Cucumber seedling cultivation and care. Feeding and watering cucumber seedlings

Lucky people from the southern regions sow seeds directly on the beds. The rest have to buy or independently grow cucumber seedlings at home. This is much more profitable and not as laborious as it may seem to beginners. There is various technologies and the secrets of getting strong seedlings with your own hands. Read them carefully and follow the instructions.

Cucumbers are heat-loving creatures. Seed germination begins at +12 degrees. To speed up the process, it is important to maintain a temperature of 24 to 28 degrees. When it drops to +10, growth stops, and when frosts - from -0.5 degrees - they die.

With support, the cucumber grows vertically

Important rules for self-growing

At the beginning of development, seedlings need nitrogen, and when the plants bloom, fruits are tied, phosphorus is needed. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the balance of NPK (nitrogen: phosphorus: potassium). These are three pillars on which the future harvest rests. Taking the correct dosage nutrients, you need to try not to oversaturate the soil solution, as cucumbers do not like this. Soil pH should be slightly acidic or neutral - about 6.5-7.0.

For a successful outcome of the case, you will have to adhere to some rules:

• correct selection substrate;
• optimum temperature;
• maximum illumination;
• timing of sowing seeds;
• optimal timing planting seedlings of cucumbers in the ground.

Preparing seeds for sowing

First you need to decide what kind of cucumbers you need - lettuce, pickling, early, late. There are many categories. You can buy seeds in the store or write by mail. Self-harvested from their overripe cucumbers, the so-called "yellows", are also successfully used. Seeds of hybrid forms are not suitable, because they are not viable. Such seed must be bought anew every year.

It is important to consider that the best in terms of germination are seeds two or three years old. They can be stored for up to 10 years, but starting from the fifth year, the germination rate continuously decreases. In five-year-old seeds, it is about 50%.

The age of the planting material is important

To obtain simultaneous shoots, you need to know how to prepare cucumber seeds for seedlings.

1. First they are kept in a solution of ordinary table salt. Make a three percent solution like this: take 100 ml of water, pour three grams of salt (one teaspoon), stir, pour out.
2. After some time, the pacifiers will float, the full ones will settle to the bottom. This is how seeds are tested for germination.
3. Carefully drain the water, pour a one percent solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) here. The solution is prepared in the same way as with saline, only 1 g of potassium permanganate is added to 100 ml of water. You will get a dark, almost black, solution.
4. So the seed is kept for half an hour, then washed with tap water. This process is necessary for the destruction of pathogens.

sprouts right size

For the future active growth, the seeds are treated with a solution of sodium humate or another growth stimulator for about 20 hours.

For germination, two layers of moist tissue are taken, treated seeds are placed between them, all this is placed on a plate, germinated until white sprouts 2-4 mm long peck.

If more sprouts grow, there is a risk of breaking them off when planting. Germination of cucumber seeds for seedlings takes about 3-4 days, it all depends on the variety. Care must be taken that the fabric does not dry out. But also do not allow a layer of water to avoid rotting of the sprouts.

Soil and containers - preparation rules and selection criteria

So the seedlings have sprouted. Now you need to figure out what kind of land is needed for seedlings of cucumbers. There are several recommendations. Here best example:

• peat;
• sand;
• sod-humus land;
• drainage (sawdust, perlite, vermiculite, expanded clay, small pebbles).

Good soil is the key to success

Drainage is added to get rid of excess moisture, so that the roots of young plants do not rot, mold.

In what capacity to plant cucumbers for seedlings? Due to the fact that pumpkin seedlings are painful to transplant, the seeds should be planted each separately if they have already hatched. When there are no seedlings, sow two in one container.

Most often, hatched seeds are placed in individual plastic or paper cups. You should choose a small container, separate for each plant. Special cassettes, peat-humus pots, peat "pills" are sold.

Soil treatment and fertilization

It is better to collect the land in the fall, freeze it in the winter in a barn or on a balcony.

1. Before laying in the tank, the soil is steamed to destroy pathogens.
2. Mix two parts of humus, two parts of black peat, one part of old, rotted sawdust. Instead of sawdust, you can take vermiculite or perlite. Use forest land. But we must try not to take where oaks grow. Such soil contains a lot of tannins.
3. One spoonful of nitrophoska, three spoons of ash are added to a bucket of soil mixture for seedlings of cucumbers. It is preliminarily sifted through a sieve. Ash is an indispensable potash fertilizer. The name nitrophoska speaks for itself - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium.
4. If there is no nitrophoska at hand, you can add one spoonful of double superphosphate, a teaspoon of urea, plus a teaspoon of potassium sulfate. Superphosphate dissolves for a long time, so it is better to crush its granules to a powder state.

Soil preparation

The main thing is not to overdo it with nitrogen fertilizers. In this case, the rapid growth of greenery will begin, and there will be few fruits.

You can use the soil from the garden as a substrate for seedlings. It should not be taken from where pumpkins grew - cucumbers, zucchini, squash, pumpkin. Since last season, pathogens of this family have remained there - fungal spores, bacteria. You can take land from a previous potato plantation, soil from under cabbage, carrots. Diseases in these species are different. Crop rotation is observed!

River sand (calcined, without clay), sawdust, fertilizers are also added to garden soil, as described above.

If it is not possible to prepare the substrate for growing seedlings on your own, you can always purchase ready-made nutrient soil mixtures for planting cucumbers and zucchini.

Sowing seeds according to all the rules

It is important to optimally calculate the timing of planting seedlings with your own hands. Seedlings should not be overgrown, but undergrown ones also do not bode well. When planted on beds or a greenhouse, they get sick, grow slowly and, as a result, give an unimportant harvest.

The timing of planting seedlings varies greatly due to the difference in climate. Seedlings are grown for approximately 21–25 days. And when cucumbers are planted for seedlings, the soil temperature should be 14-15 degrees. In the middle lane, such conditions occur in late May - early June.

If it will be necessary to plant seedlings on June 1, then seeds for seedlings should be sown on May 5-6. If transplanted under glass on May 15, then it should be sown on April 20.

Depth is important

Some gardeners and gardeners adhere to when sowing and planting lunar calendar. Science knows nothing about this. Agronomists recommend adhering to simply favorable temperatures, humidity, adherence to agricultural practices, timely top dressing, and watering.

When planting in cups, peat pots, the level of the substrate should not reach the edge of about 1 cm. This is important when watering so that the water is absorbed and does not overflow.

How deep to plant cucumber seeds? Planting depth has great importance. It is optimal to sow a germinated seed in a hole 2–2.5 cm deep, laying it horizontally, sprinkling it with soil, pressing it lightly.

If sown at a shallower depth, root system will bulge above the soil line, which is undesirable. The plant under its own weight can “fall over”, pulling the roots out of the substrate. After that, it remains only to throw it away.

Video: How to sow cucumbers

How to grow cucumber seedlings in a greenhouse

Growing cucumbers using the greenhouse method at home has its own secrets.

1. First, they make the so-called "hot" beds. A thick layer of fresh manure or humus is laid out on the ridge. Treated and fertilized soil is poured on top with a layer of 25-30 cm. Level, water well.
2. Seeds do not germinate with this planting. Subjected to salt treatment, soaked in potassium permanganate, then sown in holes four pieces per one square meter.
3. Two pieces are placed in each nest.
4. When shoots appear, the strongest specimens are selected, the rest are carefully cut with scissors. You can't pull out! There is a risk of tearing the tender roots of the remaining seedling.

Landing in a greenhouse

After all the seeds have been sown, a film is pulled over the bed, strengthening it with metal arcs. It is necessary to closely monitor the temperature outside, the intensity of the sun. Under the film in the greenhouse, the temperature may rise too high and the cucumbers will simply “burn out”.

Plants in "hot" beds

Growing in peat "tablets"

An interesting and convenient method of growing seedlings in peat tablets. They must be at least 42 mm in diameter, otherwise the plants will outgrow them, they will have to be transplanted, which is not permissible. When transplanting, thin root hairs are damaged, with which the cucumber absorbs water with dissolved nutrients.

From here begins inhibition of growth, weakening of the entire seedling, susceptibility to infectious diseases. Therefore, cucumber seeds are planted for seedlings in the “correct” tablets. They are made from fine-grained peat with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction.

Seedlings in peat tablets

Peat washers are placed in a pallet. So that they swell, pour warm water. After 20 minutes, excess water is drained. In each "tablet" they make a recess of 1.5-2 cm, put a seed there, sprinkle with peat. Next, cover the tray with the seeds sown with glass or film, put in a warm place at least 25-28 degrees.

From germinated seeds, shoots usually appear on the 3-4th day, the glass is removed. The container with seedlings is placed in the most illuminated place. It is necessary to carefully monitor that young plants do not overheat, do not overcool. At this age, they really do not like temperature changes.

Technology of growing in cassettes

Good results are obtained by growing seedlings of cucumbers in special cassettes.

1. Large cylindrical cells are disinfected with a dark solution of potassium permanganate, filled with a prepared (calcined and fertilized) substrate.
2. The soil is compacted tightly, a depression is made in the middle of 2–2.5 cm, seeds are sown.
3. Sprinkle with soil on top and water. You will have to moisten more often than when sowing in peat tablets, because the soil dries faster in cassettes.

Seedlings in cassettes

It may seem that cassettes are expensive. But, given that the device is used many times, then this question disappears by itself. If a gardener is a beginner, he can damage thin young roots when transplanting from cassettes. The plant will hurt, take root for a long time. Then it is better to use cups, peat-humus pots or peat "pills".

How to care for cucumber seedlings at home

Properly grown seedlings should have at least one pair of true leaves, pronounced, juicy green coloring, strong ribbed stem, powerful root system. To achieve the desired effect, you should follow some rules when caring for seedlings.

Seedlings in individual cups

Important Rules for Guaranteed Success

After the appearance of the first cotyledon leaves, the seedlings are removed to a cool corner. At the same time, direct sun exposure to young plants should not be allowed due to a possible burn.

It is important to know how to properly water cucumber seedlings on the windowsill. Do it with warm water only. If watered cold, spores of pathogenic fungi, for example, black leg, are activated. A black spot appears on the stem at the root. Soon top part dies. After that, the seedling is thrown away along with the pot.

Watered only upper layer soil when dry. This allows a strong root system to develop. Drafts should not be allowed to occur. Even when ventilating with an open window, you need to block the landing from the wind.

Watering young cucumbers

The importance and methods of highlighting

Is it necessary to highlight seedlings of cucumbers and how to do it correctly? There can be very different answers to this question. There are summer residents who grow seedlings only when illuminated, and there are those who successfully get a wonderful planting material without any additional light sources. And yet, in central Russia and in the north of the country, illumination is indispensable due to the small number of sunny days.

Additional lighting satisfied with the help of various lamps:

• fluorescent lamps with a special coating inside are designed to illuminate plants. They are ideal for this purpose. The only downside is the price. Almost twice as high as other analogues;
• conventional fluorescent lamps;
• compact fluorescent lamps, which differ from others in small sizes;
• LED lights.

Illumination of seedlings with phytolamps

How to grow seedlings of cucumbers so that they do not stretch out? First, after germination, the containers should be taken out to a cool place. Secondly, adjust the lighting. Boxes with seedlings must be kept on the southern or southwestern windows.

It is important to correctly calculate the amount of light per 1 m2. Cucumber seedlings require approximately 200 watts per square meter. If the window sill area is 1 sq. m, and there are two lamps of 100 W each, then two such lamps will be needed. Lighting it is recommended to hang over cucumbers at a height of 22-27 cm.

As the seedlings grow, the lamps are raised. The time that you need to highlight the seedlings of cucumbers is 8-12 hours a day. Cannot be used for lighting conventional lamps incandescent. They highlight a large number of heat, little useful light, can cause wilting and even burns.

How to fertilize without risk

To obtain strong, viable seedlings, it is necessary to carry out at least two top dressings during its cultivation. How to strengthen cucumber seedlings with complex fertilizers?

1. The first dressing is done in the phase of a well-developed first pair of leaves. For one liter of water take 1 g ammonium nitrate or urea, 3 g of superphosphate and 2 g of potassium sulfate.
2. The second time they are fed before planting, so that the plant can more easily endure stress during transplantation. The solution is prepared for 10 liters of water: 20-35 g of potassium sulfate, 40 g of superphosphate. Then with this solution you can feed the accepted cucumbers in open beds.

Ready for landing in the ground

How to pour soil into a container with seedlings

Is it necessary and when to add soil to cucumber seedlings? Yes need. At least twice. Preferably immediately after feeding. Watering with a solution of fertilizers, sprinkle dry soil on top. In this case, two results are achieved at once - mulching the root layer, adding a substrate for a more stable position of the seedling in a pot.

If you pour the earth regularly, then adventitious roots begin to form on the stem under the soil. Additional roots grow directly from the stem, which increases the ability to absorb nutrients, water. The plant becomes strong, strong, bears fruit better.

Seedlings are taken outside for hardening

Rules for hardening young specimens

Important point to obtain a guaranteed harvest - hardening of seedlings before planting. How to harden seedlings of cucumbers, everyone knows experienced gardener.

1. Cucumber seedlings should not be planted immediately after room conditions where the temperature is constant, there is no wind.
2. Boxes with seedlings begin to be taken out for a while to the street or balcony, placing them in the shade so that direct sunlight does not fall on tender leaves.
3. Each time they are taken out for more long time so that the plants gradually get used to the new conditions of existence.

Possible problems with cucumber seedlings and their solution

With care errors or insufficient attention to plants, they get sick, stretch out, and topple. They are drawn out in low light, low or, conversely, excessive watering. With crowding in a small area, the internodes are stretched, the leaves are shallow, the color becomes pale. What can be done in such a situation? Eliminate the cause of discomfort. Adjust the intensity of watering, increase the illumination.

Cucumber topping

If the plants are crowded, it is necessary to make sure that each seedling has 200 g of soil. It is better to grow seedlings in individual containers, then such troubles can be avoided. Helps to prevent or stop stretching of internodes, timely top dressing potash fertilizers or regular ash. Sometimes it's enough just to place the cups away from each other, especially if the leaves are already large.

Seedlings of cucumbers are topped, as a rule, after a sharp hypothermia, and then the onset of a warm period. At first, the plants look great, there are no signs of wilting. But after the onset of heat, when active growth should begin, they stop growing.

Leaves and stems remain elastic. The internodes become short, the leaves at the top of the stem are small. This cessation of growth is called topping. It's a response to the cold. In this case, the cucumber sharply produces growth inhibitors.

Ready for harvest

Weak seedling cucumbers - not a reason to get rid of it. In order to get the seedlings out of stress, you need to carry out one or two fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrogen is a growth stimulant for photosynthetic plants. You can also treat seedlings with anti-stress preparations with zircon or epin.

Using these tips, even a novice gardener will cope with growing seedlings of everyone's favorite cucumber and save a lot on buying it.

» Cucumbers

When to plant this crop in open ground? To answer this question, gardeners take into account the weather and the sowing calendar. In the first case, you can understand at what time you can safely plant in the soil, and with the help of the second, the most suitable date to carry out such an activity.

This is best done at a time when the soil warms up to fourteen to fifteen degrees Celsius. Here it must be taken into account that if the temperature is kept at minimum value, the vegetable will almost not begin to grow. Simply put, the beds should be warmed up even better. Otherwise, the plant will be subjected to growth only in the daytime, under the sun's rays. And on cool nights, the process will be suspended.

It is quite natural that the decision to land is perceived by many with great caution. More experienced gardeners prefer to trust their own experience. So when fifteen degrees of heat are established in the ground, you can safely proceed to planting, because in the spring the thermal regime will only increase, which will give favorable conditions for growth.

In the middle regions of our country, the soil composition in the greenhouse warms up by mid-May. At this time, you can land without much risk, and there is always the opportunity to arrange additional heating. For this purpose, manure is laid on the half-meter depth of the beds, rotting hay or sawdust. An easier option is to mulch the beds plastic wrap.

You can somewhat speed up the harvest without waiting for the May period.

For this, seedlings are pre-grown. For planting seeds for seedlings, the time is determined simply - a three-week period is counted from mid-May. This time will be enough to get perfectly formed sprouts. This method of determining planting is good if it is planned to use a greenhouse for further growth. Seedlings intended for open ground are recommended to be sown in early May.

What days is the correct landing possible?

The time for sowing can be divided into three periods:

• • early. For planting in open ground, you must wait until the fifth of June. But if the soil is warm enough and the climate in your area is warm, then sowing can be done between the fifteenth and twenty-fifth of May.
  • average. This sowing is carried out in June, until about the tenth. Suitable for any cucumber variety. The first harvests can be collected with the onset of August;
  • late. For this period, it is recommended to sow varieties intended for salting. The advantage of such sowing is that fresh cucumbers will delight you before the onset of frost.

Cucumbers planted at a lower temperature will either stop growing or die completely.

This year's lunar calendar next days for landing:

Preparing cucumber seeds for sowing

This procedure is mandatory for execution at home. In order for the seeds to swell, they should be placed in water at room temperature for ten to twelve hours, changing it several times. Many gardeners advise warming up the seed fund a couple of months before planting. Before sowing, the seeds are disinfected with a manganese solution and additionally treated with a growth-enhancing drug.

Rules for growing seedlings at home

Seedlings do not tolerate transplanting, for this reason picking must be excluded.

For creating ideal conditions the soil is best made from garden or sod land by adding humus or sawdust. Prepared seeds are planted a couple of pieces in each container to a depth of about one and a half centimeters. The pots are placed on a pallet, sprayed with water, covered with a film or a piece of glass, and placed in a warm place.

So that the sprouts do not stretch too much, temperature regime indoors for several days should be within twenty degrees of heat. Then it is allowed to increase it by three to four degrees. It is also necessary to completely exclude drafts, which are contraindicated for seedlings.

Seedlings are transferred to well-lit places, on cloudy days additional illumination is organized.

Watering is carried out every two days, for which rain or boiled water is used. Before transplanting seedlings into the ground, they begin to harden it by opening the window or taking the containers outside for several hours.

If necessary, seedlings can be fed using complex mineral compositions. But you have to make sure that the solution does not fall on the sprouts themselves.

The main reasons why cucumber seeds do not germinate

The most common include the following:

• low temperature conditions of the soil;
• the great depth to which the seeds were planted;
• the earth is heavy and quite dense;
• dryness of the soil;
• severe waterlogging;
• the use of numerous methods of preparing seeds for sowing;
• violation of the conditions of storage of seed.

What to do if the cucumbers did not rise

If you did everything right and avoided the main mistakes mentioned above, but the cucumber seeds still did not please you with their good germination within two weeks, it is best to reseed them. It should also be remembered that cucumbers respond well to soil fertilized with organic matter. Recommended for new training add a certain amount of humus to the natural soil.

Naturally, everything seems simple and clear. But anything can happen, and if you don’t get on a favorable day, don’t panic. You can save plants by covering them with special material or polyethylene. Remember that the sowing dates given here are not final - in each region they are adjusted by the peculiarities of climatic conditions. So own experience cultivation should not be discounted!

Growing seedlings of cucumbers have their own characteristics. Consider how to grow cucumber seedlings, which must be taken into account in order to get a quality crop. You will need to learn about the preparation of cucumber seeds for sowing, as well as in what conditions it is necessary to plant cucumber seedlings and how to plant them in a garden plot.

Despite the fact that cucumbers can be planted immediately, immediately sown in the ground, or they can be grown by seedlings. But this culture has its own characteristics.

First you need to decide which cucumbers you need - salad, pickling, early, late. There are many categories:

• You can buy seeds at the store or by mail order. In addition, they can gather themselves from their overripe cucumbers, the so-called "yellows".
• Seeds of hybrid forms are not suitable because they are not viable. Such seeds should be bought anew every year. It is important to consider that two- and three-year-old seeds are the best for germination.
• They can be stored for up to 10 years, but starting from the fifth year, the germination rate is constantly decreasing. In five-year-old seeds, this is about 50%. The age of the planting material is important.

To get simultaneous shoots, you need to know how to prepare cucumber seeds for seedlings:

1. First, they are contained in a solution of ordinary table salt. Make a 3% solution in the following way: take 100 ml of water, add three grams of salt (one teaspoon), stir and pour.
2. After some time, the seeds will float up, the full ones will sink to the bottom. Thus, the seeds are checked for germination.
3. Carefully pour out the water, add a one percent solution of potassium permanganate (manganese) here.
4. The solution is prepared similarly to a saline solution, only 1 g of potassium permanganate is placed in 100 ml of water. It turns out a dark, almost black solution.
5. Thus, the seeds are kept for half an hour, then rinse with tap water. This process is necessary to destroy pathogens.
6. For future active growth, the seeds are treated with sodium humate solution or other growth stimulator for about 20 hours.
7. For germination, take two layers of damp cloth, spread the treated seeds between them, place it all on a plate, germinate until white sprouts 2-4 mm long appear.
8. If the sprouts grow, there is a risk of them breaking off when planting. Growing cucumber seeds on seedlings takes about 3-4 days, it all depends on the variety. It must be ensured that the fabric does not dry out. But also do not let the water layer, to avoid the rotting of the sprouts.

If it is good to prepare the seeds for planting, then the cucumber seedlings will not get sick?

Yes, they won'tNo, they will

Used containers

In what capacity can cucumbers be grown in seedlings? Since cucumber seedlings suffer from painful transplanting, seeds should be planted separately if they have already hatched. When no sprouts are available, sow two in one container. Most often, the seeds that have been sown are placed in separate plastic or paper cups. Choose a small container, separate for each plant. Special cassettes, peat-humus pots, peat "pills" are on sale.

Soil preparation

Yes, the seedlings have sprouted. Now we need to find out what kind of land is needed for cucumber seedlings. There are several recommendations. Here is the best example:

1. seedlings of cucumbers in peat pots (peat);
2. sand;
3. sod-humus soil;
4. drainage (planting seedlings of cucumbers in sawdust, perlite, vermiculite, expanded clay, small pebbles). Drainage is added to get rid of excess moisture so that the roots of young plants do not become rotten or moldy.

Growing seedlings of cucumbers at home

When shoots appear, the cups should be placed on the windowsill.

• Before doing this, carefully seal the cracks in the frames so that there are no drafts.

• In the daytime, the temperature on the windowsill should be 20-22 degrees, and at night not less than 15 degrees.

To provide High Quality seedlings and the beginning of fruiting, you can use fluorescent lamps or energy-saving lamps. They should be placed above the plants at a height of 5 centimeters. Lamps should be gradually raised as the plants grow. The backlight can be installed from the moment the seedlings appear. Lamps should be turned on during the day, starting at 8 am. The lighting duration is 6-8 hours. At night, the lamps must be turned off.

Expert opinion

Filatov Ivan Yurievich, private farmer for over 30 years

Seedlings in cups should be watered sparingly. Without additional lighting - 1 time, with lighting - 2 times. Holes should be made at the bottom of the container so that water does not remain in them. Water for irrigation should be settled. The water temperature should be 23-25 ​​degrees.

When growing cucumbers at home, seedlings need to be grown from 20 to 25 days. At this time, seedlings need to be fed 2 times.

Feeding cucumber seedlings

The first feeding is carried out after the appearance of 2 true leaves (approximately 2 weeks after the emergence of sprouts). For her, you can dilute:

• mullein (1:8);

• chicken manure (1:10);

• or make a solution of preparations "Fertility", "Breadwinner" or "Ideal" (1 tablespoon per 10 liters).

Fertilizer consumption is 100-130 ml per sprout.

Next time you need to feed before planting in the ground. To do this, dilute a teaspoon of nitrofossi and Kemira-Lux in a bucket of water. After a few days (7-10), it is recommended to fertilize with a solution of urea or ammonium nitrate by spraying the plants.

Possible problems

When growing cucumber seedlings at home, certain problems may arise that must be addressed in time. To understand the cause of seedling oppression, you should familiarize yourself with the most common causes:

• Yellowing of the leaves of cucumber seedlings can be caused by low nitrogen if no fertilizer has been applied. Also, the reason for this phenomenon may be the lack of soil when sowing seeds in too small containers.
• But sometimes this is a consequence of the development of powdery mildew and fusarium. In this case, seedlings should be treated with Topaz.

Fusarium

• Sometimes cucumber seedlings begin to wither, which is a sign of the development of root rot. This is due to the cold content of plants with high humidity soil. It is difficult to eliminate the disease, it is better to spend new landing seeds. Thin, elongated plant stems indicate a lack of light. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the conditions for keeping seedlings.

Video

You can also watch a video where an experienced gardener will tell you how to grow cucumbers at home in order to get a good harvest.

Strong seedlings of cucumbers will delight not only with fruits earlier than usual, but also with the duration of fruiting. And to ensure that this crunchy vegetable is plentiful throughout the season, multiple plantings at 20-day intervals are recommended in accordance with all growing regulations.

1. First you need to prepare cucumber seeds for growing seedlings. How to do this is described in detail

2. Choose a soil for growing seedlings

For growing cucumbers, you can use a variety of earthen compositions. As soil for growing cucumber seedlings you can use a special nutrient mixture specifically designed for this purpose. Usually ready soil consists of sifted humus or compost, black lowland peat and semi-decomposed sawdust ( Brown), taken in the ratio 2:1:1. Such a mixture can be purchased in specialized stores.

However, the planting mixture for cucumber seedlings can be prepared independently by mixing an equal amount of soddy soil, peat, sawdust and humus. Cucumber seedlings develop well on a greenhouse mixture composed of 4 parts of soddy land, 4 parts of lowland peat, 1 part of rotted manure and 1 part of sawdust. close to her chemical composition soil mixture of soddy land, rotted manure and sand (components are taken in a ratio of 3: 6: 1).

When self cooking planting mixture, you need to add mineral fertilizers to it: 6-7 g of urea (urea), 10-15 g of superphosphate, 5-8 g of potassium sulfate and 2 g of magnesium sulfate for every 10 liters of the finished mixture.

For growing seedlings, you can prepare a soil mixture of the following composition: turf

earth, manure humus, small sawdust and peat, taken in equal quantities. It should be enriched with minerals: for this, you need to add 1 tbsp to 1 bucket of the mixture. l. nitrophoska, 1 glass wood ash and 1 tsp. urea.

There are several more options for the soil mixture for growing cucumber seedlings:

2 parts each of peat and humus and 1 part of small old sawdust;

1 part of sod land, peat, humus, sawdust;

Equal amount of peat and humus.

For 1 bucket of soil mixture, you can add 1 cup of wood ash.

Ready-made soils purchased at the store do not require additional application mineral fertilizers. On the contrary, in some ready mixes too much fertilizer.

Both store soils and home-made mixtures are subject to mandatory testing for pH acidity. The degree of soil acidity is not very important for adult cucumber plants, but young seedlings are ambiguous about it. Therefore, even in a slightly acidic soil mixture, lime materials will have to be added to obtain a neutral reaction.

There is one more event that needs to be carried out in the case of self-preparation of the soil mixture: be sure to use any available means soil should be disinfected. This is all the more important if, in the previous season, cucumbers or other vegetables on suburban area suffered from fungal or other infectious diseases.

For disinfection, the soil poured into the bag can be steamed to destroy pathogens. 750 ml of water is poured into the bucket, an inverted bowl is placed on the bottom, on which a bag of soil is placed. Closed by a lid put the bucket on fire and steam the soil for 40 minutes. Then it is cooled at room temperature.

Early cucumbers can be obtained by growing seedlings in peat pots or other containers filled with a potting mix of your choice. For sowing in a pot, seeds should be prepared in the same way as for sowing in a greenhouse or open soil.

Cucumber seedlings can be grown without land at all, using sawdust for this purpose. The roots of seedlings in sawdust develop better than in the ground. Sawdust is good because, unlike earth, it does not stick tightly to the roots.

When picking, it is very easy to get seedlings out of them without damaging the fragile roots. It is difficult to come up with a substrate more suitable for seedlings for the first period of their development, until they need a large amount of nutrients. After all, for some time, the seedlings have enough stock laid in the seed. During the preparation of sawdust, it is necessary to disinfect with a weak solution of potassium permanganate color pink, and then steam with boiling water, they will swell and hold water better.

3. Sowing seeds of cucumbers for growing seedlings

The question of the timing of sowing cucumber seeds for seedlings is not so simple. These terms depend on in what soil, in what turn and where the cucumbers will grow in the future. After all, cucumbers can be grown outdoors after early green vegetables. In the case of soil varieties of cucumbers, one has to take into account the region in which the plants will be grown. In the northern regions of vegetable growing, soil varieties are planted later than in the southern regions.

Sowing dates

In conditions middle lane In Russia, cucumbers for seedlings for growing in open ground are usually sown at the end of March - the first half of April, but no later than the third decade of April. Cucumber seeds in this case are sown only in the second half of the second decade of May.

When growing cucumbers in closed ground conditions (heated greenhouses and warm greenhouses), the seeds of the first turn are sown in early January. In this case, the resulting seedlings will be transplanted to permanent place at the beginning of February. If the sowing of seeds was done in early February, then the seedlings should be transplanted to a permanent place in March.

For the second rotation, the seeds of cucumbers grown indoors after green vegetables or other seedlings are usually sown in early May.

Seedlings of cucumbers of autumn culture in the conditions of central Russia have to be grown in greenhouses on solar heating. For this purpose, the seeds are sown in the second decade of July, then the seedlings must be transplanted to a permanent place in a heated greenhouse.

❧ Cucumbers can be saved from a mass disease of false powdery mildew by growing them on a trellis, under the protection of beet or cabbage leaves. These plants are able to draw excess nitrogen from the soil, which often provokes this disease of cucumbers.

Gardeners most often use these options for growing cucumbers in central Russia, although there are many others. Thus, when choosing the time for sowing seeds for growing indoors, one should proceed from the period that the seedlings need to reach the required parameters for planting in a permanent place.

When planning to grow cucumber seedlings, one more important factor should be taken into account. Sometimes the cultivar chosen for cultivation needs another cultivar as a pollinator. In this case, the pollinating variety is recommended to be sown 5-7 days earlier than the main one. Then the male and female flowers will not miss each other at the time of flowering.

Seed sowing technique

When growing cucumbers or cucumber seedlings, both dry and germinated seeds can be used for sowing.

Dry seeds are most often used if it is intended to grow cucumbers without seedlings in a greenhouse or open ground. It is advisable to sow cucumbers early in the ground with dry seeds, since they can rot in insufficiently warmed soil. Therefore, you should start sowing when the air warms up steadily to 15 ° C, and the soil - up to 12 ° C. Usually such sowing in the conditions of central Russia can be carried out on May 17-21.

If germinated seeds are supposed to be used for sowing, then they should only peck. Seeds with long (more than 0.5 cm) sprouts must be discarded, as weakened plants will grow from them.

Cucumber seeds are sown flat in grooves to a depth of 2-3 cm, maintaining a distance between plants in a row of 8x8 or 10 X 10 cm. Seeds can be sown in holes 15-20 cm apart from one another. In each hole, they should be planted in a triangle of three pieces at a distance of 10 cm from each other. The distance between rows should be at least 35-40 cm.

When transplanted to a permanent place in the ground, the fragile root system of seedlings is sometimes destroyed. It happens that when picking, the roots of young cucumber plants are so badly damaged that they cannot always recover. Therefore, it is better to do without picking and sow cucumber seeds immediately in pots, bags, plastic or paper cups. A pleasant exception is the cultivation of cucumber seedlings in sawdust.

Pots or cups are convenient because when planting seedlings in a permanent place, you can simply push them out of the container along with earthy clod. In addition, you can simply dig the seedlings into the ground along with a glass, cutting off the bottom. Thanks to this planting technique, there will be very few unrooted plants.

Growing seedlings of cucumbers in sawdust

Sawdust, after appropriate preparation, should be poured with a layer of 12-15 cm into the seedling box and periodically pour water into it so that they do not dry out completely. When sown in sawdust, seeds should be planted to a depth of 1.5-2 cm, i.e. deeper than normal soil. The seedling box is best placed in a warm place near the battery or stove. When green shoots appear, they need to be pricked into pots as quickly as possible.

Growing seedlings in pots

The main container for growing cucumber seedlings is pots or plastic cups. Pots with a diameter of 12-15 cm are suitable for greenhouse culture. If seedlings are needed for planting in open ground, then it is better to take pots with a diameter of 8 cm.

In the spring, before use, thoroughly wash the cups or other planting container, pour boiling water over them and fill with soil mixture.

For sowing seeds for seedlings, containers of various capacities are used, depending on how long it is supposed to grow seedlings in them. For 30-day-old seedlings, a 500-600 ml container is needed, for a 15-day-old seedling, a 250 ml cup is enough. But most often they use containers with a capacity of about 400 ml, in which no more than 1-2 seeds are planted.

At the bottom of the landing tank, you must first put drainage: pebbles, brick chips or expanded clay, which is specially sold in flower shops. At the bottom of the pot, you can lay a layer of sawdust 2 cm thick.

The nutrient soil mixture must be thoroughly mixed and laid in a layer of 5-7 cm thick so that the soil does not reach top edge by 2-3 cm. But it is better to fill the planting container to the top, because after watering the soil will settle. Seedlings in a layer of nutrient soil at a depth of 5-7 cm develop many lateral buds, which makes them squat and hardy.

The nutrient mixture can be prepared from humus and peat, taking them in a 1: 1 ratio. In addition, you need to add 1/4 cup of superphosphate and 2 cups of wood ash to 1 bucket of a mixture.

In each cup with a diameter of 8 or 10 cm, 2 seeds are planted to a depth of 2-3 cm. Then the seeds are covered with soil and carefully watered, making sure that the seeds do not wash out and become exposed during watering. landing tanks put on a pallet and cover with glass or a transparent film on top so that moisture does not evaporate too quickly from the substrate. After the emergence of seedlings, the shelter can be removed. The pallet is placed in a warm place where the temperature is maintained at 25-27°C. Neither the planting box with sawdust nor the pots need to be immediately placed in the light.

Temperature before germination

If it is possible to regulate the temperature in the greenhouse, then cucumbers should organize a special temperature regime.

Before germination, sown seeds need a temperature in the range of 26-30 ° C. Therefore, pots or planting boxes with sawdust should be placed as close as possible to the heater or radiator. Before germination, crops should be watered daily with warm water in the middle of the day.

Seedlings must be properly cared for. This is described in detail.