It would seem that everyone knows how to grow cucumbers. And, nevertheless, not everyone can boast of a good cucumber harvest and the efforts expended are not always justified. We want to tell you (or remind those who know) some immutable rules, following which, crispy cucumbers will always be on your table.
Rule 1
In no case do not water the cucumbers with cold water (especially directly from the well). Water must be settled and heated. It’s easy – they pumped water into a tank or bucket in the morning, it stood in the sun, heated up to 25-30 degrees, and you can water it. Otherwise, the cucumbers will simply get sick.
Rule 2
Do not water cucumbers at night. By night, the air temperature drops, and, coupled with high humidity, cucumbers are affected by spider mites and downy mildew. After your plant throws out its fourth leaf, it is best to water in the morning so that the earth is ventilated during the day. And watering strictly under the spine, without falling on the leaves! This is prevention from diseases, and you will save the leaves from sunburn.
Rule 3
Be sure to shape the plant! Cucumber cannot boast of a large number of side shoots, and it is in our power to increase their number. But more shoots – more fruits, higher yields from the bush.
Spend the pinching of the whip in the phase of the fourth bush. It only sounds menacing, but in fact there is no difficulty in it. A small head is formed at the top of the whip. Rip it off! As a result, the whip will not grow forward, and the cucumber will release many side shoots. At the ends of these shoots, there may also be heads. Tear off! This will increase the number of side shoots.
Rule 4
Feeding is required!
We start top dressing with organic fertilizer. We breed manure with water in a ratio of 1 to 10, or bird droppings 1 to 20, and in the phase of 3-4 leaves, carefully water our cucumbers under the root.
Cucumbers have bloomed – it’s time to fertilize with mineral fertilizer. We take 60 grams of ammophoska and dilute it with a bucket of water. And again – we pour under the root.
It is better, of course, to use a special fertilizer for cucumbers for the second feeding, because. there are microelements already clearly balanced in composition. The same fertilizer (weak solution) should be used for foliar feeding.
Rule 5
It is also necessary to loosen the soil. Especially after watering or rain. Loosening prevents the formation of a soil crust, which strongly draws moisture from the soil. In addition, loosening the soil, we saturate it with oxygen. However, we do not loosen deeply – no more than 5 cm. The fact is that the root system of cucumbers is superficial, not located deep, and the roots themselves are weak and fragile. Here, in order not to inadvertently damage them, we carry out shallow loosening.
