Answers to the question: how to grow cucumbers can be a lot. And they all have the right to exist. Practically every trucker has his own practice: some plant cucumbers only in the open ground or only in the greenhouse, others and so on and so on. But the result can not always be predicted. The last 2-3 years, my experience of growing cucumbers was, rather, negative. There was a harvest, but there is nothing to brag about. Therefore, this article is more of a reasoning, why it happened, what I'm doing wrong, what mistakes I make, how to avoid them.
.- Sorts of cucumbers for open ground, the best reviews of gardeners
- Aphids in cucumbers, how to fight
- Top dressing of cucumbers in the open ground
I will be grateful to get acquainted with any other experience. After all, we all live in different regions, but even in one area there may be different soil in the kitchen gardens, we plant different kinds of cucumbers, and the weather is an important factor.
I grow cucumbers in the open ground, but I try to pick up the terms of sowing and varieties so that I can harvest from the bed as long as possible.
About 3-4 years ago I had no problems with cucumbers, it was possible not to strain especially, everything went as if by itself. The harvest from the dacha was carried by buckets. But the last 2-3 years cucumbers suddenly became for me almost the most problematic and capricious culture. I have enough food for food, I even do some preparations. But something is not right ...
.Those who live in the Kuban, will agree with me that the climate has changed. Spring lingers, and the hot summer does not go away for long. The warm time has moved almost for a month. In recent years, April was cold, and in September - the summer heat did not release almost a whole month. And the time interval between spring heat and the onset of summer heat has decreased. Because of this, we have to depart from the usual planting time, plant later, more carefully select the varieties of cucumbers. And in general, perhaps, it is necessary to introduce some changes in the technology of cultivation.
Never before have I pritenyala planting cucumbers fabric canopies, but now without this can not do. Habitual pruning with corn plantings in the past does not save cucumbers from the scorching sun. Some of the familiar gardeners pritenyary cucumber beds, someone planted cucumbers in the shade of trees. I pulled the canopy (as I now understand) too late, when the scorching sun had already dried the cucumber planting.
I think that warm winters also contribute to the deviation from the usual technology of cultivation. Pests and pathogens of disease calmly survive small frosts on soil, on weeds, grasses and plant residues, that is, their amount does not even decrease during the winter. And with the onset of heat, they begin to actively breed, with a huge appetite pounce on cultivated plants.
Late spring also contributes:
- cold - cucumber is bad, they stop growing;
- hot - they are also bad, ovaries fall off, and not fastened;
- rains go - even worse - diseases are actively developing.
In the past (2017), many truck farmers reportedly suffered heavy losses, and some even left without harvest of cucumbers. Yes, and farmers who grow cucumbers in a closed ground, also suffered. In some days, there were no cucumbers even on the market - "not in time the sellers said.
↑ to the contents ↑.Sorts of cucumbers for open ground, the best reviews of gardeners
I think, many will agree with me, it is necessary to plant several varieties or hybrids of cucumbers, selecting resistant to diseases and pests. But there is no absolute stability in any variety or hybrid.
In my beds in the conditions of the Kuban hot climate, the best results showed varietal cucumbers Phoenix-640, Phoenix-Plus and the Competitor. They were ahead of other varieties for yield, unpretentiousness, resistance to disease, and even became my favorites.
By the way, one of my little observations on the grade Competitor. I think that this variety is best suited for obtaining a second crop. Moreover, during the summer sowing in fruiting, it enters 28-30 days after germination, that is, much earlier than other varieties.
As a rule, varietal cucumbers (not hybrids) have a more rich taste and aroma of fruits. But hybrids are more productive. Here, each trucker has his own priorities.
.Of the hybrids I like German F1 and Masha F1 the most. They, in my opinion, are more resistant to diseases, especially to false powdery mildew (and in recent years, this disease is the scourge of my cucumbers).
Below are the reviews of gardeners from our group in Odnoklassniki about the best, in their opinion, varieties and hybrids of cucumbers.
But the review, after reading which, I decided that this is a joke. But, it turned out, no, it's serious ...
.Aphids in cucumbers, how to fight
In recent years, my shoots of cucumbers planted with seeds in the open ground, without even having to throw 2-3 of this leaf, become prey to aphids and spider mite. Is it possible to protect yourself from this?
Experience is accumulated slowly. I begin to remember what I did or did not do in the fall or early spring. What could have affected the massive appearance of these pests on my cucumbers?
The fallen leaves are collected in autumn, I fill up beds almost twice - late autumn with forks, in spring - with forks I loosen the top layer of the earth. But I do not feel that it helps to reduce the number of pests.
Moreover, the appearance of aphids is always massive. Yesterday, still shoots seemed to be clean, and today the slightly emerging young leaves begin to twist, deformed areas appear on the sheet.
.I do not know whether it's right or not, but last year I noticed that cucumbers planted with seedlings are more likely to experience such an attack as a aphid or spider mite. Their leaves have already slightly roughened and they do not appear so actively on grown plants. This year I'll try to check whether this is just a coincidence or an accident.
But the processing of cucumbers planted with seedlings is still needed. As a preventive measure for my plants from aphids, the celandine infusion helps well (pick a bucket fresh celandine, pour cold water, let stand for 24 hours, drain, pour the bucket to the top and sprinkle). This infusion will help cucumbers and if the aphid appeared on the coarsened leaves. They can be sprayed with plants, even if there are already ovaries or already hanging cucumbers on the lashes.
↑ back to content ↑Top dressing of cucumbers in the open ground
Cucumbers love to feed. It seems to me (and maybe it does not seem) that if you regularly feed cucumbers, they better resist diseases and pests. Of course, this does not mean that they will not have to be treated against pests and diseases. It is necessary! But the "well-fed" cucumbers as it were prolonged the period when we can harvest. I once had even such that my cucumber with dried leaves stand (it did not have time to process from peronosporosis), but between them the fruits are green and I collected them almost until September with such semi-dried lashes.
The root dressing of cucumbers I try to do at least once every 10-12 days. Experienced horticulturalists believe that the cucumber should not be used bird droppings, they say, you can burn the roots. But I use pigeon droppings (good, there is a lot of this "good" in the attic).
Sometimes I scatter a handful of dry dung on the surface of the bed. It is advisable to use no more than 50 grams per square meter. m. But I never weighed it. It's just that I usually scattered a handful in the autumn in a bed before digging.
And for root top dressing of cucumbers I use an aqueous solution. Proportions 2. I take the largest bucket (12 liters) I put in the mayonnaise bucket (1 liter) of the litter pigeon and fill it with water to the top. Yes, I forgot to say. In the infusion I add a half-liter can of ash wood. I stir and insist until the bubbles cease to stand out. Usually it takes ten days. In the bucket, the infusion at the end of ripening is divided into two parts - liquid and thick. After 10 days I drain the liquid part into another bucket. With this liquid I water my plants, but I do not pour it under the root, but into grooves along the bed. And after that I shed well grooves with clean water.
A dense part of pigeon infusion for fertilizing plants can not be used.
Feeding pigeon droppings I alternate with top dressing with self-made fertilizer from mown grass. I will not repeat it, since I'm about how to cook it and use it earlier in the article "Top dressing of tomatoes in the open ground and a greenhouse - practical experience"
I'll try to sum up.
In the prevailing conditions for the cultivation of cucumbers it is important:
- Selection of varieties resistant to drought, diseases and pests;
- Cucumbers grown from seedlings are better able to withstand pests and diseases than those grown by seeds (but this point still requires verification by time);
- Treatment from pests;
- Regular feeding;
- The presence of shading in a hot time - the curtain should be pulled with the onset of heat, and not when the sun has already dried the whip.
I read that I wrote and sighed. For me, the relatively new in this list are two items - the 2nd and 5th. Previously, I did not have to plant cucumbers seedlings, they rose well, grew. And pritenyat cucumbers, I was only a couple of years ago. And you, what do you say that you will advise? How to grow cucumbers and take care of them to harvest the harvest?
