Growing cucumbers on the windowsill

If you grow cucumbers in a country house or in a personal plot, then you can do it in winter in a private house or in an apartment without special problems. Whether such a "garden" is needed today, when fresh Zelentsy is sold in stores all year round, everyone has the right to decide for himself. But just imagine the huge distance that separates us from the places where these vegetables were grown in other countries, and compare it with a few meters from the table to the “plantation” located on the windowsill, it will immediately become clear: ours are beyond competition.

CONDITIONS FOR GROWING HOME CUCUMBERS

Of course, cucumbers will not bear fruit well in any corner of the apartment. Lighting is important to them. Window sills of the southern orientation are best suited for this criterion. But since we are talking about the winter period, when there is not enough sunlight, and artificial sources will have to be used, the eastern and western windows, illuminated by the sun, respectively, in the first and second half of the day, are quite suitable. Avoid drafts fatal to cucumber.

VARIETIES OF CUCUMBERS FOR GROWING IN HOME

Traditional varieties are not quite suitable for home growing, because fruit setting requires pollination, which will have to be done manually, which is quite troublesome. Parthenocarpic (self-pollinated) F1 hybrids should be considered more suitable.

The second important condition is early maturity, because it makes no sense to grow cucumbers at home, which will yield crops by summer. Therefore, it is worth choosing early, and even better - ultra-early hybrids.

In addition, plants grown indoors must be shade-tolerant, relatively undersized, without powerful leaf mass.

This is what a hybrid is. F1 Brownie Kuzya. He is an early ripe - from the appearance of seedlings to the receipt of fruit passes 35-45 days. Plants are undemanding to light, have endurance to temperature extremes. Zelentsy 10-15 cm long, weighing 80-110 g, are covered with small tubercles. They have a sweet taste and are good in salads, as well as in salted form.

Another early ripe hybrid F1 even in the name contains an indication of the purpose: Miracle on the window. 40 days elapse from seedling emergence to fruit production. Gherkin fruits 6-8 cm long.

A similar precocity shows a hybrid Fi1 Gherkin, which, however, has an important feature: the fruits are formed on the stem in bunches of 3-9 pcs. The length of Zelentsy is 9-12 cm, weight 75-90 g. The fruits are covered with numerous tubercles. Plants are immune to most diseases.

Hybrids can also be grown at home. Room Rytova, Masha, Room miracle, Herman, Prestige.

CAPACITIES UNDER Cucumbers on the windowsill

In order for the plants, being in one big box, not to compete with each other, for each of them it is better to use a separate, individual container. It should be a volume of at least 5 l, and 6-liter plastic bottles from under drinking water, which need to cut off the upper tapering part, are best suited for this.

However, at first you can apply the same seedling method that we use when growing ordinary, "summer" cucumbers. Sowing seed exists in coconut or peat tablets, peat pots or small plastic jars of sour cream (they must be provided for drainage). And after the appearance of real leaves near 3-4 seedlings, we carefully transfer the plants into prepared “eggplants”.

Note

Cucumbers can be grown at home in plastic bags with soil purchased in a store. Without unpacking, it should make holes on one side (it will be the bottom) for draining excess water, and on the other - for sowing and watering. The package should be put on a pallet and sow cucumbers at the rate of 2 seeds (in the future one weaker sprout is removed) on 5 l of soil.

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PRIMING

If you have made stocks of components for the preparation of seedlings, it is quite possible to use them for indoor cucumbers. Recipes can be different. For example, garden soil, humus and sand taken in equal parts, you can add about a tenth (in volume) of wood ash and the same amount of sawdust that has been deposited for at least a year. Instead of garden soil, you can take peat, and replace sand with vermiculite.

As a backup option, purchased soil can be used: special for cucumbers, for pumpkin crops, a substrate intended for indoor plants is also suitable.

The soil before planting should be disinfected. However, when applying heat treatment methods - in the oven or in a steam "bath" - it must be remembered that beneficial microorganisms die along with pathogens. Therefore, after disinfection, it is necessary to treat the substrate with EM preparations - Baikal EM-1, Biorost, or Radiance. It is also useful to spill the soil with the biofungicide “Fitosporin-M”.

SEEDING CUCUMBERS IN HOME

Seeds are prepared for sowing in the same way as when growing seedlings. First of all, they are checked for germination, placing for half an hour in a glass with dissolved 1 Art. l table salt. Sinking to the bottom are suitable for sowing. The salt is washed off with warm water, and then heated in a glass of water with a temperature of 37 degrees for 3 hours.

The seeds are germinated before the seeds germinate under moist material, after which they should be dried a little and sown in a substrate. It must be saturated with moisture in order to provide it with the processes of seed germination and not allow them to go deep during watering, which will inevitably be necessary if the soil was dry. And this can significantly increase the time of emergence of seedlings. For cucumbers, the sowing depth in 1,5-2 cm is sufficient.

Before the home "bed" turns green, containers with crops are kept in a dark place. They need to create a greenhouse effect that accelerates seed germination. Drawers are tightened with plastic wrap or covered with glass. And it is enough to close the sour cream jars with their “native” transparent lids, which is very convenient. From time to time it is necessary to wipe up the accumulating condensate.

After the first green arrows appear, the shelter is removed, and the containers are transferred to the brightest place.

MICROCLIMATE

Cucumbers are heat-loving plants, the most favorable temperature for fruiting is 25 degrees, and 20-23 is not enough. But even if this indicator is observed in the room, do not forget that the board of the windowsill can be much colder, therefore it is advisable to put a foam sheet with a thickness of at least 5 cm in the container with cucumbers.

There is another danger: too dry air due to the operation of heating radiators. Cucumbers also like high humidity. It can be achieved in various ways: by regular spraying of plants with warm water, wet gauze thrown on the battery, periodically moistened with a layer of expanded clay or vermiculite in the pan.

Council

The most reliable is an ultrasonic humidifier that will create a favorable microclimate not only for cucumbers, but also for people.

MORE LIGHT TO HOME CUCUMBERS!

In short daylight conditions, additional lighting is required. To do this, fit phyto, LED or fluorescent lamps. They are installed at a height of 15 cm above the plants. As they grow, the lamps move up. When the lashes reach the maximum length, the light is directed from the side at an angle. In general, the duration of artificial lighting, depending on whether the days are sunny or cloudy, can range from 8 to 16 hours. At the same time, round-the-clock operation of lamps is unacceptable - cucumbers, like people, need peace.

Further care is the same as in a greenhouse or greenhouse, only watering should be more often due to a more intense desiccation of the soil.

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See also:  Growing cucumbers and tomatoes in the greenhouse and open field: planting and care from A to Z

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Cucumbers and tomatoes on the windowsill - TIPS AND REVIEWS

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Tomatoes and cucumbers on the windowsill - WHAT WE WILL ADVISE

The whole family is fond of growing plants in the apartment. We started with onions, and now we have “cucumbers” and “tomatoes” on the windowsill.

You can sow seeds of tomatoes and cucumbers for home growing at any time of the year. If you do it now, in January, the crop can be harvested at the end of March.

For cultivation, we select undersized tomatoes of self-pollinated varieties: Balcony Miracle, Blitz, Perseus, Yellow Riding Hood, Button. In the garden soil add wood ash (1 tbsp. Per liter jar of land). Let the soil stand for a couple of days, then put it in seedlings and spill it with plenty of heated water.

Soak tomato seeds in a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate for a couple of hours. We rinse with water and sow to a depth of 1 cm. Cover with a film and put in a warm place. With the advent of shoots, we remove the shelter.

At the stage of two real leaves, we dive seedlings into five-liter pots. We also take the earth from the garden, add ash (2-3 tbsp. Per pot).

2 weeks after the picking, we feed the tomatoes according to the instructions with a complex mineral fertilizer. Next time - at the beginning of flowering. Then - only when the plants begin to tie fruit worse.

1-2 times during the growth time we prepare an infusion of citrus peels (a handful of dry zest pour 1 tbsp of boiling water, leave for a day, filter, bring the volume of water to 3 l).

As we grow, we remove the stepsons and tie up the bushes. If the plant becomes too tall - pinch the top.

AND CUCUMBERS IN THE APARTMENT!

The seeds of indoor cucumbers are also soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, but for 15 minutes, and then germinated in wet gauze. Sow one in a pot. Soil and top dressing are the same as for tomatoes. We only water the cucumber plants more often. The best variety in the apartment was Dynamite.

© Author: Anastasia Mordasova, Vikhorevka. Author photo

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CITY CUCUMBER

If you wish, you can start collecting trophies from the garden on the windowsill even before the onset of the summer season. And then too.

I want to tell you how I grow cucumbers in an apartment. This is not very difficult to do, and besides, the work is very exciting. Imagine: there is snow outside the window, and the room is filled with the exciting aroma of fresh greens! It all started with the fact that in the winter I saw the seeds of the City Cucumber F1 variety in the store. It was the name that attracted me! Well, I decided to check, especially since a bag of seed was worth quite adequately.

As a container for soil, I took a plastic box about half a meter long, 20 cm wide and 15 cm high. I filled it with soil bought in the same store, spilled it well with water and sowed four seeds. Shoots appeared in a few days. One sprout from the very first days of its life was somehow ugly, but I thought that later it would take its proper form.

Alas, the plant did not want to improve. It even began to lag behind the others, and had to be removed.

The remaining three cucumbers were cheerfully gaining strength, and I tied them with twine to the window cornice. They were delighted and began to stretch upward even more actively, but then I noticed some strange light spots on the lower leaves. And after a couple of days, the leaves with such marks began to curl and dry out. I checked with the Dacha filing and found out that my plants somewhere managed to pick up a mosaic. I immediately removed the affected leaves, but the disease spread higher and higher.

At some point, I was about to throw out all the plants, but I stopped my spouse, saying with irony: "This is the simplest thing that can be done." She rummaged on the Internet and found out that sick cucumbers can be sprayed with milk. After several procedures, the course of the disease slowed down. But it didn't stop! Then the wife poured the soil in the box with a solution of ammonia, diluting 1 tsp. in 1 liter of water. After that, the mosaic disappeared: soon new leaves began to appear on the lower parts of the stems, and then shoots with fruit set.

We waited with great impatience for the moment when we could taste the first "window" cucumber. It turned out to be juicy, tasty and aromatic. And then the plants entered the stage of normal fruiting and supplied us with their green joys until July, although by that time normal garden cucumbers had already grown in our country house. Of course, now I am again starting to prepare for the next sowing of City cucumbers.

© Author: Rafis Gareev Izhevsk

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CUCUMBERS IN HOME - VIDEO

© Author: Natalya Nikolaevna BUEVA

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