How to pinch cucumbers correctly?

Perhaps one of the most revered vegetables in the garden, which always has a place, is the cucumber. Every gardener wants to get a large harvest. To achieve this result, you need to resort to certain agricultural techniques. One of these techniques is to pinch cucumbers. In this article, we will look at this process and how to pinch cucumbers correctly.

What is pinching for?

Some may say that they never pinched cucumbers at all, but the harvest was harvested at a normal volume. So maybe there really is no need to make unnecessary movements if the yield does not particularly increase from this? But not everything is so simple. In this case, everything depends on the physiological characteristics of the plant. The cucumber usually forms male shoots on the main trunk (barren flowers), and female shoots are needed for a good harvest. Such shoots are formed only on the lateral shoots of the plant. That is why you should pinch the cucumbers.

Remember that while pinching cucumbers, you need to save the leaves, as they contain useful substances, which are then given to vegetables.

Pinching cucumbers has several undeniable advantages:

• stimulates the formation of female flowers;
• removes bitterness from fruits;
• significantly increases productivity, both from the plantation in general, and from one bush in particular.

As you can see, pinching cucumbers allows you to increase productivity, and also improves the taste characteristics of cucumbers. Thanks to her, you can collect a large and high-quality crop even from one plant.

To date, breeders have bred varieties of cucumbers that already form female flowers on the main shoot. In this case, the pinching is carried out to stimulate the appearance of fruiting flowers. Barren flowers are laid on lateral processes.

At the same time, it should be noted that this method of stimulating yields for cucumbers is not the only one. There are many other agronomic techniques to achieve similar results.

Instructions for pinching insect pollinated varieties

All varieties of cucumbers are divided into two main types:

• parthenocarpic or self-pollinated;
• insect pollinated.

As the name suggests, insect pollinated plants require insects to form fruit. Mainly male flowers are formed on them, so such cucumbers require mandatory pinching. There are several instructions on how to pinch insect-pollinated cucumbers. We give one of the most frequently used ones below.

Instructions for pinching insect pollinated plants:

• it is not necessary to plant cucumbers thickly so that the plant can fully develop, otherwise the harvest will be much worse;
• it is necessary to plant seedlings on fertile soils in order to naturally provide a fairly high yield level. In the case of not very fertile soil, it is necessary to carry out periodic feeding;
• at the beginning of the procedure, trellises should be installed, to which in the future it will be possible to tie the grown loops. Tying with cotyledon leaves is not recommended. The attached leaves should be secured loosely enough for the plant to grow freely further;
• a garter can be carried out two weeks after the seedlings have been planted. Twine or wire works very well for this purpose.The garter is made to divide the plant into the main stem and lateral processes;
• after the plant has hardened enough, you can proceed to the very stages of pinching the cucumbers. The first of these is the formation of lashes. It consists in cutting off the top of the main shoot of the plant above the place of growth of the sixth leaf. This should be done in order to stimulate stepson formation (growth of lateral shoots). In the future, these shoots also need to be tied up;
• remember that it is imperative to leave three shoots, and the rest must be removed. This pinching method is great for hybrid varieties. In another situation, only one sprout should be left. He will play the role of the main shoot for the plant;
• all other manipulations boil down to the fact that you need to care for one or three shoots. For this, four points of growth should be left on each shoot. From these points you will harvest crops in the future;
• when forming these shoots, you need to leave the leaves. They will provide nourishment for the cucumbers;
• all weak and twisted leaves, as well as those affected by pests or diseases, should be removed from the shoots.

Scheme of pinching a cucumber bush

In principle, pinching is not difficult. Another prerequisite for a good harvest is timely and high-quality care of the plant as a whole throughout the growing season.

Open ground varieties

Depending on where the plant grows - in open or closed ground, the pinching process is carried out in different ways. At the same time, the appropriateness of carrying out such manipulations when growing cucumbers in the open field directly depends on how densely the seedlings are planted. In the case of short stems, pinching is not carried out, since such shoots do not have a special effect on the yield. But in the case of long ones, you need to do the following:

• first, the apex is removed. This is done only if the main shoot reaches a growth of 1-1.2 meters, and the lateral ones - 50 cm. In this case, second-order shoots should be formed on the lateral processes. Their length should not exceed 20 cm;
• in the absence of a garter, the algorithm of action is much simpler. In this case, on the main sprout, the growth point is destroyed after the fourth leaf, and on the lateral ones - after the second;
• in the case of hybrid varieties, only lateral shoots are pinched; all formed axillary shoots that are located on the lashes are necessarily "blinded". It is recommended in the process of "blinding" to remove not only barren flowers, but also the first ovaries. The next ovaries will appear within the next two weeks.

Parthenocarpic varieties

Parthenocarpic (self-pollinated) cucumber varieties do not need pollinating insects. On such plants, mainly female flowers are formed. They are characterized by the presence of a small ovary and, at the base of the flower, a small cucumber. Such a plant is characterized by a high rate of shoot formation. Therefore, pinching, as a way to increase yields, is not entirely effective in this case. The fundamental factors in the cultivation of such plants are the density of their planting, as well as the degree of illumination, and just this can be achieved by applying the agrotechnical method of pinching.

In such cucumbers, female flowers form on the main stem. The pinching should not be carried out over the 5th or 6th sheets. Blinding is carried out in the axils of the first four true leaves. Both leaves and flowers are removed. The fifth or sixth lateral stem is shortened to 20 cm, and the top is pinched. Above, only sprouts up to 40 cm long are left, and even higher - up to 50 cm. The main shoot is fixed on a trellis when it grows 60 cm from the soil surface and only then is pinched. In the axils of the next five leaves, lateral stems are left. Then they are pinched over the sheet.When the main shoot grows to 1.7 meters, then pinch the branches above the third and fourth leaves. In this case, the second-order scraps on the lower tier are cut out, and then pinched over the third sheet. Then the tops of the cucumbers above the fourth sheet above the trellis are slightly pinched and bent to one side.

If you carry out all of the above manipulations correctly, you will get an excellent harvest of cucumbers.

Video "Pinching cucumbers"

In this video, you can see how to pinch cucumbers correctly.