Cucumbers that grow in open ground need not only regular feeding and watering, but also a garter. If this procedure is carried out correctly, the site will look neat, and green plants will be able to bear fruit well.
The need for a procedure
Garter cucumbers are really important for young plants. This procedure helps to solve several problems at once.
- The bed looks neater. After garter cucumber bushes become more compact. Therefore, more plants can fit in one area. By tying vines in time, it is easy to form a hedge, an arch or even an ornamental tree from them.
- Caring for bushes becomes easier. If you tie up cucumbers growing in the open field, it will be much easier to care for them. The gardener does not have to bend over once again to remove yellowed foliage or damaged branches. Harvesting will also be easier, because the fruits will always be in sight.
- The yield of bushes increases. This happens for several reasons at once. First of all, with open access to flowers, plants become much easier to pollinate. In addition, open ground is much better warmed by the sun. Thanks to this, all useful substances are better absorbed by this culture.
- Plants are less likely to get sick and attacked by pests. This is due to the fact that the plantings are not too thick, and the branches are not intertwined. In addition, the foliage does not lie on the ground, which means that moisture does not accumulate on it. Therefore, the risk of infection of the bush with fungal diseases also decreases.
If you leave the cucumber beds without care, the vines will intertwine with each other, and the bushes will not bear fruit well.
Fundamental rules
Tying cucumbers must be carried out in accordance with all the rules, taking into account several key points.
Dates of the procedure
In order not to harm the plants, gardeners tie up only young bushes. This should be done after the bush grows to 30-40 centimeters in height. At this stage, it should already have several full-fledged leaves.
If you miss the right moment, the cucumber stalks will become too brittle. Therefore, in the process of tying, the gardener can greatly harm the bushes. This will negatively affect their productivity.
Choice of materials
All materials that are used to tie plants must be prepared in advance. The list of things that will be useful at work consists of several items.
- Supports. For tying bushes, you can use metal racks or wooden pegs. Before immersion in the soil, they must be treated with special protective equipment. This will protect them from corrosion or rotting. The optimal height of the support is 2 meters.
- Twine or wire. As a rule, thick and strong twine or wire is used to tie plants. Do not tie a fishing line or thin thread to the supports. Such material easily damages cucumber stems by cutting too deep into them.
- Grid. Such a base can be made of plastic or metal. Typically, meshes with medium-sized cells are used to create a support.
- Fastening materials. You can fix cucumber vines using wide fabric strips. To get them, unnecessary items of clothing need to be cut into ribbons 2-3 centimeters wide. Instead of fabric strips, special plastic clips can also be used. They are sold in almost all specialized stores. Plastic clips are reusable, which means that they can be used for several years in a row. Such fasteners do not harm plants and can withstand the weight of cucumber vines along with fruits.
- Tools for work. Pliers, a hammer and a shovel can also be useful to a gardener to organize a garter of cucumbers.
All selected materials and tools must be of high quality and well disinfected.
Garter time
It is worth doing a garter of cucumber bushes in dry and calm weather. If the supports are installed just before this procedure, it is very important that the soil is not too wet. Otherwise, it will not be possible to securely fix the pegs. If the ground is too dry, the gardener will spend too much time digging in the supports.
Garter Methods
Currently, there are several different methods for gartering cucumber bushes.
Vertical
To tie plants, you need to create a strong support in the shape of a large letter “P”. To do this, the upper crossbar is attached to the two side pegs. The support must be reliable and immovable. Several ropes are attached to this base. Their number depends on the number of plants on the site.
The lower edge of the rope is fixed in the ground using metal rods bent in half. It is very important to place such attachments not too close to the stem, because in the process you can damage the plant. It is very convenient to tie cucumbers in this way. All bushes are divided among themselves and do not grow to the sides. Therefore, the bed looks neat.
Horizontal
This method of tying cucumbers growing in an open garden bed is suitable for beginner gardeners. You can create a suitable design with your own hands very quickly. Consider this scheme for tying bushes.
- At different edges of the beds, you need to drive strong supports into the soil. To do this, you can use wooden pegs or metal rods. They must be securely fastened.
- Next, between these supports, you need to place several rows of ropes. They should not be too tight. Otherwise, the ropes will cut fragile cucumber vines.
- After carrying out these preparatory work, cucumber stems are tied to the ropes. To begin with, the shoots must be tied to the bottom twine. In the future, the vines are attached to the next rows. Do not tighten the knots too tightly – this way you can harm the plants.
The main advantage of this garter method is its simplicity. The downside is the fact that the vines can intertwine with each other over time. To prevent this from happening, cucumber bushes should be regularly inspected, and the shoots should be fixed in the right places.
Using the grid
To create a support, it is best to use a grid with large or medium cells. It must be fixed between the supports. The mesh must be well stretched. Cucumber stalks must be carefully fixed on the grid. In the future, they themselves will weave along this basis.
Growing cucumbers this way is quite convenient. In addition, the finished design looks very nice. You can use the grid for several years in a row. But, preparing the beds for the winter, it must be removed and placed in a barn. In the spring, the mesh is stretched again.
“Cucumber Tree”
In addition to the time-tested cucumber garter methods, there are more modern options. One of them is the formation of a neat cucumber tree. This is done very simply.
- First you need to equip your site with a neat square bed. From all sides it must be strengthened with wooden boards.
- Seedlings are planted inside this square. Bushes should be located at a distance of 30-40 centimeters from each other. In this case, each plant will receive enough nutrients for development.
- Further along the edges of this bed you need to install four supports. They can be either wooden or metal. The upper edges of these supports must be connected to each other.
- The resulting structure must be fixed. Usually a metal wire is used for this. Based on the design, several rows of ropes are fixed, to which the bush will be tied.
If the structure is made strong enough, it can serve the owners of the site for several years. The main thing is to change the ropes regularly.
Bochkova
This method is best for growing cucumbers in a small area. Instead of a barrel, you can use an unnecessary bucket or even a voluminous flask. The selected container must be filled with nutrient soil. After that, you need to plant a few cucumber bushes there. Their number depends on the size of the barrel.
If the capacity is high enough, cucumber vines will be able to sink down. In this case, they do not even need an additional garter. A big plus of this growing method is the mobility of the structure. A container with cucumber bushes, if necessary, can be moved from place to place. But some gardeners prefer to immediately install a barrel of cucumbers under some kind of support. In this case, the overgrown shoots are tied to it.
natural trellis
This method of tying plants is also very simple. Bushes are initially planted next to some kind of fence. It can be a metal mesh or a wooden fence. Seedlings are usually located 20-30 centimeters from the hedge. Ropes are fixed next to the bushes. The opposite edge of each of them is tied to the top of the fence. Cucumber vines, as they grow, weave up these ropes, creating a beautiful green fence.
Hybrid
This method combines two different ways of fixing cucumbers. The point is that two vertical bases are interconnected. After that, additional supports are pulled between them. It can be both ropes and a mesh with medium-sized cells. To fix it, an ordinary wire is used.
Bushes are planted either in a circle or on opposite sides of the supports. Finished designs look original and beautiful. Bushes growing in this way do not interfere with their neighbors.
With the help of bottles
Empty plastic bottles are used not for planting young bushes inside, but for fixing vines. The containers are pre-cut into wide strips. Each of them is wrapped in a vine. The edges of the tape are fixed with a stapler. Using such plastic fasteners, cucumber vines can be attached to any support.
But this method of attachment has its drawbacks. First of all, it is worth noting that plastic is not an environmentally friendly material. It does not decompose after it enters the soil. In addition, plastic clamps have sharp edges. This means that when attaching the vine to the support, a person can easily injure them. Therefore, it is worth using such devices for attaching shoots only if there are no other means at hand.
Under the arcs
This tying method is ideal for short varieties. First you need to properly prepare the base to which the cucumber vines will be attached. The rods bent in an arc are carefully dug into the ground. The top point of each arc should be at a height of 30-40 centimeters above the ground. Ropes are pulled between individual supports. As soon as the bushes grow to the desired height, they are carefully tied to the bases of the arcs. In the future, the lashes will independently braid this structure, growing in different directions.
The only disadvantage of this method is that individual shoots can intertwine with each other. This complicates the process of caring for cucumbers. Harvesting fruits from bushes also becomes more difficult.
On the arches
Another interesting idea that is popular among many gardeners is tying cucumbers on arches. This procedure is very simple.
- To begin with, in the country store you need to buy a garden arch. In its appearance, it resembles a folding ladder. On sale there are different types of such arches. Therefore, everyone can find something suitable for their site.
- Cucumber bushes are planted on both sides of the arch.
- As soon as they grow up, the whips need to be carefully thrown over individual steps. No additional fasteners are needed here.
Such a support can serve its owners for more than one year. The arch braided with cucumbers looks beautiful. It is worth remembering that it takes up quite a lot of space. Therefore, it makes sense to install it only in large areas.
On pegs
Growing undersized varieties of cucumbers on your site, you can use ordinary wooden pegs for their garters. They are placed next to each bush. As soon as the cucumbers grow up, the stems can be tied to supports. Liana needs to be fixed in several places. As the shoots grow, they also need to be tied to a support.
Pyramid
The process of creating cucumber pyramids has much in common with the formation of a cucumber tree. It looks like this.
- Having chosen a suitable place for planting cucumbers, you need to draw a large circle on the ground. Along its perimeter it is necessary to place metal or wooden supports.
- Their upper edges must be connected together with a thick metal wire. The finished structure looks like a conical pyramid.
- A rope or wire is attached to its base in even rows.
- After that, cucumber bushes are planted around the pyramid.
- Over time, the shoots that appear on the main part of the plant must be taken out of this structure.
If the whip with fruits is inside such a pyramid, it will be very difficult to get cucumbers from there.
Possible mistakes
When tying cucumber vines, many gardeners make various mistakes. Let’s analyze the main ones.
- Too thin threads are used to fasten the stem. Nylon or just very thin threads leave cuts on cucumber vines. Very often this leads to the death of plants. To prevent this from happening, soft wide tapes should be used to fasten the stems.
- The cords are being pulled too tight. It also causes damage to the branches. In order not to harm the cucumbers, it is important to ensure that a finger can fit between the branch and the loop.
- Tied bushes too early. It is impossible to harm plants in this way. But this procedure is absolutely meaningless, because after the bush grows up, it will have to be tied up again. Therefore, it is better not to rush into this procedure.
If you choose the right way to tie the cucumbers, and avoid these mistakes, the plants will grow healthy and strong. Caring for such bushes will be easy even for a novice gardener.
