The content of the article:
Cucumbers love heat, so for their cultivation is best to warm beds for cucumbers. Before starting their device, it is best to draw a plan for the garden and on it to determine where the cucumbers will be located. On a flat stretch of beds should be oriented from south to north. If there is a deviation, horizontal terraces must be built and beds in boxes should be arranged.
Varieties of warm beds
Warm cucumber beds can be of three types:
- with a deep bookmark;
- on the surface of the soil;
- above the surface of the earth.
In order to make a bed with a bookmark, you need to dig a trench deep into two shovels, lay it with branches across and cover with sawdust. On top of the branches and sawdust lay a layer of straw, garden waste, autumn leaves, unredged compost or newspapers (cardboard) with a thickness of 5 to 7 cm. All this is poured warm water, then poured a mixture of garden land and compost.
Such a garden for cucumbers can last up to 5 years. In the second year, the top layer does not need to be supplemented with compost - it is produced by the garden itself.
Advantages of a cucumber bed with a bookmark:
- convenient to water;
- water does not stagnate;
- In the spring, no digging is required (only loosening);
- Cucumbers can be planted much earlier than on a simple bed.
How to make warm beds for cucumbers on the surface of the ground?
Even easier than with a bookmark. It is necessary to dig up a bed, while removing weeds, lay a mixture of manure, compost and garden land, pour warm water and cover with a film (preferably black). The film can be fixed with stones or bricks. This design is suitable for planting cucumber seedlings.
What is the best way to make warm beds for cucumbers above the soil surface (vegetable containers)?
These structures are more complex, as they require the construction of a box of boards, slate and brick. Sand falls to the bottom of this container, then wood waste that is covered with a layer of organic waste (leaves, fruit and vegetable skins, eggshells). The next layer is straw. Each of the layers must be thoroughly tamped and watered with liquid manure. All this is covered with a mixture of garden land and compost.
Pros and cons of warm cucumber beds above the soil surface:
- you can make several beds of the same size;
- this design is convenient for irrigation and weeding;
- takes up little space;
- there is no mess or dirt;
- yield almost doubles.
Cucumbers need to be planted along the edges of the box in two rows, which allows to increase the illumination of plants.
If you plant cucumbers on warm beds in the early spring, you can cover them with a greenhouse made of plastic arcs and polyethylene. This increases the effect of warm cucumber beds and allows you to get an early crop of this culture, not dependent on the weather.
What is the best way to make warm beds for cucumbers in a very small area?
If there is very little land, it is possible to make vertical beds. The simplest version is an old tire. First you need to dig a pit of the appropriate size, lay branches, straw, organic waste, install a tire and fill with a mixture of soil and humus. To save space allows a lattice, not allowing cucumbers to expand in breadth.
The tire can easily replace a circle of any other material - the technology of growing does not change from this.
Another option is a metal or plastic barrel with a volume of 150-200 liters. In autumn or early spring, it is half filled with tree branches, sawdust, mown grass.
Before planting, pour a mixture of garden soil with overgrown manure or compost, pour hot water and cover with a black film (to keep the soil warm). In order for the cucumbers to grow up, the barrels are placed in the ground around the sides with half-height of about one meter. In the middle of the container it is necessary to insert a wooden peg, to which the stems will be tied. Seedlings of cucumbers are planted in holes cut in film.
If there are no barrels, it can be made from several tires, placing them one on top of the other.
Pros and cons of warm cucumber beds in the barrel:
- saves space;
- organic decomposition warms the root system, which allows you to get a crop earlier;
- due to the location above the soil, plants are not afraid of frost;
- beds do not need to be digged;
- no additional fertilizing is required;
- easy to care for and collect cucumbers;
- Cucumbers are clean.
The disadvantages include the need to purchase barrels (look for tires) and have a large volume of organic waste.
The same principle of a vertical warm cucumber bed is used when growing this culture in bags or bags of polyethylene (volume approximately 100-120 liters). In addition to the bag (package), you need a stick made of wood (approximately 2 m in length), three tubes with a cross section of 30 mm, a cord (30 m), 20 pegs.
At one end of the stick it is necessary to hammer a few nails - a cord will be attached to them. On the tubes it is necessary to drill the entire length of the hole. Then you can fill the bag (bag) just like a barrel. In the middle, a wooden stick is driven in, around it are pipes that create a watering system. Seeds (seedlings) are planted only at the top (just like in a barrel). To plant more vegetables, do the same holes on the sides. The advantages of this method are the same as when using a barrel.
More complex vertical beds can be seen in the image below:
They require certain skills for their device, but they also save space. You can get the harvest early, if each box is lined with thick polyethylene film and make a warm patch in miniature.
Hanging beds also can be attributed to the category of vertical, as they also consist of boxes, but places practically do not require - they are mounted on the wall. In contrast to a large warm patch for cucumbers in boxes, the soil must be changed every year.
How to make warm beds for cucumbers in a greenhouse
The principle is practically the same as in the arrangement of beds with a deep bookmark: digging a trench depth of 40-50 cm, laying on the bottom of wood waste, straw, grass. Each layer is poured with a mixture of sand and peat and watered with warm water. The uppermost layer is soil with manure or humus. This bed is covered with polyethylene or lutrapsil. Cucumbers can be planted in a few days. The lower layer of a warm garden for cucumbers serves several years, each spring only a mixture of soil with humus or manure.
Some gardeners do not use the remains of wood, and the entire bottom layer is made from straw, grass and leaves. To accelerate the process of decay, you can use drugs that promote decomposition.
In the greenhouse, you can also do beds on the surface of the soil (do not dig trenches), but you need a frame of boards. In this case, the entire contents of the framework change every year.
To enhance the effect of warm beds, in large greenhouses arrange a heating system that allows you to plant cucumbers in late winter. The heating system consists of polypropylene pipes buried between the lower and upper layers. Through them hot water is let through, not allowing the soil to freeze. In equipping warm beds in greenhouses, recently also used novelties, working on electricity.
