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Winter is a time of sleep and rest for all plants, but gardeners have learned to deceive nature and today grow vegetables in the cold season on the windowsills. If you want to enjoy the whole winter green and crispy cucumbers, it is necessary to carry out the sowing works in several stages. To get the fruits of its own production to the New Year's table, the seeds must be sown in early October. Then in early January, the peak of fruiting will come. If you sow cucumbers in early December, then at the end of February you can already collect the first fruits. By March 8, zelenots ripened, planted in early January.
Interesting facts about growing cucumbers
- Cucumbers are heat-loving plants. They do not tolerate extreme heat and love moisture. For successful fruiting in a room, they need to create conditions close to the natural environment.
- The root system of plants lies close to the surface of the soil, therefore it is preferable to cover the cucumber bushes with mulch not only in the garden, but also on the balcony or windowsill.
- The more often to harvest from cucumber bushes, the better they will bear fruit.
- Daylight is a prerequisite for setting fruit. For a full vegetation, the plant needs 10 hours of light. In winter, it is necessary to include a fluorescent lamp over the plants, so that they do not stretch and do not grow fruits of an ugly shape.
Secrets and advice
Agrotechnics growing cucumbers on the windowsill in winter is an uncomplicated science and it can be mastered even by a beginner gardener. In order to prevent important mistakes that lead to loss of crops, it is necessary to follow the recommendations and advice that will tell you: how to grow cucumbers at home in winter and get a rich harvest.
- The soil for seeding and planting seedlings must be sterile. Today, among experienced farmers, a popular method of growing vegetables on hydroponics. It is especially relevant in the winter season, but it should be used carefully so as not to exceed the dosage of mineral fertilizers.
- Buying seeds, you need to consult with sellers and inform him that you need seed for winter growing.
- Before sowing it is desirable to disinfect and treat the seeds with a growth stimulant. If the manufacturer has taken care of this and they are covered with a special film, then there is no need for treatment.
- Seeds with a protective coating require a lot of moisture and germinate a week later than usual.
- Cucumbers should be planted in separate small containers of 2-3 seeds per pot. After germination, excess plants are removed and one bush left.
- You can save planting material and sprout a seed of cucumbers before planting. Select the largest seeds and soak them in a soft rag for 12 hours. Those that are suitable for planting will swell. They can be sown in pots.
- For the sowing of cucumbers a mixture of peat and sand will suit:.
- In wet soil, small grooves are made up to 2 cm or furrows and seeds are placed in them at a distance of 1 cm.
- If the crop is produced in a common large capacity, the distance between the plants should be about 3 cm. Due to this reception, transplants can be transplanted to a permanent place with a large clod of earth and do not damage the roots.
- After sowing, the holes and furrows are rammed with a palm or spatula, and the container is placed in a greenhouse or covered with a transparent film to preserve moisture in the soil.
- The ideal temperature for a friendly appearance of shoots is 22 degrees.
- The first shoots appear from a few days to two weeks, depending on the type of seeds and the temperature regime.
- At this time, it is necessary to carry out spraying, since many shoots can not independently get rid of the seed film. It is also desirable to lower the temperature to 20 degrees, increase the light day to 12 hours, so that the plants do not stretch.
- Complete irrigation is carried out after the appearance of the first real leaf. At this time, you can start applying fertilizing with trace elements and mineral fertilizers.
- The third real leaf is a signal that the bush should be transplanted into a constant container. To select it it is necessary so that on one plant passed not less than three liters of space.
- For planting seedlings it is desirable to use a mixture of turf and humus (:), wood ash, potash and phosphoric fertilizers. Well, if there is vermiculite. Then a liter of vermiculite is added to three liters of this mixture. Cucumber plants like to eat, so the land for them should be nutritious and friable. With the help of coconut fiber and peat on the basis of sphagnum moss, it is possible to increase the air permeability of the soil.
- Before asking the question, when to plant cucumbers on a windowsill, it is necessary to remember that on the street winter and plants need lower heating, distance from the window, plenty of sunlight.
- Stretch mesh will help solve the problem of keeping distance from the cold window and will serve as an excellent support for cucumber shoots. The main thing is to correctly place the shoots on the grid and adjust the load.
- Varieties with two types of flowering need to prischipke central shoot, to increase the number of female flowers on the bush.
- During flowering several times a day, shake the scrub or support grid to speed up the pollination process.
- It is very important to maintain a high percentage of moisture and prevent the drying of the soil. The temperature should not fall below 20 degrees.
- To watering you need to be very careful. In case of overflow, the plant can get a black leg. It is better to water every day in small doses.
- During the flowering period, cucumbers need additional fertilizing. In this period, tincture from wood ash is best: 1 cup of ash from linden, maple (only not oak) per 10 liters of water. Fertilizing with microelements for cucumbers also contributes to better tying fruit. You can apply fertilizers more than once every two weeks.
- Daily collection of fruits will prolong the life of cucumber bush and increase its yield several times.
The correct approach to growing cucumbers in the winter will help experienced and novice farmers to get a rich harvest of juicy and crunchy fruits. And so that all diligence does not go wrong, it is also necessary to choose the right variety suitable for growing in winter indoors.
The best varieties of cucumbers for growing on the windowsill in winter
To get a good harvest, you need to pick the right sorts of cucumbers for growing on the windowsill in winter.
It is best to plant self-pollinating hybrids, which independently bind fruit.
Among the great abundance should be identified such hybrids as "Marinda F1 "Masha F1 "Legend F1 "Moscow Greenhouse F1 "Romance F1". These plants are characterized by high yield, are undemanding to containment conditions and resistant to diseases.
When choosing a variety, it is necessary to focus on the type of flowering, the growth capacity of the vine and the time of entry into fruiting. At room cultivation early ripening hybrids of cucumbers with a female type of flowering have proved well.
Among varieties with two types of flowering, for a balcony and a window sill the cucumbers of the grade "Boy with a finger" are best. Whatever variety is preferred, it should be understood that without care and care, the cucumber liana will not bring the desired result.
