverm” and “Aktellik”. And if ants have appeared in the greenhouse, and they are fattening there, they must be urgently removed from there.

Processing with any odorous liquids, for example, vinegar, is acceptable – and they need to be watered exactly on the paths along which the ants walk.

Harvesting

Even the regularity of harvesting affects the harvest, no matter how strange it may sound. If you skip the harvest, let the fruits stale, others will get less nutrition – those who are ready to harvest will take too many nutrients for themselves. As soon as the greenery has grown to 10, a maximum of 15 cm, it must be removed from the garden. And cut off only carefully, holding the whip with your hand. Usually you have to walk around the garden once every 1-2 days. If diseased, crooked, deformed fruits are noticed on the plant, they must be removed immediately, because a lot of nutrition is spent on them, and this is unproductive.

Well, what to do with the harvested fruits, it’s a master’s business. The main thing is to eat fresh cucumbers well, while there are extremely many vitamins in them (as far as it is, in general, possible for this culture). The cultivation process begins with the selection of seeds, their soaking in succinic acid and other activities. And in order to grow a ready-made cucumber, you will have to go a long way step by step, and planting seedlings in a greenhouse is almost its middle.

And then make sure that the seedlings do not freeze, so that the young growth does not fade, does not turn yellow. We’ll have to stock up on fungicides and fertilizers. But tasty fruits are a reasonable price for such labors.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cultivation of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Anna Evans

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