What you need to know about planting cucumbers outdoors?

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 exercise for the faint of heart, but for those who are ready to put in every effort and patience to get a good result - their own cucumbers.

Growing conditions

Initially, you need to determine the place where the cucumbers will be grown. The site should be protected from the northern side, as well as from the side of the prevailing winds, and the sun should also illuminate the southern slopes. If necessary, you can create an artificial 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 the soil about 25-30 cm. If it is clay or heavy, then peat, humus, sawdust, chopped straw or straw manure must be added to its composition. To obtain a high yield level, it is necessary to create the necessary soil density, which should be approximately 1 cubic cm. You should pay attention to the fact that the roots cannot go into the soil if the soil is heavy.

In this case, they are located closer to the surface and, therefore, quite often die off due to fluctuations in air temperature or its lack, as well as due to fluctuations in moisture content. Therefore, the soil should be loose and during the check of its density the hand should penetrate the soil without any special obstacles. We must not forget that water should not create puddles on the soil surface, but, on the contrary, should seep freely.

As mentioned earlier, 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 fall on the ridge and therefore it should be with a small southern slope. Thanks to this, the soil temperature rises, and the yield will accordingly increase by 20-30%.

The 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 g of superphosphate and 15-20 g of potassium sulfate per 1 m2, must 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 that, you need to level the surface and water the dry soil.

Landing

There are two ways to grow cucumbers: seedling and seedling. It will be about the first method. Using this method, it must be remembered that the timing of sowing seeds begins at the end of May and ends on 5 June. Before sowing seeds, they need to be warmed up for two hours at a temperature of 60 ° C.

This must be done in order for the heated seeds to sprout well and also bear fruit earlier. After that, they need to 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 have swollen must be sown, mixing with dry ones. This action provides an early harvest, as if the early seedlings die, then they are replaced by late ones, 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 seeding should be 1-2 cm. In case of drying out of the soil, it is imperative to water the grooves and only then sow the seeds into moist soil. Then it is necessary to close the top with loose soil, humus with sawdust or peat.

It is very important to monitor the emergence of seedlings as closely as possible, as if there are nests of rooks or other birds nearby, then young, not yet rooted plants are in danger. To scare away birds, you can install a stuffed animal, rotating rattles, hang rustling paper or strips of film.

After the seedlings 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 the leaves become sluggish during the day and with a weak turgor. If the plants close, then the seedlings usually need to be thinned 2-3 times, given that each time only the weakest should be removed.

The planting scheme is as follows: the distance in the row between the plants must be left from 5 to 15 cm. Thinning of plants can be combined with such procedures as weeding and loosening. When the plants grow to half the distance between the rows, then loosening must be stopped so that there is no risk of damage to the roots. The growing plants should then be spread evenly over the soil surface.

Growing

Cucumbers usually begin to bloom 1-1.5 months after the seeds are sown, 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 they crumble 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. With mass flowering, bees usually actively visit flowers on the ridges, and then you can not talk about the problems of artificial pollination (when you have to self-pollinate) as 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, the irrigation scheme is as follows: the watering 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 filled with fertilizers, the plants, in principle, do not particularly need feeding.

But when the temperature starts to drop, the leaf of the plant turns pale. To return 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 ammophoska. This action should be performed 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 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 feeding when the plants begin to bloom and buds appear. If cucumbers are planted on sandy or sandy loam soils, then fertigation (drip irrigation system) will be the most effective way of feeding.

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 look for and what are the important points to consider.