Non-traditional ways of growing cucumbers - in bottles, sacks, barrels

A variety of reasons make truck farmers resort to alternative ways of growing cucumbers - saving and / or the most effective use of available space, the desire to increase yields and, of course, the desire to facilitate work.

The most popular non-traditional ways of growing cucumbers, are built on the principle of a vertical bed:

• in bags;
• in barrels;
• in 5-liter plastic bottles.

Cultivation of cucumbers in bags

To implement this method, you need:

• strong seedlings - a healthy plant with a dark green color and not less than 3 real leaves;
• bag or a dense plastic bag (sugar or for garbage), volume from 100 l;
• strong stick, pole - length 2 meters;
• nails - 4 pcs., length not less than 100 mm;
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• cord or thick fishing line - 30 m;
• hollow tubes (metal, asbestos, plastic) - 3 pieces, diameter 5-10 cm, length about 1 m;
• pegs - 10 pieces;
• soil - self-prepared organic mixture or ready, purchased soil for cucumbers.

Advice! If desired, you can independently prepare an organic mixture for growing cucumbers in bags, for this you need to take in equal proportions: reparted manure, compost and garden land. Stir all ingredients and add a glass of wood ash to the mixture.

Technology

1. To the top of the prepared stick to hammer in nails. The depth of immersion of each nail into the wood is 3 cm.
2. Through the entire length of the tubes, in a staggered manner, drill holes, each about 1 cm in diameter. Pipes with holes in the cultivation of cucumbers in bags are used for uniform watering of plants.
3. Install the bag or bag in a strictly vertical position on the selected solar patch.
4. In the middle (bottom) of the bag to score a stick, it must break through the package and go deeper than 40 cm into the garden soil. Around the stick, in the inner space of the bag, at a distance of 12 cm, to install hollow tubes, they should rise above the package (organic mixture) by 20 cm.
5. Fill up the package with soil.
6. On the sides of the bag, cut 8-10 triangular holes. Each side of the triangular hole should be 4 cm. You can do it easier and cut holes crosswise.

Important! Holes should not be grouped in one place, it is necessary to arrange them evenly, while the lowest ones are cut at a height of at least 30 cm from the bottom of the package (from the garden soil).

1. In the mouth of the package and prepared triangular holes, located on the sides, carefully planted seedlings - on the bag no more than 13 plants, optimally 9 (3 in the upper part of the package, the remaining seedlings in the lateral holes).
2. To prevent evaporation of moisture and as a protection against weeds, the top layer of the soil substrate must be covered with mulch.
3. Around the bag, hammer pegs into the ground and connect them with a fishing line or twine with nails located on top of the central stick. The distance between the package and pegs is 20 cm. Subsequently, the twine will serve as a support for plants.

Advice! In order for the cucumbers in the bags to be fully recharged, it is easiest to add fertilizers to the water for irrigation, which gets into the ground through the holes in the tubes will be evenly distributed throughout the volume.

Cultivation of cucumbers in barrels

This method is simpler than the previous, due to the fact that there is no need to strengthen the capacity, the device irrigation system, as well as its use, it is quite possible to do without the formation of a support for plants.

To grow cucumbers in a barrel it is necessary to prepare:

• barrel - wooden, metal, plastic. Any suitable, the main thing is that the volume was not less than 80 liters, and in the lower part, ideally at the bottom, there were holes for drainage;
• organic substrate or cucumber suitable for cucumber;
• seedling;
• if desired, but not necessarily, it is possible to prepare metal arcs for mounting them on the barrel as supports.

Preparatory stage and agricultural technology

Important! The preparatory stage should be started 2 weeks before the landing of the finished seedlings. During this time, the earth will settle and become compact.

1. Fill the barrel with organic substrate to the brim. If the substrate is prepared independently, it should be remembered that in its composition, in no case should food waste enter. Well if it will consist of equal parts of compost, humus and ordinary earth.

Advice! In spite of the fact that some gardeners recommend to lay various garbage at the bottom of the barrel: cut branches of fruit trees, grass, boards and even food waste, do this all the same it should not be - over the summer all this will not turn into a fertile substrate, but the probability of damage to plants by pathogens, parasites and pests.

1. Pour the soil, after which it should become slightly damp. This is an important point, you need to ensure that the substrate is not too wet - excess water during watering can lead to decay of roots (seedlings) or block the flow of oxygen to the seeds.
2. Sprouted seedlings or seeds should be planted in a circle, 7-8 pieces per barrel, their number directly depends on the diameter of the container - there should be a free space of 15 cm between plants.
3. When growing cucumbers in a barrel, just planted seedlings do not cover. If seeds are placed in the soil, it is necessary to cover the barrel neck with a non-woven material or a dark film.
4. Care:
   • in the absence of rain - evening watering every 4-6 days, 200 liters a barrel enough ¼ water bucket;
   • weeding is rare, on average 2-3 times per month;
   • fertilizing with fertilizers - as well as with traditional growing in beds, only taking into account the small volume of soil and the number of plants.

Advice! As the substrate subsides, during the entire growth and vegetation period of plants, it is possible and necessary to add vegetable garden soil.

Cucumber cultivation in 5 liter plastic bottles

Typically, the cultivation of cucumbers in 5-liter plastic bottles, is practiced when cultivating plants in greenhouses. In this case, truck farmers receive a lot of benefits, the most important of which is that the need for an annual replacement of greenhouse soil disappears.

Agrotechnics and technology of growing in bottles

1. A plastic bottle gently cuts the bottom and the upper cone over the hangers.
2. The bottle is buried in the greenhouse soil to a depth of 5 cm.
3. Capacity of 3/4 is filled with soil (humus, peat, ash and ordinary land).
4. Watering:
   • the first watering should be as abundant as possible;
   • subsequent (after planting seedlings or sowing seeds) - every 5 days on, l per bottle, in a particularly arid and hot summer watering can be done every 3 days, but always in the evening.

1. Planted seedlings, or seeded from the calculation of 2 plants per container.
2. For the first 2 weeks, the upper part of the tank can be used as a protection against nighttime colds or to create an additional greenhouse effect. After the plants are noticeably grown up and no longer fit in the container, the upper cone from the bottle can be safely thrown away, it will not be needed anymore.

By the way, if there was a question "How to grow early cucumbers? Try one of the methods suggested above, and you get a consistently good result - high yields in the shortest time, or read about growing cucumbers in greenhouse. This is due to the optimal and much better warming of the soil in the tanks than in the usual bed.

An unusual way to grow cucumbers in a greenhouse - video