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You can even grow an enviable harvest at home. But the process will be very different from the dacha hassle.
In addition to greenery and flowers, you can grow a lot of tasty things on the windowsill – the same cucumbers. And there are problems here. At the dacha, you need to deal with weeds, pests, the consequences of unsuitable weather, and at home – with completely different things. We have collected the 5 most common problems that “indoor summer residents” most often face.
Seedlings grow poorly
Before planting cucumbers on the windowsill, heat treatment and disinfection of seeds must be carried out. If you see that the seeds are painted in a bright color, it means that they have been treated with a growth stimulant. Soak them in a disinfecting solution of potassium permanganate for 2-3 hours.
You need to plant seeds in peat cups. But already at a height of 5-10 cm seedlings – transplant them into the main container. At the same time, count on 2–4 liters of soil per plant. If you use soil from a flower bed, be sure to heat it at a high temperature of 120 degrees for 30 minutes to destroy possible pathogens.
Ovaries do not develop
When buying seeds, be sure to find out how your bushes are pollinated. If it happens with the help of bees and other insects, then practically nothing will grow from this variety and there will be no fruit after flowering. For home cultivation, cucumber species that can be manually pollinated, or self-pollinated varieties, or those that do not require pollination at all, are suitable. Choose early-maturing bush varieties.
Do not overdo it with nitrogen fertilizers, otherwise you will only achieve that the plant thickens, grows greenery, and the ovaries do not appear. If necessary, it is worth diving the seedlings – pinning the main stem so that it does not continue to grow.
Barren flowers are formed
You may have ended up with a variety that requires pollination. If you know for sure that you have planted paternocarpic species (self-pollinated), most likely, the cucumbers do not like the temperature – below +14 C or above +32 C leads to dysfunction of the ovary of the fetus. Other reasons for the formation of barren flowers are dense foliage, a lot of shade, and heavy soil.
Yellowness or spots appear on the leaves
The appearance of spots and yellowness on the leaves of cucumbers is mainly due to bacteriosis. It appears due to high humidity or insufficiently heated air. Treatment – spraying with a Bordeaux mixture or a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate.
Another reason is the lack of nutrients in the soil. It is necessary to apply fertilizers – rotted humus at the rate of 120-150 g per 2-2,5 liters of water or a complex fertilizer of 25 g of wood ash, three parts of 10 g of potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus additives, which are diluted in 2,5-3 liters of warm water.
No harvest
With the right approach to growing cucumbers on a balcony or windowsill, the time for harvesting the first harvest comes in 30–45 days. If time passes, and the fruits are not visible, most likely, the conditions for their appearance are violated.
Proper watering is of great importance – the water should be free of chlorinated impurities. Use settled, boiled, rain or filtered water.
The soil must necessarily contain a sufficient amount of phosphorus, potassium, necessary for the development of fruits, but not be acidic.
Maintain a balance of minerals and organic compounds. Top dressing should be applied every 2 weeks. Add complex fertilizers only when transplanting into the soil. So that the forces are not sprayed on excess greens, the side stepsons are removed, and after 10-11 leaves, the top is pinched.
For effective ripening of fruits, it is also recommended to spray the plants with boric acid, diluted in a proportion of 1 gram per liter of warm water.
Cucumbers need light to ripen, so choose a sill that faces south, southeast, or southwest. However, if you notice fading from direct sunlight, create an artificial shade for the cucumbers using a translucent fabric.
Cucumbers are annual plants. They bear fruit for about 4 weeks, and then they stop their life cycle. If you apply top dressing and fresh vermicompost in a timely manner, you can extend the harvest time to 5-6 weeks. Plus, daily harvesting causes so-called stress on the plant and forces it to form additional ovaries and increase the period of fruiting.