How to pinch cucumbers in the open field: step by step instructions with a photo

Many gardeners know that cucumber plants need to be formed by regularly pinching them. But, someone simply neglects this procedure, considering it optional, and someone does not know how to do it. Meanwhile, such care has a positive effect on the harvest and allows you to get more marketable zelents. Learn how to pinch cucumbers correctly and what pattern to choose for plants. This way you can make the most of the space in your greenhouse or garden.

The essence of the procedure for pinching cucumbers

Pinching cucumbers has another name - blinding. This operation is performed in order to provoke the formation and contribute to the early growth of lateral shoots from the main stem of the cucumber bush. What is it for and why pinch cucumbers?

With the natural growth of the bush, without human intervention in this process, the plant basically gives "blank", male shoots, characterized by the fact that when the flower withers on them, no fruit ovary occurs. Needless to say, such a plant will respond with a meager harvest even to the most careful care.

For full fruiting, each plant must have a paired set of female and male inflorescences and the creation of female ones, and there is the actual task of such a method as pinching cucumbers.

An important condition of the procedure is the preservation of healthy leaves of seedlings. The value of the leaf is in a unique combination of trace elements, after passing into growing vegetables. For the same reason, it is necessary to remove rotten leaves, damaged by insects or starting to turn yellow in time.

With the correct algorithm for blinding the cucumber, as a result, we get a bush of the following type: a long liana with short shoots coming from the stem. Experienced owners go further and prevent the shoots of the lower sinuses from growing, removing them from the base. The stepchildren, which form in the leafy rosette, and the small cucumbers, which arise in the lower four leaves, undergo the same procedure. Such pinching of cucumbers in the open field or in a greenhouse preserves the strength of the plant for abundant fruiting.

Why do I need a pinch

There is an opinion among some gardeners that in order for cucumbers to bear fruit well, it is not necessary to pinch them. Perhaps in some cases this is the case, since much depends on the characteristics of each variety. But most often, barren flowers grow on lashes that are formed without pinching. They are not able to set fruit, and after drying, they fall off.

Pinching allows the bush to form female flowers that form on the side shoots. In addition, it will prevent the appearance of various diseases that form in thickened plantings. And also fruits, tied on lateral branches, are formed abundantly, beautiful (not hook-shaped) configuration, for the most part, without bitterness.

Competent pinching

Even when the seedlings are only transferred from the seedling box to the ground, it is already taken into account that in the future the bushes will need to be pinched. The optimal distance between the cucumbers is predetermined at least 30 cm, and trellises are installed near each liana for the future garter. It is customary to tie up cucumber seedlings 12-15 days from planting a seedling, and it is recommended to use soft copper wire or dense twine.

Hybridity or purity of the variety, the type of plant by the type of pollination - all these nuances are taken into account when the question arises of exactly how to pinch cucumbers, and whether it should be done at all. Since there are a huge variety of these bush varieties, it is conventionally accepted to divide them into two main categories: parthenocarpic (self-pollinating) and insect-pollinated. The following differentiation of culture occurs according to the ripening dates of the fruits: rennet, medium and late-ripening varieties.

The main method, how to pinch cucumbers correctly, can be applied both indoors and outdoors:

first, a garter is made, and the fastening of the cotyledon leaves is avoided, and the twine itself is not tightly applied, just to fix the top in the desired position;
six sheets are counted from the bottom and the top of the head is trimmed over the sixth sheet;
in cucumbers pollinated by insects, only weak, non-viable shoots are removed, leaving four points of growth;
hybrids retain 3 strong shoots;
with the beginning of flowering, the formation of the bush stops.

Pinching outdoors

Whether it is necessary to pinch cucumbers in the open field again depends on the type of plant, which in turn is characterized by the length of the side shoots. If there are scanty branches, it is not necessary to pinch the cucumbers in the open field. If the shoots are of medium and high length, the top is removed, as soon as the central shoot reaches a meter length. The development of shoots on other shoots is also corrected.

When holding the garter is impossible due to the fact that the planting was made too densely, pinching the cucumbers means removing the growth points that are on top of the fourth leaf on the main shoot and on top of the second one on the side.

Hybrids are blinded in a slightly different way - lateral shoots and all axillary shoots are removed from them.

Insect-pollinated cucumbers, as those most in need of care, require pinching with mandatory preliminary tying, therefore, they are placed at a sufficient distance from each other in the garden bed and a trellis is installed in advance. Step-by-step instructions for blinding such varieties include strict adherence to important conditions:

the distance between seedlings is from 30 to 45 cm;
tying is carried out no earlier than the 10th and no later than the 15th day from the disembarkation of seedlings;
from the bottom of the bush, not only the shoots are removed, but also the very first ovaries, because the forming cucumbers pull over all the juices of the plant and do not allow the formation of the upper ovaries;
all healthy deciduous greens are necessarily preserved.

The liana is modeled in this way:

above the 6th sheet, the top is cut off, and the side branches can be tied up so that they calmly curl further;
all but the 3 most viable shoots break off;
shoots are examined, while all weak ovaries are removed and no more than 4 pieces are left on each shoot.

Late varieties of these vegetables require the closest attention - when growing such cucumbers, pinching is carried out in any case.

When is it needed?

Seedlings are pinched almost immediately after planting. The action to remove barren flowers is carried out when from five to seven leaves appear on the trunk, but there are still no side shoots. Often at this time, the cucumber bush already reaches 40 cm.If you do not pinch in time, the future harvest will not be able to please with high results.If the plant has healthy shoots, the plant can be left intact.

See also Features of the use of Fitosporin for cucumbers

Blinding parthenocarpic varieties

Self-pollinated cucumbers are quite independent and more often than others are supposed to be sown in the regions of the middle lane. Growing them does not require much trouble in terms of modeling the pattern of the vines, since the bush quickly throws out the required number of shoots, on which, over time, from almost every flower, a full-fledged ovary is formed.

Why pinch cucumbers in the open field at all, if the yield does not depend on it? The fact is that letting a cucumber vine grow as it pleases, there is a risk of getting a wild, longest and completely useless plant, randomly strewn with unformed fruits. Therefore, by adjusting the growth, the gardener at the same time improves the quality of each fruit unit. When to pinch such cucumbers? Just like any others, between 10 and 15 days from the moment of planting seedlings.

Scheme of how to pinch cucumbers in the open field, if they are self-pollinated varieties:

the bush is tied to a supporting element;
when the main stem reaches a height of 50 cm, all shoots are removed from the bottom, along with flower rosettes and small cucumbers - this will become an area of blinding;
on top of the designated area, the lateral lashes growing over the first sheet are cut off;
at a distance of 40-50 cm from the blinding area, a formed ovary and 2-3 leaves are left;
further, at a distance of already a meter, four shoots with 2-3 ovaries on each are preserved;
even higher, after 40-50 cm, on the same number of shoots, 4 cucumbers and 3-4 leaves can be saved.

Do hybrid cucumbers require pinching

For a long time, the task of breeders engaged in breeding convenient for home cultivation, unpretentious crop varieties has been to create species that do not need pinching at all. These varieties belong to the single-stem type - for example, take Sarovsky F1, or to hybrid derivatives that release a small amount of underdeveloped shoots. Such varieties were given the name: Valday F1, Doubler F1, Blizzard F1.

A sufficient number of fruiting inflorescences are located on the main (or only) stem of cucumber hybrids, but in some cases it is necessary to provoke their appearance, for which pinching is used. When buying seeds of one of the hybrid varieties, you need to check with the seller about the need for this procedure.

Plucking in hybrid varieties has its own scheme:

lateral lashes must be removed at the stage of formation of the fifth leaf;
after counting the next 6 leaves, you need to pinch off a little at the lateral process, leaving about a quarter of a meter on the bush;
the next pinch is done even after 6 leaves, but leaving already about half a meter of the process;
in conclusion, after waiting for the formation of six more leaves, pinch the top.
gardeners with extensive experience are unequivocally sure that whatever variety is in the ground, pinching is necessary until the barren flowers are completely removed, since the presence of "male" flowers is one of the reasons why cucumbers give off bitterness. Accordingly, the more barren flowers take away the strength from the cucumber stalk, the more clearly the bitterness will appear.

Required tools

To pinch cucumbers, you can use improvised means (stationery knife, scissors) or a special device - a pruner.The main requirement is that the blades must be sharp so that the cut is smooth and the edges of the stem do not look "chafed".

Expert opinion

Stanislav Pavlovich

Gardener with 17 years of experience and our expert

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Important! After trimming each bush, the tool is disinfected to prevent the spread of possible diseases or infections.

Common disinfectants: alcohol-containing compounds, medical sprays, alcohol wipes, solutions of potassium permanganate / ferrous sulfate. To simplify the procedure, the liquid is poured into a container where the cutting tool is lowered.