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Vegetable crops are demanding on the condition of the soil. Therefore, the soil for cucumbers in the greenhouse must be prepared carefully. To plant cucumbers, it is better to use loamy or loose sandy soil. Soil with high acidity is not suitable for planting cucumbers in a greenhouse. It is important to know how to properly prepare it for planting vegetables.
When and how does preparation begin?
Soil preparation for cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse should be approached responsibly. The first and important stage begins in the fall: you need to remove the remains of dead plants, accumulated debris and other unnecessary elements. You need to burn garbage and tops in the fall – this will prevent the spread of infections that provoke various diseases of vegetables.
Then start cleaning the walls and other surfaces. They should be cleaned using a bleach or soap solution. Be sure to remove a layer of soil from each bed about 7 cm in the fall. Such a layer of earth contains accumulated larvae of harmful insects, unwanted bacteria that will harm the crop in the future.
Then cultivate the land. Land preparation at the initial stage must necessarily include careful digging. If you are thinking of laying manure, then consider equipping a garden bed. To do this, dig a trench and distribute the manure evenly. But this work can be done in the spring.
Don’t forget to disinfect the room
Preparation of the greenhouse necessarily provides for the disinfection of the structure and soil. You can carry out such work with a solution of copper sulfate or other disinfectants. But use any option with caution.
It is difficult, but necessary to cultivate the land and beds with diluted bleach. Such processing is carried out in the fall, after digging the earth and destroying garbage. Remember to take the required precautions when doing the job. To prepare lime mortar, you will need:
- 0,5 kg of bleach;
- a bucket of clean water with a capacity of 15 liters;
- sealed gloves.
Infuse lime mortar for 5 hours, stirring occasionally. Then, let it brew and remove the layer formed on top. Use the resulting sediment to treat greenhouse structures, and spray the soil with the top mass.
Dry processing
Such processing is carried out with the use of sulfur checkers. When burning, gas is released from them, which will penetrate into those places that are inaccessible when spraying. When interacting with moisture, sulfurous and sulfuric acid is formed, which spreads everywhere and destroys microbes, harmful organisms and bacteria.
Disinfector advice: sulfur dosage is 50 grams per 1 m3 premises. If a spider mite appears in the greenhouse, double the dosage.
Organic fertilizers should be applied before winter: this will help warm up the soil in spring.
These include grass, leaves, sawdust. Sawdust helps air to penetrate more freely into the ground, which has a good effect on the future growth of vegetables.
In October, all work on the site is completed, and there is a lot of time left to prepare the land for further use.
What to do in spring
The growth efficiency of cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse will depend on the prepared soil. Good land meets certain points:
- Purity. There should be no debris or weeds.
- Grow beds. The earth must retain moisture well.
- Low alkalinity. The acidic component of the earth should not exceed 7 pH.
- The presence of ash. The presence of loosening substances is necessary in the soil.
- The presence of sand. It is necessary for the formation of plants.
- Prepare manure. The earth should be filled with the optimal amount of fertilizers and useful elements.
By following these simple rules, you can get a great harvest of healthy vegetables.
Timely preparation of the greenhouse in the spring will reduce your worries to a minimum for the entire period of growth and fertility of your cucumbers.
Spring soil preparation also includes several stages. They depend on the work that you did in the fall:
- check the structure for damage, if damage is found, replace or repair the necessary parts;
- warm up the ground after the winter sub-zero temperature – so you can plant seedlings much earlier;
- after the snow melts, water the soil abundantly with warm water, the manure placed in the fall will begin to affect the soil, after waiting about a week, you can start planting;
- be sure to use manure – it is an excellent biofuel for your land.
It is very easy to calculate the required amount of manure: it is applied in a proportion of 1/4 of the volume of land in the greenhouse. Do not forget to add sawdust or ash to the bed to loosen the soil.
You may need to use green manure. Siderates are plants that are specially grown to be buried in the ground to improve its soil structure, enrich it with nitrogen and prevent the emergence of weeds. When using them, you can not use manure: about 3 kg of green manure will replace 2 kg of manure. They are plowed with the ground 2 weeks before planting a certain crop 3 cm deep, after crushing them.
How to prepare a garden bed for planting
Cucumber is a very thermophilic plant. Therefore, it is better to plant a crop in warm beds. The ideal option is to prepare them in the fall, but if there is not enough time, do it at the very beginning of spring. The width of the beds should be at least 1 meter. In the ground, a trench should be made 50 cm deep and nutrients should be laid there. The first layer should be small and consist of tree branches. Then add grass or vegetable peels. The penultimate layer should be rotted manure or compost. Having invested all the components, cover them with a layer of earth of 25-30 cm.
To maintain more heat, enclose the bed with boards. This will create convenience and increase the life of the beds up to 2 years.
Useful Tips
To grow cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse, you need to make a lot of effort and time.
- use seeds only of those varieties that you trust, if you are preparing them from last year’s harvest, then carefully sort and process them;
- to prevent the plants from rotting in the greenhouse, maintain the correct humidity, do not allow the temperature to drop below 15 ° C, do not water the plants in the evening with cool water;
- if there are many ovaries, but the crop is small, fertilize the land with mullein, when the crop decreases sharply, water the vegetables with humus diluted in water.
Properly preparing the land in the greenhouse, you will significantly increase the future harvest. By removing weeds and treating pests, you will reduce the risk of vegetable diseases. By fertilizing, you will fill the earth with nutrients, creating good conditions for crop growth. But do not forget that throughout the entire period of fruiting cucumbers regularly water them, feed the soil in the garden and fight pests that appear. It is important to know what kind of kidney is needed in the greenhouse for cucumbers, and then the result will please the owner.
