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Cucumbers are grown in almost every household and summer cottage. Gardeners who have been cultivating for more than one year are well aware that a vegetable needs fertile soil and timely top dressing. The root system of the cucumber is designed in such a way that it is able to receive nutrition from the soil surface. The fact is that the fibrous root does not grow in depth, but in width.
Cucumber nutrition during the growing season should be balanced. The plant needs many trace elements, but potassium fertilizers for cucumbers are the most important. Potassium ions are present in the cell sap of vegetables. Their shortage negatively affects the return of the crop and the quality of the fruit. Approximately as in the photo, a cucumber lash looks like if the plant does not receive the required amount of potassium.
Important trace elements for cucumbers
Cucumbers, unlike many cultivated plants, are extremely demanding on nutrition. To get a rich harvest on beds in a greenhouse or open field, you need to take care of the balance of trace elements. They must be contained in the soil during planting and additionally feed the plants during the vegetative period.
What trace elements do cucumbers need:
- Nitrogen is involved in the growth of green mass, the need for it is great at the beginning of growth.
- The need for phosphorus is not so great, but in its absence, cucumbers “freeze”, the growth of the plants themselves and fruits slows down.
- Potassium for cucumbers is needed to a greater extent than other trace elements. After all, he is responsible for the movement of juices, for growth and fruiting.
In addition, plants need zinc, manganese, boron and other trace elements that plants should receive with balanced top dressing.
Mineral or organic fertilizers are applied at different times with strict adherence to dosages.
Symptoms of a micronutrient deficiency
Potassium is one of the most important trace elements that cucumbers grown in a greenhouse or open field need. Experienced gardeners determine the lack of potassium according to the state of the plant. Beginners do not always succeed due to lack of knowledge. Therefore, we will dwell on this issue in more detail.
The main symptoms are:
- A large number of lashes, leaves appear on the vine, and the ovaries are practically absent.
- The leaves become unnaturally green, the edges turn yellowish gray, the edge dries out. This process extends to the middle of the sheet, it dies.
- Potassium deficiency affects not only the presence of empty flowers, but also a change in the shape of the fruit. They most often resemble a pear. In addition, there is no sugar in such cucumbers, so they are bitter.
What is potash fertilizer
Potash fertilizer is a type of mineral fertilizer to improve the quality of crops grown in the garden. The application improves the immunity of plants, which, in turn, has a positive effect on resistance to many diseases. The presence of potassium in the soil is a protective barrier against many insects. Moreover, cucumbers get sick less with fluctuations in temperature and humidity.
Types of potash fertilizers
There are two types of potassium-based fertilizers: chloride and sulfate. For feeding cucumbers, it is better to use fertilizer without chlorine. In addition, potash fertilizers are in the form of raw salts (carnallite, sylvinite, polyhalite, kainite, nepheline) or concentrates (crystals, granules).
Varieties of potash fertilizers for feeding cucumbers:
- potassium sulfate (potassium sulfate).
- Potassium salt.
- Potassium saltpeter
- Potassium carbonate.
- Calimagnesia.
- Wood ash.
Potassium sulphate
From this list, potassium sulfate is most often used to feed cucumbers, half of which consists of this microelement. In addition, it does not contain chlorine. It is a white or grayish crystalline powder, completely soluble in water. It can be applied under cucumbers as root dressing in spring or autumn. When there is insufficient light in the greenhouse or under adverse weather conditions, this potash fertilizer can be used as a foliar top dressing to improve photosynthesis.
Callimagus
Gardeners immediately appreciated the appearance of Kalimagnesia on the market. This potash fertilizer can be powdered or granular. It consists of:
- magnesium — 10-17%;
- potassium — 25-30%;
- sulfur – 17%.
Magnesium and potassium are sulfates, easily soluble in water, well absorbed by cucumbers.
The use of a drug such as Kalimag allows you to get products with excellent taste. With this fertilizer, you can feed not only cucumbers, but also potatoes, beets, zucchini, pumpkins, fruit trees and shrubs.
How to apply potash fertilizer of the new series for feeding cucumbers? Potassium magnesia is usually used in autumn or spring when preparing the soil. In autumn, a larger amount of a nutritious potassium preparation is required – from 135 to 200 grams. In the spring, 110 grams per square meter is enough. After watering, the soil is carefully dug up.
During the growing season, cucumbers can be fed with Kalimag under the root, especially during the appearance of embryos and the flowering of the plant. To obtain a nutrient solution for a ten-liter bucket, 15-25 grams are enough.
Potassium magnesia can also be used dry. Sprinkle the powder under the plants and water with warm water. Per square up to 20 grams.
How to apply potash fertilizers
It takes several days from flower to full fruit. While cucumbers ripen in some internodes, ovaries appear in others. The process goes on continuously. It is clear that you can not do without top dressing. Potassium is especially important for stable fruiting.
Top dressing of cucumbers with potash fertilizers should be carried out in a timely manner. The lack of a trace element reduces the yield of your beds. Experienced gardeners never feed all plantings at the same time. Check the need for cucumbers in potassium on 1-2 plants. If after three days they have seen an improvement in growth, ovaries have formed, then you can start feeding cucumbers in the entire greenhouse.
The dosage of potash fertilizers for cucumbers depends on the degree of soil preparation in autumn or spring. If for some reason the soil has not received the required amount of potassium, then during the period of plant growth, top dressing should become mandatory.
As a rule, cucumbers are fertilized with potash fertilizers 3-5 times at equal intervals. But in case of potassium deficiency, it is necessary to feed the plants without following the schedule.
Rules for the preparation of fertilizers
Each gardener, taking into account the condition of the soil, uses store-bought fertilizers or prepares them on his own. Consider the most common options for potash fertilizers, which are used to feed cucumbers in different periods of the growing season.
- When the first embryos appear in the internodes, the need for complex fertilizers increases. A ten-liter bucket will require a solution of mullein (chicken manure) – 200 grams, a teaspoon of superphosphate and potassium sulfate. Watering is carried out under the root of the watering can.
- The second time cucumbers will need fertilizer when mass fruiting begins. Plants consume nutrients from the soil very quickly. If you do not feed them in time, then the ovaries can dry out and crumble. For root dressing, mullein is used – 150 grams, nitrophoska – 1 large spoon per 10 liters of water. Instead of mullein, you can use herbal infusions of plants such as nettle, wood lice, gout. The infusion is prepared for a week. For every sq. m pour 3 liters of solution. The use of such a solution will enrich plantings with nutrients, including potassium.
- If complex fertilizers are not available, you can independently prepare such a composition (recipe for watering 1 sq. M). For 10 liters of water, potassium sulfate and urea will be required, 10 grams each, potassium magnesia – 20 grams. You can add 30 grams of ash. Cucumbers are fed with this fertilizer at the first sign of potassium deficiency.
- Potash fertilizer for feeding cucumbers can be prepared at home from wood ash alone. This substance is useful in that it contains not only potassium, but also many other trace elements necessary for growth and fruiting. One and a half cups of ash is added to a ten-liter bucket when preparing an aqueous solution. The resulting solution is used for root and foliar feeding of cucumbers.
The use of ash is also allowed in dry form. It is sprinkled on moistened soil over the entire surface of the beds. Then lightly water the cucumbers.
If cucumbers are grown outdoors, the need for fertilizers is higher due to the washing out of trace elements by rains.
About potassium and its role:
Need or not…
Gardeners always face the question of what fertilizers to use to feed cucumbers. It should be noted that a high yield of green fruits can be obtained with an integrated approach. Vegetable growers with extensive experience, without our recommendations, select a feeding scheme. Beginners will have to adapt. The main thing to remember is that plants always give a “sos” signal when they lack something. You need to learn to “hear” cucumbers and come to the rescue in time.