How to plant and grow cucumbers correctly

Choosing a variety and seeds

So what kinds of cucumbers are there? They are divided into groups according to several parameters - the purpose of the variety, which includes salad types of vegetables with white thorns, small seeds and soft peel, as well as pickling, which can become rough and tasteless when overgrown.

According to pollination, there are such varieties of vegetables as self-pollinators or parthenocarpic, as well as those that are pollinated by bees. Other types of cucumbers are distinguished according to the ripening time - here there are early varieties, popularly also called sprinters, which not only ripen quickly, but also give an instant harvest, age and lose this ability, as well as late species in which the harvest time is more extended during time.

The earliest varieties of cucumbers - salad - are usually grown in a greenhouse or under a film. Their characteristics are neutral taste, thin skin and elongated shape. Among the best types of vegetables that are well suited for growing in a greenhouse and preparing nutritious salads in the future are such varieties as Goosebump F1, Boy-with-finger, Benefis F1, Alekseich F1, Emelya F1. For example, Goosebump F1 is an early ripening type of vegetable crop, the harvest of which can be harvested after 42 - 45 days, is self-fertile. Its bush is of medium size, large tuberous fruits with small thorns, which can reach a length of up to 12 cm. It has good taste characteristics, is completely devoid of bitterness. Suitable not only for growing in a greenhouse, but also for open ground.

Among the salad cucumbers, the varieties of which experts advise to prefer for growing in open ground, such species as April F1, Erofey, Masha F1, Ant F1, Competitor, Rodnichok F1 and others have proven themselves well. Vegetables of the April F1 variety are an early ripe hybrid, which fructifies in 45 - 55 days. Due to the compact size of this plant, it is possible to grow it not only in your own garden, but also in balcony boxes. It has characteristic cylindrical fruits, which, with a weight of up to 250 grams, grow in length up to 25 cm. This variety is distinguished by an increased degree of cold resistance, undemanding conditions of care and increased productivity, if the plants are well cared for.

It is not so difficult to distinguish a pickled cucumber from a salad cucumber - its fruits are distinguished by a shorter length, up to 8 cm, and strongly tuberous black thorns are clearly visible on the surface... There are varieties with white thorns that experts do not recommend using for pickling. Since fruits with black thorns and a thin, porous skin are better suited for her. Such vegetables have special transverse bunches inside, which give the cucumbers the desired crunchiness and density.

Classic types of pickled cucumbers include Nezhinsky, Beregovoy, Muromsky, Debut, Parker and others. Variety Nezhinsky comes from Ukraine. The scourge of such a culture is capable of growing up to several meters. It is considered late ripening, since the first harvest can actually be harvested in 50 or more days. Its cucumbers have an elongated ovoid shape, weigh up to 100 grams, and have a good taste. On the basis of the variety, several varieties have been created today - Era, Etap, Nosovsky. Caring for this crop involves constant watering, since this variety has a need for moisture in large quantities.

Among the varieties with an early ripening period, it is worth mentioning Altaysky early 166, Zozulya, Vyaznikovsky 37, Kaskad, Graceful, Muromsky 36, Universal, Competitor and others. Variety Altayskiy early 166 bears fruit after 37 days, has a good yield, subject to proper care. Its fruits are ovoid, they are small tuberous and light green, grow up to 9 cm in length and weigh up to 80 grams. The variety has a strong immunity to fungal infections and normally tolerates cold weather.

Among vegetables with a late ripening period, one can name Rodnichok, Nezhinsky local, Nerosimy 40, Farmer, Aquarius, Drop. The Rodnichok variety appeared not so long ago - in 1987, but it has already managed to fall in love with our summer residents. On the bushes of this type of vegetable crop, fruits appear with a smooth surface, having a cylindrical shape, weighing up to 100 grams and about 11 cm long. The yield of this type of cucumber is very high, subject to normal care. Their owner will be able to feast on vegetables that have excellent taste and do not have bitterness.

Video "Planting cucumbers"

Soil preparation

Before planting cucumbers, you should conduct a competent preliminary preparation of the land. You need to start processing the soil in the fall, long before sowing the seeds. To do this, it is best to use about 4 buckets of manure, 4 glasses of wood flour, up to 100 grams of nitrophoska per square meter.

When spring comes, the soil will need to be dug up, while the depth should be about 25 cm. Then the beds are covered with a layer of fertile soil up to 15 cm and bumpers are formed for irrigation.

Even if for some reason you could not carry out the autumn planting of top dressing in the ground, a week before sowing the seeds, dig a groove, fill in manure, and place up to 16 cm of fertile soil on it. After that, you need to cover the bed with foil.

Sowing seeds in prepared soil is best done in mid-May. If you do not have the above drugs on hand, you can use the materials at hand. To do this, take rotten leaves, fresh grass, straw, sawdust, pieces of paper. All this will need to be tamped, laid in a groove, and a layer of fertile soil should be placed on top. In the 20th of May, dig the earth, before that, regularly weed and level it with a rake. Before sowing, place the beds at a distance of about 80 cm - 1 meter from each other, water the soil at the rate of 5 liters of water per square meter. The planting depth of seeds should be no more than 2.5 cm.

Fertilizing the soil

Before planting cucumbers on the site, the soil should be fed. Cucumbers respond well to the introduction of organic fertilizers into the soil, which have the ability to improve the quality of the soil structure. Before planting, it is recommended to spray the beds with a solution of copper sulfate at the rate of 1 tablespoon of the product per 10 liters of water. From organic fertilizing, experts advise using fresh manure, which must be applied to the soil in the fall. It becomes humus in the soil, and is also able to bind the structure of sandy soil and loosen heavy clay.

If you are dealing with loamy or heavy loamy soil, then it is best to apply manure 30-50 days before sowing the seeds, since such soil takes a long time to warm up.The manure contains potassium, calcium, phosphorus, nitrogen, and its application rates vary in the range of about 6 - 9 kg per square meter. It is also recommended to add compost to the soil in the spring. Subject to high-quality and competent feeding of the earth with organic matter, the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers also increases significantly.

From mineral dressings, ash is used today, which can become an alternative to potash compounds. It is introduced into the soil at the rate of about 200 grams per square meter of area. During the spring digging, ammonium nitrate is also embedded in the ground at the rate of 15 grams per meter, superphosphate - about 40 grams per meter, potassium salt - up to about 25 grams per square meter. Such pre-plant soil care will definitely give good results.

Preparing the seeds

A gardener who does not have the proper experience, after purchasing seeds, can simply sow them immediately. But you need to know that the seeds require careful preliminary preparation, which will allow you to get not only equal inputs, but also an excellent harvest of your favorite vegetables. It is necessary to select not only large in size, but also full-weight seeds, and then place them in a saline solution for 20 minutes. It is not difficult to prepare it at home - for this you should take about 50 grams of simple salt and dissolve it in a liter of water.

When carrying out such a simple procedure, frail and unsuitable for planting seeds float to the surface. After such a selection, you need to soak the seeds in a special fertilizer solution with knocks. Nitrophoska has proven itself well in this regard, with which it is customary to take a teaspoon per liter of water, and add a tablespoon of wood ash there. Also, experts and experienced gardeners advise to warm up the seeds before planting. You can just keep them near the battery for a month. And some, in order to get an early harvest of cucumbers, also carry out the process of hardening the seeds.

How to land

There are several types of planting cucumbers and many more ways to plant them in the garden. Species is the planting of these vegetables using seeds or seedlings. For example, in central Russia, cucumbers are planted in late May - early July. It was at this time that the soil was already sufficiently warmed up and ready. Before planting seeds or seedlings, a hole is dug, the depth and width of which should be about 30 cm, humus or manure up to 15 cm is placed on the bottom, then a mixture of soil with manure is added, forming a mound. Planting seeds is traditionally carried out in lines, the distance between which is up to 70 cm, the depth is about 2 cm, and the interval is up to 15 cm. No more than 2 - 3 seeds are sown in each hole, after the emergence of shoots they will need to be thinned out.

What methods of planting cucumbers are not used by modern gardeners! Among them is the cultivation of vegetables in barrels, which are filled by a third with plant waste along with the earth. Also an interesting way is to grow vegetables in bags or bags, in which the seeds are placed in specially made staggered cuts. Also, planting in a cucumber tent made of pipes, ropes and branches is considered an original and interesting method. You can grow vegetables on a trellis, on which grown cucumber bushes are fixed, as well as on willow twigs for those gardeners who do not like complex designs. Growing vegetables under black film will allow you to place vegetables in a warm garden bed, this mulch will reliably protect them from the cold.

Video "How to grow cucumbers correctly"

From the video you will learn what manipulations should be carried out with seedlings or cucumber seeds in order to get the best harvest.