It is not enough for cucumbers, like other garden crops, to provide lighting, watering and top dressing according to the instructions of experienced agro-farmers and gardeners. It is important not to thicken them too much – if there is not enough free soil space, the plantings will remain seedlings that do not produce a crop.
Influence of Stocking Density
You have noticed more than once that seedlings do not want to grow and become full-fledged adult plants, as they lack nutrients. Miracles do not happen, a plant cannot grow into a full-fledged adult unit when it is limited. As a result, this turns into a delay in the harvest if the transplant is too late, and when the genetic age of a particular species begins to approach a certain mark, peculiar only to it as such, this plant unit (bush) dies. Experiments with growing cultivated plants in a well-lit, but hermetically sealed bottle did not lead to anything positive – the plant remained small for many months, even being protected from the influence of fungi, pathogenic bacteria, mold and viruses under growing conditions in soil sterilized with folk remedies. In other words, with an increased planting density of cucumbers, you will not get a good harvest: greenery is formed, which only works as a generator of free oxygen.
Schemes
You can plant cucumbers in open ground either directly – immediately sow the seeds in warm and sunny weather, or using pre-grown seedlings. It is necessary to act according to the current weather situation, without the lunar calendar and other methods that are more related to conspiracy theories and paranormal phenomena: be sure to wait until the air temperature at noon is regularly at least +20, the soil warms up to +16 without noticeable cooling and frost at night. When seed planting, if you are sure of the germination of seeds (they turned out to be fresh), plant a seed in each hole.
Planting 2-3 seeds in each hole is practiced by summer residents who either received seeds that are not the first freshness, or are not sure that they are all alive.
Wells in most cases are located at a distance of 35 cm from each other. The aisle – for ease of care, approach to future bushes when harvesting – should be 80-100 cm. If you plant the seeds “on the grid”, then the passage between the cucumber thickets will be difficult, it will be impossible to harvest. If we translate the specific planting density into square meters, then in each it will be 3 seeds (in the future – a bush). The distance between the tied cucumber lashes is at least the same 35 cm. If you plant the seeds in a row at a distance of half a meter, then the insect-pollinated plants will have more space, allowing the bees to easily fly up to all the inflorescences. This means that the harvest will be plentiful, the maximum possible from each bush.
Seedlings are planted in the same way. For it, cells with a diameter of 8 cm are used (or with the same length of the “square” side, when the cell is not round). You can grow seedlings in a mixture of peat with fertile black soil from your site. The ratio of peat to black soil is 1: 1 or 1: 2. It is not recommended to fully use peat – it can ignite spontaneously in the May heat in direct sunlight (the requirement is relevant for the southern regions).
Large-fruited varieties are located in 1-2 plants per 1 m2, small-fruited varieties – twice as much (more often). Violation of this requirement towards thickening will immediately lead to a lack of yield. The larger the plant in height, the more side branches it has grown, the more developed its root system, which means that it will need a large area on the site for full life.
The vertical
Vertical method – a method in which the rows of cucumber plants are slightly raised, planting them in the ground with additional humus 3 cm high. With the use of this method, the seedlings are planted in a checkerboard arrangement, and a distance of 40 cm remains between the plants. The distance between the rows, depending on their location line, is about 20 cm. fruit remains such that it is possible not to damage the plants. When tying elongated shoots of cucumbers, poles are placed on which a trellis curtain or plastic mesh is pulled. Ropes are fixed on them, plants curl along them, rising higher and higher towards the sun’s rays and wind.
The garter of cucumber thickets is done very carefully – leaves and branches must be preserved.
Horizontal
The horizontal method means that one or two rows are used. In a single row, plants are planted at intervals of 25 cm. Two rows form an indent between rows of about 95 cm. Self-pollinated varieties can be planted closer – from 75 cm each between rows.
“Herringbone”
Seeds when planting rows with a “herringbone” are sown along an arc of a circle, the radius of which is 70-100 cm. The distance between adjacent plants is about 35 cm. The advantages of the method are good access to cucumbers, while saving space in the garden: entering the resulting circle from any side, the summer resident can easily access any of the plants. A long wedge is installed next to each bush. The pegs are tied with twine, one end of which is fixed on a support in the center of the resulting platform. The twine is replaced with galvanized wire.
One line
The one-line method makes it easy to care for fast-growing varietals compared to their less “slow-moving” counterparts. At the same time, the entire row is fully lit, and the plants do not win back living space from each other. The distance between plants is about 30 cm. Between the rows is from 70 cm, this will make it easy to pass between the rows.
two line
The two-row method allows you to create a tape from two rows parallel to each other. The distance between neighboring plants is about 40 cm, between rows – 120. Thanks to this method, the area on the site is spent more economically, maintenance of thickets is facilitated. The checkerboard arrangement allows you to place plants at a distance of about 65 cm from each other, which makes the two-row look like a single-row. The location of other tapes allows you to place the same “zigzags”, stepping back about 70 cm. The advantages of the method are the best protection against diseases and pests, good ventilation, and the passage of bees between plants is facilitated.
Balcony landing distance
In the open field, when planting seeds – without growing seedlings – not all property owners have the opportunity to receive a regular crop of cucumbers. Make sure your windows don’t face north – you won’t get direct sunlight from this side unless you live somewhere in South America, Australia or New Zealand, on any islands in the Southern Hemisphere, and also in equatorial or latitudes below the Northern Tropic (it is above it that the sun rises at its zenith). The “balcony”, “garage” method is used when the owner of the living space lives in an apartment or a private house, completely devoid of any territory other than the yard. However, the lack of sunlight can be easily made up for with bright artificial “warm white” light, even during the polar night, if the temperature in the house does not fall below +18 and does not rise above +27. True, the harvest may still be smaller in number of cucumbers. Like any plant, cucumbers may need a small amount of “soft” “daytime” ultraviolet, which entails the need to install special UV LEDs in addition to traditional white lamps, whose emission spectrum is shifted far into the “blue” edge.
For planting cucumbers in completely “domesticated”, close to greenhouse conditions, old pots and pans are used (it is possible with a holey bottom). Holes in the bottom are obligatory – through them the roots will get access to air and be able to breathe, and will not rot in the soil, which has turned into a swamp due to the inability to “drain” excess water from itself. Capacity – not less than a liter per plant. The same approach was used in the implementation of the Food Program of the USSR: the containers there replaced the cubes of the black earth-peat mixture, and the cultivation was carried out in huge greenhouses. To improve drainage, a drainage layer of expanded clay or sandy loam is poured into pots or pans – this material removes excess moisture well. The distance from the seed to the walls of the container is about 15 cm on all sides.
How to plant in barrels?
“Barrel” method – an improved “balcony” method: a large capacity allows you to sow 10-12 seeds with a method close to the “herringbone”. Thanks to the wide mouth of the barrel, it allows you to sow seeds in a circle, this also saves space in cramped conditions of a loggia or balcony. Lay 10 cm of drainage, 10 cm of branches and leaves, 10 cm of peat with manure – and pour black soil on top. If necessary, another 2-3 cm of manure (compost) is added – from above. Barrels are easy to replace with bags or boxes – it doesn’t matter. Most often, barrels with planted cucumber plants are located in a heated garage – for example, by a window on the south, west or east side.
Lighting, if the day is short in winter, is supplied in the same way – as in apartment or balcony conditions.
