Cultivation of cucumbers - planting and care: my secrets and advice (Vologda region)
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CULTIVATION OF CUCUMBERS - PLANTING AND CARE
It would seem that one is not the biggest letter, but how much amazingly simple and wise advice it contains! From the usual selection of seeds to an unusual way of storing crops and a recipe for harvesting, the entire cycle is described in detail so interesting that you want to immediately start using them in your garden. The main thing is that everything is very simple.
Having gone on a "well-deserved rest", I will get more free time, and I will calmly do what I love - working with the earth and plants. In the meantime, using my knowledge and (very often!) advice from readers, I am building technologies for cultivating various garden crops.
A favorite vegetable in the family and for preparations is cucumber. Of the many varieties, I prefer the self-pollinated hybrids Connie (photo 1), Dachny Ambassador (photo 2) and Paramon, I test different varieties every year. I tried, for example, the white-fruited Martini variety (photo 3) for salad purposes. It tastes sweetish, I really liked it, but there is one drawback - a rough, dense peel. However, the cucumber does not last long and peel.
Before planting, I usually do not process seeds with anything, since I buy them in specialized stores of reliable trusted companies. Such seeds may already be treated for diseases, although, of course, it happens that they fail.
I never buy seed material on the street from market vendors.
GROWING CUCUMBERS - NO FERTILIZER!
I start doing cucumbers at the end of April, using the lunar calendar. Untreated seeds are pre-sprouted. To do this, I place them on a plate with wet toilet paper, folded in two or three layers. I sign varieties on separate leaflets-bookmarks. I put a plastic bag on the plate and put it in a warm place next to the battery. Usually sprouts appear on the second or third day. For planting, I select the strongest and healthiest specimens. Those seeds that were processed by the manufacturer (in bags they are usually painted red, blue or some other color), I plant them in the soil immediately, without sprouting, otherwise the preparation adhering to the seed will remain on wet paper.
I grow cucumbers through seedlings, although they really do not like transplanting. I plant seeds in bags from under bread or rolls - this is the best container: when transplanting plants into a greenhouse, such bags can be easily torn apart without damaging the root system.
My husband and I prepare the land for seedlings in the fall: we mix sand, humus and soil from the greenhouse in equal parts. Such a mixture stands in the cold in the barn all winter. When planting, I add a little shop soil and biohumus to it. I usually take packages that are not too wide, but more authentic. At first I pour a little earth - a third of the bag, moisten it with warm melt water, plant a seed and close the bag so that the soil does not dry out. I sign the name of the variety on each package with a marker.
When shoots appear, I open the packages and expose them to the light. If the weather is cloudy, you have to illuminate the seedlings. I add soil as the plants grow.
I will say right away: apart from the EM preparation, I do not use any organic and mineral supplements during the entire growing season.
Once a week I water the seedlings on the window, and then the adult plants in those
plice, the same preparation with the addition of sugar, honey or molasses. In order not to get confused in the watering schedule, I just do them on Sundays. In other cases, I water the plants with melted, rain or settled tap warm water as needed.
After two to three weeks, around mid-May, the seedlings are ready for transplanting. We have four polycarbonate greenhouses in our country house. One of them is occupied by grapes, and we use the other three for growing vegetables, so we change crops in them every year. It turns out that cucumbers return again to the same place in the third year.
We rarely change the soil in greenhouses, because every year we add healthy humus to it, obtained from cow dung using an EM preparation. In addition, we treat the soil with the same preparation in the fall after harvesting and in the spring a week before planting, and even wash the greenhouses themselves with it.
See also: Cultivation of cucumbers from A to Z: description of care, variety, and many recipes
CUCUMBER HARVEST ON THE LODGIA
When transplanting seedlings, I dig a hole so that the bag with the plant can easily fit into it, moisten the soil, carefully tear and remove the bag and sprinkle the bush with earth. The distance between plants is 50 cm, it is important not to thicken the plantings. I cover all planted cucumbers from above with covering material thrown over low arcs, and do not remove it until I am convinced that the plants have taken root well and have begun to grow. Covering material protects green pets both from the bright spring sun and from insidious return frosts.
I leave several branches at home on the loggia, transplanting them into large packages. The harvest on them ripens earlier than the greenhouse one - it happens that at the end of May the grandchildren are already harvesting the fruits! But our Sima likes to eat cucumber leaves (photo 4) - most likely, the cat made up for the lack of vitamins.
I tie cucumbers in the greenhouse with linen twine, grow them in one stem, remove all side stepsons.
If the weather is not capricious, then usually the first cucumbers appear already on June 6-10. To prevent diseases and pests, if possible, I mulch the soil with mowed grass, plant undersized marigolds, ventilate the greenhouse, try to prevent drafts, and cut off suspicious leaves that are starting to turn yellow. If I suddenly notice powdery mildew, I remove the plaque at the site of damage with a clean cotton cloth and thickly process it with ash.
ON THE HIGHEST LEVEL
By mid-July, all our relatives are already fed with fresh cucumbers, and I start preparing cucumber products for the winter. Pickled and rolled jars are well stored in the apartment, but pickled cucumbers are hot in our cellar in July, and it is problematic to find a cold place. The way out was suggested to me by my dear parents, who at one time used this method. Now, unfortunately, they themselves can no longer engage in gardening: my mother is 83 years old, and my father is 90 years old, and he does not get up, but I always take note of their wise advice.
So. It turned out that if a jar of pickles is buried in the ground in July-August to a depth of about 50-60 cm, then the products will be perfectly preserved until October-November! Mom's pickles have always been at the highest level and liked by all relatives and friends. And my father's duties included growing, getting a good harvest and preserving the harvest.
I remember sticks sticking out all over the garden between apple trees and bushes - marks where the jars were buried. If such a stick was accidentally lost, one could forget about cucumbers. Therefore, my husband and I improved this technology a little.
I tightly close each jar with a plastic lid and wrap it in a large plastic bag so that dirt does not get inside, and my husband buries all the jars in one place.
It just puts boards on top and on the side, so that the next time, when it will be necessary to dig in the next batch of cans, not to damage those already buried. Before frosts, all banks are carefully dug out and transferred to the cellar.
I also want to share a very simple and quick way to pickle cucumbers. I learned it from my good friend - Svetlana Kharchenko.
I wish all readers high yields, good weather and good mood in the next summer season!
SALTING CUCUMBERS IN QUICKLY
At the bottom of a liter sterile jar we put 3 cloves of garlic, 3 pieces of horseradish, dill umbrella. We lay the prepared fruits (preferably a small size).
On top we put 3 cherry leaves and 3 oak leaves, 1 tbsp. l. rock salt (possible with a slide), citric acid on the tip of a knife.
Fill with cold, not boiled water, carefully so that the salt gets into the middle of the jar. Water can be taken from the well, I take filtered from the tap. Close the jar with a tight plastic lid, shake well, turn upside down and leave for 30 minutes. Then we put it in a cold place. Cucumbers are tasty, crispy and have a long shelf life.
Reference by topic: Growing cucumbers from A to Z - planting and care
CUCUMBERS ON THE BALCONY FROM A TO Z - VIDEO
© Author: Natalya Ivanovna SINOVA. Sheksna, Vologda Oblast
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I like to experiment with different varieties of cucumbers, but in order not to risk it, I always plant one variety - these are Lukhovitsky, my favorite ones.