Formation And Rejuvenation Of Cucumber Lashes, Harvesting

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Cucumber by June. Part 4

Even Valentina Vasilievna Perezhogina taught me, and I always do this, to make a "steam bath" for cucumbers. I grow them in a well-ventilated greenhouse, but this is a tropical plant, so 2-4 times a month I arrange a "bath" for cucumbers. I choose a hot day, by 12-13 o'clock the water in the greenhouse in buckets will heat up, and then I pour from the watering can through a sieve all the ceilings, passage, film, glass and plants with "head".

Peppers grow nearby, and the peppers get it. I close the doors for 1 hour, at the most - for 1.5 hours (the gables are open). Then I open two doors and ventilate. In this method, there is one condition - that the leaves of the plants dry up by night, i.e. no need to postpone the "bath" for the evening.

Each gardener should choose his own watering rates for fruiting plants. My cucumbers grow on hay, water passes quickly, water is also required to burn out the hay, so in hot summer you have to water every day or every other day. However, my groundwater is at a depth of 1.5-2 shovel bayonets, and in a rainy summer the whole greenhouse is in water, so sometimes I don't water for several weeks.

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But according to the standard, it is believed that during the fruiting period, the plant can consume up to 6-8 liters of water per day. The water rate for irrigation should be calculated on the number of plants, and not on 1m². Water temperature + 22 ° С … + 24 ° С for seedlings and after planting in a greenhouse. And in the summer, I lower the water temperature to + 18 ° C … + 20 ° C. In the spring, with prolonged cold snaps, I do not water cucumbers, and if it is a sunny day, then I heat the water to + 24 ° C and water it.

To the question: what time of day is it better to water? - there is only one answer: so that the leaves dry up by nightfall. All watering rates, watering times, water temperatures refer to closed ground. In the open field, the norms are much lower; plants absorb moisture from both the soil and the air.

After each watering, it is imperative to loosen the soil, but not deeply, since the suction roots are close to the surface. If you do not loosen, then they will begin to creep along the surface, and the next time you loosen, you will simply tear them.

If roots begin to creep along the surface, then the best way to preserve them is to add fresh soil all over the ridge. This procedure is very time consuming, especially for the elderly. I add soil once per season: around the end of July - beginning of August. Since the fall, when we carry the compost to the greenhouse, we fill in a large barrel of spare soil for adding in summer. In greenhouses where cucumbers grow in spreading, loosening is possible only at the beginning of the growing season, and then the plants grow so that they cover the entire surface of the ridge, a crust does not form there, so they do without loosening and without adding fresh soil.

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Forming cucumbers in the greenhouse using the trellis method

First, tie the plant with twine to the trellis and twist along the twine as it grows. I cut off my mustache, they interfere with my work. So, each plant is one twine. All side shoots, if you cut them into 2-3 leaves, freely hold the crop, you do not need to tie it up. When the plant reaches the trellis, I tie it to it and let it grow along the trellis to the neighboring plant, but I cut off the top, i.e. tricky.

Lateral shoots of the first order (a lateral shoot appears from each axil of a leaf, gardeners often call it a "lash") can be formed on 1,2,3 leaves, i.e. leave 1 or 2 or 3 leaves on the side shoot, cut off the rest. Here you can do different things. Let's look at several options:

1. We planted 4 plants on 1 m², but they turned out to be powerful, branching strongly, so one leaf should be left on the side shoot, the rest should be cut off. This is called "forming on 1 sheet".

2. We planted 4 plants on 1 m², but they do not branch very much, the leaves are not very large, then you can form on 2 leaves.

3. 4 plants were planted on 1 m², but one plant began to lag behind the others, it needs to reduce the load, ie. to form on 1 leaf, and the other three plants on two leaves.

4. You can plant 5 plants on 1 m², which do not branch or branch very weakly according to their program. there are no lateral shoots, or they are very small, they themselves are edged.

5. If there are a lot of seedlings, then you can plant 5 plants per 1 m², but do not allow side shoots; no need to think, but "blind" all leaf axils, leave the ovaries, and cut out the lateral shoots. The harvest will be only on the central shoot.

6. If there are not enough seedlings, then plant one plant per 1 m², check it at about a height of 1 m, 3-4 lateral shoots will develop from the upper sinuses, tie them at the trellis, and the harvest will grow on them. I tried this method on one new hybrid, but the yield from 1 m² was less than with a standard planting, but it was easy to work.

What to do with second order shoots? On the shoots of the first order, shoots of the second order are formed, i.e. new shoots grow from the axils of the first order leaf. If you formed on three leaves, then in the future you will get three more shoots. It is from this that thickening is obtained later. I do this: I visually divide the central shoot into three parts in height. In the lower first 2-4 sinuses, I blind, i.e. I do not allow side shoots at all, then I form it on 1 sheet, rarely on two leaves. As soon as these side shoots bear fruit, I cut off the last cucumber and cut out the shoot completely, i.e. I do not allow second-order shoots, otherwise there will be a large thickening, and I need the lower part of the greenhouse to be well ventilated.

From the second, i.e. with an average height of a part of the plant, I do this: I form it into 2 leaves, two shoots of the second order will grow from the axils of these leaves. I already form them according to the situation: if the leaves are large, the internodes are long, then I leave 2 leaves.

With the third highest part of the plant, I act differently. I form it into 2-3 leaves, from the axils of these leaves there will be 2 or 3 side shoots of the second order, respectively. I do not form them, since their leaves are not large, but there are many fruits, in bunches.

I periodically cut the leaves along the central shoot, from about the beginning of July. By this time, they had already been developing for almost three months. Spots appear on the lower ones. But I cut it out not because of the spots, but so that there is no stagnation of air, for better ventilation. Gradually, along the central shoot, I remove the leaves up to half of the plant, according to science this is considered incorrect, but they have different distances, a different height of the greenhouses. As soon as I start cutting the leaves along the central shoot, a second crop is formed on it, i.e. a tiny shoot appears in the former sinuses, and on it cucumbers grow in bunches.

On the part of the plant that goes along the trellis, I also cut out the leaves along the central shoot, but not all, but after one. If all of them are left, then a "roof" is formed from them above, they are so large that they block the light, it is dark in the greenhouse. And on the trellis I do not form shoots of the first order and the second.

Formation of cucumbers in the open field or under temporary shelter

When growing cucumbers using the "spread" method, modern varieties and hybrids can also be formed at the beginning. Until they spread, the central shoot is clearly visible. The lowest lateral shoots from the first, second, third, and even fourth sinuses must be removed.

This will allow the central shoot to grow faster, since the lowermost first-order shoots are mostly sterile. They grow beautiful, powerful, and the ovaries dry up, so you don't need to feel sorry for them, you need to cut them out. The central shoot does not perch, second-order shoots will immediately form on the shoots of the first order, but there is no longer any possibility to form them, solid thickening, therefore it is better to plant in one row.

In the old varieties - Muromsky, Altaysky, Nerosimy, Vyaznikovsky - the yield is formed on lateral shoots, along the central shoot there are mainly male flowers, therefore such varieties must be pointed, i.e. cut off the top over 4-6 sheets. Lateral shoots are formed from the axils of the leaves, a crop is formed on them, i.e. female flowers appear. If planted densely, then you can check over the fourth sheet, i.e. this plant will have four side shoots. If it is rarely planted, then you can check over the sixth leaf, then this plant will have six side shoots.

What is anti-aging?

If the cucumbers bore fruit for two months, for example, June-July, then in late July - early August, you can carry out "rejuvenation". The plant is half bare, i.e. there are no leaves or side shoots along the central shoot. I untie it from the trellis and lower it down, but I hold it by the twine. The stem itself fits in a ring or half ring. I tie the twine to the trellis, and sprinkle the stem that lies on the ground with soil. This takes about two buckets of compost. Roots form on the stem under the soil, and the cucumber can bear fruit for another two months. But this is a laborious work, and now I use this method only for plants with root rot.

More than 10 years ago V. V. Farber, head of the Hardwicke seed firm, taught us how to save plants from gray (sometimes called white) rot. We are using this knowledge now. In the axils of the leaves, on the petioles, on the stem, a grayish-white mold forms. First, you must remove it with a piece of leaf or a cloth (you cannot leave them in the greenhouse, you must burn them) dry. Then grease with a solution of chalk and potassium permanganate. Pour a 1% solution of potassium permanganate into a plastic glass and add and stir so much chalk there to make a putty, like thick sour cream. I have this putty in my greenhouse all summer. If you need to heal the root collar, then I dilute it with potassium permanganate and pour it into the hole at the root.

Harvesting and storing cucumbers

I try to pick cucumbers every other day, and sometimes every day, so as not to overgrow. I do this early in the morning so that they are cold, without losing their turgor. I put the greens in an enamel or plastic bucket carefully, after laying a soft natural fabric on the bottom. I cover the cucumbers with the same cloth on top, and on top of it I put on a plastic bag or tightly cover the bucket with a lid. I put the cucumbers in the cellar, where the temperature is + 10 ° С… + 11 ° С. So they can last up to 14-20 days. Old varieties do not withstand such a period - they turn yellow.