Growing zucchini in a barrel: how to plant

The technique of growing zucchini and other crops in barrels attracts gardeners, first of all, with the opportunity to save space on personal plots. However, if you are going to try this method, you need to consider that it requires quite labor-intensive preparation. Agrotechnics is also noticeably different from that required by the culture in the “classic” beds. Therefore, it is impossible to get a good harvest if you do not study in advance the cultivation of zucchini in a barrel step by step, paying attention to all the important nuances.

Is it possible to plant zucchini in an iron barrel

A barrel made of any material (metal, plastic, wood) is suitable for growing zucchini. Much more important is its size. Required height – approximately 1 m, diameter – at least 0,5 m, volume – from 200 liters. However, when growing zucchini in a metal or plastic barrel, you need to take into account that these materials heat up more than wood in direct sunlight.

So that the root system of plants does not “burn out”, it is necessary to regulate watering depending on the weather outside.

The benefits of planting zucchini in a barrel in the country

Growing zucchini and other horticultural crops in barrels is a method that attracts summer residents with undoubted advantages:

• significant savings in planting space in the garden;
• aesthetics, decorativeness of the garden;
• decreasing risk of plant damage by pathogenic microflora;
• the ability to do without chemicals to prevent the development of diseases, pest attacks, and control them;
• saving time on weeding and loosening;
• providing plants with better illumination, high-quality ventilation;
• the possibility of harvesting fruits at an earlier date;
• increasing productivity of zucchini, presentability of their appearance;
• relatively easy care;
• relatively small consumption of land for planting and water for irrigation.

Zucchini in barrels look very original and unusual

Suitable varieties

Varieties and hybrids of zucchini suitable for growing in barrels must meet several criteria:

• self-pollination;
• compactness;
• lack of care;
• high yield.

The choice is quite large:

• Video clip;
• Aeronaut;
• Golden;
• Beloplodny;
• Pharaoh;
• Apollo;
• Sosnovsky;
• Gribovsky-37.

How many zucchini can be planted in a barrel

Depending on the volume of the barrel and the dimensions of adult plants, from one to three zucchini are planted in each container. “Crowding” and tightness with this method of growing is just as harmful as in ordinary beds.

Planting zucchini in a barrel photo step by step

It is not difficult to grow zucchini in a barrel in the country. But only if you properly prepare for landing. This also applies to seed treatment, and filling the container, there are other important nuances.

Seed preparation

For growing in barrels, zucchini seeds that are unable to sprout are definitely not suitable. To determine the presence of an embryo, they are soaked in a saline solution (30-40 g per liter of water). 10-15 minutes are enough for light empty specimens to float to the surface of the container, and heavy ones to “go to the bottom”.

Warming up zucchini seeds selected for growing in barrels has a positive effect on their germination, they germinate “together”. Planting material for a day is left on the radiator, wrapped in a piece of dry cloth.

Then the seeds must be germinated. To do this, a linen cotton or linen napkin is moistened with hot (40-45 ° C) water and the planting material is wrapped in it. The germination procedure takes 4-5 days, the tissue should not be allowed to dry out during this time. Some gardeners replace ordinary warm water with a solution of a biostimulant – purchased or natural.

It is impossible to delay the planting of prepared seeds, otherwise the sprouts will become too long

Preparing a barrel for planting zucchini

There must be holes in a metal or plastic barrel for growing zucchini. Otherwise, acidification of the soil is inevitable and normal air exchange is impossible. The tree is much more “permeable”, does not prevent the evaporation of excess moisture.

The bottom of a metal or plastic barrel can be completely removed. Several holes must be drilled in the walls to “remove” excess moisture.

Further, approximately in the center, it is necessary to “mount” a vertical pipe inside, having previously “perforated” it. Otherwise, it is impossible to evenly soak the substrate in a barrel for growing zucchini.

If there is no suitable pipe, it is “collected” from several plastic bottles of the same volume, cutting off their bottom and neck

Soil preparation

Filling the barrel for growing zucchini begins last summer. In the southern regions, you can “hold out” until autumn (first half of September). If you postpone this procedure until spring, the soil mixture should “stand” for at least 2-3 weeks.

Approximately half of the total volume is drainage. For example, small scraps of rotten wood, pebbles, brick chips, ceramic shards are suitable. Next, layers about 5 cm thick, slightly compacting them, fill the barrel for growing zucchini almost completely, leaving 12-15 cm to the edge. A mixture of fertile turf, humus and peat chips is alternated with any plant debris: fallen leaves, hay, tops, weeded weeds.

You can not use carrion, leaves, and so on with traces resembling symptoms of damage by any pathogenic microflora. Otherwise, zucchini, when grown in a barrel, will “inherit” these diseases. Also, needles, sawdust of coniferous trees, acidifying the substrate, which the culture does not tolerate, will not work.

A barrel for growing zucchini is placed in an open area, well lit and warmed by the sun. For the next three months, its contents are abundantly watered weekly with warm water or a solution of special EM preparations that activate the “processing” of organic matter by soil bacteria.

Additionally, you can cover the barrel for growing zucchini with thick black plastic wrap

Some gardeners prefer to spill the contents of a zucchini growing barrel not with ordinary water, but with a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate. This is an affordable and effective tool for the destruction of any pathogenic microflora.

The technology of planting zucchini in a barrel

Planting zucchini in a barrel will not be difficult even for novice gardeners: a step-by-step description of the procedure and photos of more experienced summer residents on the relevant topic will help you navigate. But first you need to grow seedlings.

In principle, germinated seeds can also be planted in a barrel, but seedlings give a certain “gain” in time. Seedlings are transferred to a permanent place around mid-May, after the appearance of the third true leaf. By this time, the probability of returning spring frosts is minimized.

The further algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. About a day before planting, it is good to shed the substrate in a barrel for growing zucchini with water. After letting it soak in, loosen it to a depth of 10-12 cm, level the surface. The approximate consumption rate is 10 liters of water.
2. Remove the seedlings from the container, if possible, keeping a whole lump of soil on the roots. It is more convenient to grow seedlings of zucchini in peat tablets or cups – such plants are planted together with a container.
3. Stepping back at least 10 cm from the edges of the barrel, dig one or more holes, approximately the same in depth and diameter as the soil clod on the roots. When growing in a barrel, 2-3 zucchini leave about 40 cm between them.
4. At the bottom of the hole, throw a handful of humus mixed with sifted wood ash or complex nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilizer. Transfer the plant into it, fill the hole with soil, gently compact the soil.
5. Water the plants moderately.

“Crowding” in a barrel is just as undesirable as when growing zucchini in the beds

Further Care

If the zucchini is planted in a barrel correctly, without neglecting all the necessary preparation, caring for them during the season will not take much time and effort. Agricultural technology includes:

1. Watering. When grown in a barrel, zucchini is watered every 3-4 days, spending about 5 liters of water per container. In extreme heat and drought, you will have to switch to daily watering, reducing the “norm” by about half. Moisturizing the substrate “from above” will not work, as the bush grows rapidly and occupies the entire surface of the barrel, so watering is practiced through a pipe in the middle. Only warm and settled or otherwise softened water is suitable for plants. When it is excessively rigid, chlorine and fluorine compounds quickly accumulate in the substrate, to which zucchini grows very negatively when grown in a barrel.
2. Top dressing. The culture does not like excess nutrients. Therefore, if the soil mixture in the barrel for growing zucchini has been prepared correctly, the fertilizers previously applied to it will be enough for them. The same applies to the fertility of the substrate, it is not necessary to “raise” it during the season. Foliar top dressing (spraying with a biostimulant solution) is allowed only when cool weather sets in for a long time or with other negative “external” influences.

Treatment with biostimulants not only increases the overall endurance of plants, but also has a positive effect on the quality of the crop.

To increase the yield when growing zucchini in barrels, it is recommended to do the following:

• just before flowering, pinch the growing point;
• immediately after flowering, remove all “empty flowers” ​​so that the plant does not waste water and nutrients on them;
• 2-3 weeks before harvest, when the skin of the zucchini has already acquired a shade typical of the variety or hybrid, cut off all the leaves that cover them in order to provide the fruits with maximum light and heat.

Harvesting

When growing zucchini in barrels, they ripen 15-20 days earlier than in open ground. The harvest time is determined based on their purpose:

1. Unripe zucchini is best for home canning and any dishes. They have a thin skin, tender flesh and the most intense taste.
2. For long-term storage, you need to wait until the fruits are fully ripe. This is easy to determine by tapping the skin with your knuckles (the sound should be deaf). You can also try scratching the peel with your fingernail – if you can’t easily remove it, it has hardened enough to provide the zucchini with the required keeping quality.

Zucchini when grown in barrels are cut with a sharply sharpened knife, you can not pull the stalk or unscrew it

Conclusion

Growing zucchini in a barrel step by step is an algorithm of simple actions. But, in general, they take a lot of time and effort from the gardener. Harvesting a good harvest is impossible without choosing the right variety, quality preparation and knowledge of the nuances of agricultural technology. However, summer residents are not ready to abandon the unusual method of growing: the opportunity to save space on the site is too “captivating”.