HOW TO GROW CUCUMBERS IN THE WINTER AT HOME, ON THE WINDOWSILL

Of the fruit vegetables in the rooms, cucumber is most often grown. To crunch on fresh greens when there are snowdrifts outside the window is a real pleasure.

For experienced vegetable growers, the process, as they say, is debugged, and beginners should pay attention to details.

KNOW YOUR AREA

When growing cucumber at home, it is easy to maintain temperature, humidity, diet, the most difficult thing is to provide plants with the necessary illumination..

It is she who limits the possibility of obtaining fruits from autumn to spring, and the further north, the more artificial illumination is required. First of all, it is important in which light zone you live. Greenhouse vegetable growing relies on the zoning of the country's territory in terms of the arrival of PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) in the darkest months: December and January. There are 7 zones in total. In zone VI (Ussuriysk, Derbent) there is always enough sun in the greenhouse, in zone V (Rostov-on-Don) there is a shortage in December and January, in Moscow (III) - from November to mid-February, in St. Petersburg (I) until the beginning of March.

On the windowsill, the plants are lit worse than in the greenhouse, and only on one side, so the deficiency period is longer by about a month.

In addition to geographic latitude, the number of sunny and cloudy days is important, depending on the proximity of large water bodies, wind roses, etc. It is clear that you need to select the power of the "electric sun" and the time of its operation.

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Reference by topic: Growing cucumbers on a window or balcony - varieties, shaping and care

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LAMPS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY LIGHTING OF HOME CUCUMBERS

The revolution was made by LED lamps, thanks to which the assortment of cucumbers for off-season cultivation was replenished due to hybrids that are more demanding of light and the time from germination to the first green was reduced. Lamps have become light, comfortable and affordable. But this did not cancel our duty to find out how much the needs of plants can be met by the sun and how much should be added by lamps in order to achieve the desired level of illumination.

Plants most actively use light in the red and blue regions of the spectrum absorbed by chlorophyll for photosynthesis. The so-called auxiliary pigments - carotenoids - need more green and yellow ranges. The highest productivity gives the full spectrum of the lamp, close to natural. Here you can rely on the readings of a luxmeter - a device that measures illumination. To obtain strong seedlings, about 4000 lux is required, for fruiting - more than 8000 lux.

If the deficit of solar energy is small, additional illumination will help in the most popular parts of the spectrum - red and blue. If there is not enough natural light, only bicolor cannot be dispensed with, full spectrum lamps (daylight) are needed.

When sown in the first days of January in the Moscow region, the coveted greens by March 8 can only be obtained with additional lighting of the order of 80-120 W per 1 sq. m. LED lamps with such power provide illumination of 10-14 thousand lux.

In the first 3-5 days, seedlings are illuminated around the clock. Then, within a month, the period is gradually reduced, bringing it closer to the length of daylight hours. The more intense the light, the faster the plants develop. Cucumber reacts more strongly to the level of illumination than to the length of the day. Good illumination of 8 hours a day is better than a minimum of 12 hours. And one more thing: several lamps will work better, creating a light field, than one of the same power as they are in total.

LED lamps do not heat up during operation, so they can be placed close to plants (25 cm from the surface of the leaves) without the risk of burning them. For a cucumber, the stem of which grows quickly, it is necessary to provide not only the possibility of a garter, but also the movement of the lamps in height, for example, using a small chain.

To determine if cucumbers have enough light, you need to know the signs of its deficiency. This is stem stretching, small young leaves, topping - the shoot ends with a flower and stops growing, the fruits do not pour, the ovaries die off. With a significant lack of illumination, necrosis may appear on the leaves - spots of dead tissue with a diameter of 3-7 mm.

CHOOSE A HYBRID OF CUCUMBERS FOR GROWING IN HOME CONDITIONS

What to grow from hybrids is determined in accordance with what kind of illumination of plants can be provided. If it is 15000 Lx, you can plant any hybrid F, which you like, if the illumination is lower, you will have to reckon with the exactingness of the hybrid to light. There are two main groups: shade-tolerant (winter) cucumber hybrids, which grow safely in greenhouses in the middle lane without artificial lighting, even when planted in early January, and spring-summer, most of which are low-yielding when planted before February 20.

Winter bee pollinated hybrids F1 Olympics, Relay - the standard of taste! Many bloggers say that they cannot be grown in the absence of bees, but the flowers are easy to pollinate yourself - pick a newly blossomed male flower and apply pollen to the pistil of the female. Seed growers perform this operation thousands of times per season. Why are we worse?

Of the winter parthenocarpics, which form fruits without pollination, one can name a hybrid F1 Stella.

Unfortunately, the shade tolerance of winter hybrids is due not so much to the quality of the leaf surface as to its quantity - the leaves are large, the stems are powerful, the plants take up a lot of space. You have to choose: either lashes 100-120 cm high with minimal illumination, or compact plants, for which you will have to spend money on additional illumination (the more north, the more). And if it is sufficient, you can grow spring-summer hybrids. Usually they prefer the smallest hybrids F1 Balcony, City Cucumber, Homebody or more shade-tolerant, but with a larger leaf - Podmoskovnye Evenings, Danila, Emelya, Chistye Prudy. At the same time, you should not expect that gherkins will grow in luxurious bunches, like in summer, 1 - 2 cucumbers in a knot is already good. There can be many ovaries in the axils of the leaves, but a lot of light is also needed for their growth.

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See also: Cucumbers in the home (self-pollinated hybrids)

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PREPARATION

In winter, in the middle latitudes, there is no danger of leaf burn, so the southern windows will be the best, for later dates, the southwestern and southeastern ones are suitable, the northern ones - only with the expectation of lamps.

A strip of heat-insulating material 40-45 cm wide will protect containers with plants from a cold window sill and hot, dry air from batteries. If the material is foil, it will also work as a reflector.

SOIL IS NECESSARY LIGHT AND NUTRITIONAL.

It is better to compile it yourself, because there are fewer elements that are ready for seedlings than a cucumber needs. You can take a peat substrate, add a third of biohumus and 15-20% perlite or vermiculite. If there are no biofertilizers, use a complex mineral for seedlings at the rate of 20-25 g per 10 liters.

A container with obligatory drainage holes can be from 4 liters to 10 liters, depending on the size of the plant and on what frequency of watering and fertilizing we are ready to provide. The closer spring and the larger the plant, the greater its need.

A wide and shallow (3-5 cm) pan will allow not only to provide water with a margin, but also to humidify the air - in a living room it is too dry for a cucumber. The smaller the volume, the earlier you will have to start and more often feed.

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See also: Growing cucumbers at home - sowing and containers, varieties and care

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SUBTLETS OF GROWING CUCUMBERS AT HOME

You can sow immediately in a permanent place in a large container or in pots with a volume of 300-500 ml, followed by transplanting to a permanent place. Direct sowing is easier and gives a more powerful root system, in a pot it is cramped for a while, which, however, contributes to the compactness of the plant. The soil before sowing should be shed with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate. Before germination, the container is covered with a film. It can be kept near the battery at 25-28° until germination, and then moved to the light, where 18-20°. Strengthened seedlings develop rapidly at 22-24°.

Seedlings with 3-4 true leaves tolerate transplanting more easily, older ones grow more compactly and bloom earlier.

TEMPERATURE.

If the illumination is sufficient, maintain 25-26 °, with moderate illumination during the day 21-23 °, at night 18-20 °. Cucumber does not like cold drafts. The soil surface can be mulched to prevent compaction.

Watering. Seedlings in January are watered every 2-3 days, 100 ml each, seedlings with 3 true leaves - 100 ml per day, an adult cucumber on a sunny spring day will need 1 liters or more. The soil should be constantly moist, but not waterlogged, water stagnation should not be allowed. From the lump taken for the sample, water should appear only when squeezed.

FEEDING CUCUMBERS IN HOME CONDITIONS.

At the age of 3-4 weeks, the first top dressing is given - a complete mineral fertilizer with the addition of calcium, magnesium and trace elements. Peak nutritional requirements occur during fruiting. Plants in a 10 l pot can be fed once a week, and when refueling with biohumus - once every 10 days. Cucumbers in 5-liter pots are fed every 4-5 days.

SIMPLE FORMATION OF CUCUMBERS IN HOME CONDITIONS.

Lead the plant in one stem, removing all side shoots. Antennae are best trimmed because they can twist leaf blades. The first ovary is left in small-fruited specimens above the 5-6th leaf, then 1-2 ovaries each (on strong plants - 3). In medium-fruited hybrids, the ovary is kept at the same height, but further - through one leaf, and only at the top - in each sinus. The main stem is pinched after 12-15 leaves.

It is impossible to foresee all the variety of conditions, therefore, the number of fruits is normalized taking into account the ability of the plant to feed them: ovaries that do not grow, turn pale, bend, are unpromising, they must be removed, unload your vine. If it is necessary to prolong fruiting, a replacement shoot is left in the axil of one of the upper leaves, or the main stem itself is directed horizontally or downwards.

Plants in a room are rarely susceptible to infection if the seeds and soil are disinfected. The main danger is pests that can pass from indoor flowers, so it is better to avoid their proximity to cucumbers.

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Reference by topic: Growing cucumbers at home - suitable varieties and personal experience

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HOW TO GROW CUCUMBERS IN AN APARTMENT - VIDEO

© Author: O. GUTSALYUK, candidate of agricultural

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