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Everyone wants to eat only natural and non-toxic vegetables. Therefore, many decide to do vegetable growing themselves and plant cucumbers personally. But first you need to understand that planting cucumbers in open ground is not an activity for the faint of heart, but for those who are ready to make every effort and patience to get a good result – their own cucumbers.
Growing conditions
Initially, you need to determine the place in which cucumbers will be grown. The site must be protected from the north side, as well as from the prevailing winds, and the sun should also illuminate the southern slopes. If necessary, you can artificially create a southern slope and, as a result, the temperature in this area will be 1-2 degrees higher than in the environment.
Then, in the fall, they begin to dig up the soil by about 25-30 cm. If it is clayey or heavy, then peat, humus, sawdust, chopped straw or straw manure must be added to its composition. To obtain a high level of yield, it is required to create the necessary soil density, which should be approximately 1 cubic cm. You should pay attention to the fact that the roots will not be able to go into the soil if the soil is heavy.
In this case, they are located closer to the surface and therefore die off quite often due to fluctuations in air temperature or its lack, as well as due to fluctuations in moisture content. Therefore, the soil must be loose and during the check of its density, the hand must penetrate the soil without any special obstacles. We must not forget that water should not create puddles on the surface of the soil, but on the contrary, it should seep freely.
As previously mentioned, you need to plant cucumbers in open ground on a ridge that is located across the slope. It is necessary to ensure that the sun’s rays hit the ridge and therefore it should be with a slight southern slope. Due to this, the soil temperature rises, and the yield will accordingly increase by 20-30%.
Ridges are usually made so that the width is no more than 1 m, and the height is about 20-30 cm. Mineral fertilizers such as 20-25 g of ammonium nitrate, 30-40 – superphosphate and 15-20 g of potassium sulfate per 1 m2, should be applied at least 14 days before sowing, and then thoroughly mixed to the entire depth of the ridge.
But the term for adding mineral fertilizers to the soil depends on the fertility of the site. If the soil is acidic, then it is necessary to add wood ash or lime in the amount of about 30-40 g per 1 m2, then also mix. After you need to level the surface and water the dry soil.
Landing
There are two ways to grow cucumbers: seedless and seedling. We will talk about the first method. Using this method, it must be remembered that the sowing dates for seeds begin at the end of May and end on June 60th. Before sowing the seeds, they need to be heated for two hours at a temperature of XNUMX ° C.
This must be done in order for the heated seeds to give good shoots and also bear fruit earlier. After that, they must be placed in a solution that consists of 1 liter of water, 5 g of double superphosphate, 10-potassium nitrate and 0,2 g of manganese sulfate.
Then the seeds that are swollen must be sown, mixing with dry ones. This action ensures an early harvest, as if the early shoots die, then they are replaced by late shoots, which are obtained from dry seeds. Next, each seed must be placed in the grooves so that it is located at a distance of 3-4 cm. The grooves must be made at a distance of half a meter from each other.
Usually half a gram of seeds is consumed per 1 square meter. The depth of their placement should be 1-2 cm. If the soil dries out, it is imperative to water the grooves and only after that sow the seeds in moist soil. Then it is necessary to close the top with loose soil, humus with sawdust or peat.
It is very important to observe the emergence of seedlings as carefully as possible, as if nests of rooks or other birds are nearby, then young, not yet rooted plants are in danger. To scare away birds, you can install a scarecrow, rotating rattles, hang rustling paper or strips of film.
After the shoots have appeared, it is necessary to monitor the level of soil moisture, as well as the condition of the plants. In the evening, you need to water the plants with water, the temperature of which is approximately 20-25 ° C, with a ratio of 1,5-2 liters per 1 square meter, if during the day the leaves become lethargic and with weak turgor. If the plants close, then the seedlings usually need to be thinned out 2-3 times, given that each time only the weakest ones need to be removed.
The planting scheme is as follows: the distance in the row between plants must be left from 5 to 15 cm. Plant thinning can be combined with procedures such as weeding and loosening. When the plants grow to half the distance between the rows, then loosening should be stopped so that there is no risk of damage to the roots. Then the growing plants should be evenly distributed over the soil surface.
Cultivation
Cucumbers usually begin to bloom 1-1,5 months after they have sown the seeds, but this also depends on the variety and the weather. The beginning of the appearance of fruits directly depends on when pollination occurs. Often the very first female flowers turn yellow, and then fall off only because the bees have not yet been able to find their way to them.
But when there are no male flowers, it is quite possible that the ovaries will fall off. During mass flowering, bees usually actively visit flowers on the ridges, and then we can not talk about the problems of artificial pollination (when you have to self-pollinate) because they do not exist at that moment. We must not forget that the soil needs to be watered more often during the fruiting period than before it, the irrigation scheme is as follows: the irrigation rate now increases to 2,5-3 liters per 1 square meter. The frequency of watering depends on the weather, but in general you can water the plants at least daily. When the days are cold and cloudy, then watering must be stopped. In the case when the soil is properly fertilized, the plants, in principle, do not need much feeding.
But when the temperature begins to drop, the leaf of the plant turns pale. To restore its color, any nitrogen fertilizer is added to the leaves of the plant in a ratio of 5-10 g per 10 liters of water. For example, fertilizers such as urea, ammonium or potassium nitrate and also ammofoska. This action should be done only in the evening, because during the day the rays of the sun can burn the leaves of plants due to a drop of the solution that was applied.
Usually this procedure is carried out either with a hand sprayer or with a whisk. To ensure good care for cucumbers, you need to carry out 2 to 3 dressings for the entire growing season. It is especially important to carry out top dressing when the plants begin to bloom and buds appear. If cucumbers are planted on sandy or sandy loamy soils, then fertigation (drip irrigation system) will be the most effective way to feed.
Video “Scheme of planting cucumbers in open ground in the garden”
Video about the scheme of planting and growing cucumbers in the garden in the open field. What to pay attention to and what important points to consider.
