Strong and healthy seedlings allow for a high yield of cucumbers in early summer. To do this, you need to know the characteristics of the culture and observe agricultural techniques. Everything is important: from preparing the seeds to hardening the seedlings before planting.
A detailed and step-by-step technology for growing seedlings will help you avoid mistakes and plan your time correctly.
Preparing cucumber seeds for sowing seedlings
First you need to decide what kind of cucumbers you need - salad, pickling, early, late. There are many categories:
- You can buy seeds from the store or mail them out. In addition, they can be harvested on their own from their overripe cucumbers, the so-called "yellow cucumbers".
- Hybrid seeds are not suitable because they are not viable. These seeds should be purchased anew each year. It is important to consider that two- and three-year-old seeds are the best for germination.
- They can be stored for up to 10 years, but starting from the fifth year, the germination rate is constantly decreasing. In five-year-old seeds, this is about 50%. The age of the planting material is important.
To get simultaneous shoots, you need to know how to prepare cucumber seeds for seedlings:
- First, they are contained in a solution of common table salt. Make a 3% solution as follows: take 100 ml of water, add three grams of salt (one teaspoon), stir and pour.
- After some time, the seeds will float, full-fledged seeds will sink to the bottom. This way the seeds are checked for germination.
- Pour the water carefully, add a 1% solution of potassium permanganate (manganese) here.
- The solution is prepared similarly to saline, only 1 g of potassium permanganate is placed in 100 ml of water. It turns out a dark, almost black solution.
- Thus, the seeds are kept for half an hour, then rinse with tap water. This process is required to kill pathogens.
- For future active growth, the seeds are treated with sodium humate solution or another growth stimulant for about 20 hours.
- For germination, take two layers of damp cloth, spread the treated seeds between them, place it all on a plate, germinate until white sprouts 2-4 mm long appear.
- If the sprouts grow, there is a risk of breaking them off when planting. Growing cucumber seeds on seedlings takes about 3-4 days, it all depends on the variety. It must be ensured that the fabric does not dry out. But also do not allow a layer of water to avoid rotting sprouts.
If you prepare the seeds well for planting, then the cucumber seedlings will not hurt?
Yes, they won't, No, they won't
Used containers
In what container can you grow cucumbers in seedlings? Since cucumber seedlings suffer from a painful transplant, the seeds should be planted separately if they have already hatched. When there are no sprouts, sow two in one container. Most often, the seeds that have been sown are placed in separate plastic or paper cups. Choose a small container that is separate for each plant. Special cassettes, peat-humus pots, peat “tablets” are on sale.
Small cucumbers are divided into gherkins (they are about 8 cm) and pickles (only 3-5 cm). In this article, you can find out what the Pikuli variety is.
Soil preparation
So the sprouts have sprouted. Now we need to figure out what kind of land is needed for cucumber seedlings. There are several guidelines. Here's a better example:
- seedlings of cucumbers in peat pots (peat);
- sand;
- sod-humus land;
- drainage (planting cucumber seedlings in sawdust, perlite, vermiculite, expanded clay, small pebbles). Drainage is added to get rid of excess moisture so that the roots of young plants do not become rotten or moldy.
Sowing dates
The first point to which attention is paid is the sowing time. To determine when to sow cucumbers for seedlings, take into account the following points:
- vegetable growing region;
- growing method (in a greenhouse or outdoors);
- the remoteness of the landings from the summer resident's place of residence.
Seedlings of cucumbers must be protected from frost. Accordingly, the timing of planting in regions with a long winter and cold spring will differ from the timing of planting in regions where spring comes early. Only summer residents who have a heated greenhouse can ignore the climatic conditions. If the greenhouse is not heated, the planting of cucumber seedlings should be postponed.
The last point worth paying attention to is the frequency of visiting the suburban area. For those who live in the country or who have a vegetable garden located near the house, grown and matured plants can be planted early. This risk is justified by the fact that if the temperature drops below 0 ° C, you can have time to save the plantings. If the summer cottage is far from the house, frost will destroy all the plants.
When planting cucumbers for seedlings in 2020, it should be remembered that plants cannot stay in containers or cups for more than 30 days, so you need to decide on the approximate date of planting a vegetable crop before sowing the seeds.
Growing cucumber seedlings at home
When shoots appear, the cups should be placed on the windowsill.
- Before doing this, carefully seal the cracks in the frames so that there are no drafts.
- In the daytime, the temperature on the windowsill should be 20-22 degrees, and at night at least 15 degrees.
You can use fluorescent lamps or energy saving lamps to ensure high quality seedlings and start bearing fruit. They should be placed 5 centimeters above the plants. Lamps need to be raised gradually as the plants grow. The backlight can be installed from the moment the seedlings appear. Lamps should be switched on during the day, starting at 8 am. Lighting duration is 6-8 hours. Lamps should be turned off at night.
Expert opinion
Filatov Ivan Yurievich, private farmer for over 30 years
Cup seedlings should be watered sparingly. Without additional lighting - 1 time, with lighting - 2 times. Holes must be made in the lower part of the container so that water does not remain in them. Water for irrigation must be settled. The water temperature should be 23-25 degrees.
When growing cucumbers at home, seedlings need to be grown for 20 to 25 days. At this time, the seedlings need to be fed 2 times.
Cucumber care
The functions of caring for cucumber seedlings in the garden include:
- Regular watering,
- weed control,
- the formation of sprouts,
- loosening the soil.
The distance between the plants varies from 30 to 40 cm. We increase the watering of vegetables during flowering and when the fruits are tied. Cucumbers require extremely warm water. The absence or presence of bitterness in the fruits depends on the correctly chosen watering regime.
Top dressing of cucumber seedlings
The first feeding is carried out after the appearance of 2 true leaves (about 2 weeks after the emergence of shoots). For her, you can dilute:
- mullein (1: 8);
- chicken droppings (1:10);
- or make a solution of the Fertility, Breadwinner or Ideal preparations (1 tablespoon per 10 liters).
Fertilizer consumption is 100-130 ml per sprout.
Next time you need to feed before planting in the ground. To do this, mix a teaspoon of Nitrofossi and Kemira-Lux in a bucket of water. After a few days (7-10), it is recommended to fertilize with a solution of urea or ammonium nitrate by spraying the plants.
Diseases and pests of cucumbers
Leaves turn yellow and wither
If the leaves of cucumbers turn yellow, wither and shrivel, most likely, the plants are damaged by disease or have been exposed to pests. Various diseases and pests of cucumber seedlings are the result of improper care.
From high humidity, white rot, anthracnose, powdery mildew appear on the plants, and root rot develops on the roots. At high humidity, spider mites multiply.
Plants on which black plaque has appeared are destroyed. Unaffected seedlings are treated with antifungal fungicidal agents.
Gray rot appears as large gray or brown spots. The affected areas are covered with ash, watering is temporarily suspended.
Powdery mildew appears as whitish, reddish spots. The affected areas are powdered with ash. Plants are sprayed with colloidal sulfur solution.
White rot appears on all parts of the plant. The damaged areas must be sprinkled with fluff lime. Watering is reduced, plants move away from each other.
When white or light yellow dots appear, growing over time, you can notice a spider mite on the plants. He braids the leaves from the lower part of the leaves with a thin cobweb, pierces the leaves, drinking the juice.
In the fight against ticks, insecticides are used: Phosbecid, Fitoferm, Agravertin or Karbofos.
The melon aphid can also damage plants. This small insect settles on the lower part of leaves, shoots, flowers, ovaries, causing the plant to curl and dry out. When larvae are found, they are washed off with a cotton pad dipped in soapy water. In case of severe damage, insecticide treatment is carried out. Plants are sprayed 2 times with an interval of 3 days.
As a prophylaxis for ticks and aphids, plants can be sprayed with clean water, a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Possible problems
When growing cucumber seedlings at home, certain problems may arise that must be responded to in time. To understand the cause of seedling depression, you should familiarize yourself with the most common causes:
- The yellowing of the leaves of cucumber seedlings can be caused by low nitrogen content if no fertilization has been applied. Also, the reason for this phenomenon may be the lack of soil when sowing seeds in too small containers.
- But sometimes this is a consequence of the development of powdery mildew and fusarium. In this case, seedlings should be treated with Topaz.
Fusarium
- Sometimes the seedlings of cucumbers begin to wilt, which is a sign of the development of root rot. This is due to the cold content of plants with high soil moisture. It is difficult to eliminate the disease, it is better to carry out a new planting of seeds. Slender, elongated plant stems indicate a lack of light. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the conditions for keeping seedlings.
Hardening and planting in the ground
Any seedlings before planting in open ground must be prepared for new conditions - hardened. Cucumbers are no exception.
To begin with, it is enough to open the window for several hours before the seedlings, and later begin to take the pots out into the open air for a short time, gradually lengthening the sessions.
It is better to harden on cloudy days or after the too bright sun ceases to illuminate the balcony, otherwise its rays will simply burn young leaves.
Planting cucumbers in open ground is carried out after the formation of three to five true leaves on the seedlings. With proper care of this phase, the seedlings reach about 4 weeks after sowing or a little earlier.
They should be sturdy, with a thick stem and dark green leaves, and white, intact roots that fill the entire pot.
The optimum air temperature for cucumbers is about 18 ° C during the day and at least 15 ° C at night.
Important! The growth of cucumbers is carried out precisely at night, therefore, even if it is very warm during the day, but a cold snap sets in at night, the growth of seedlings can completely stop, the plant will start to hurt and even risk dying.
If you did not guess the timing, but it is still too cold outside for planting, the cucumbers begin to turn yellow. In order not to destroy the grown seedlings, plant them in the garden, but for the first time cover with a film to avoid freezing.
Video
You can also watch a video where an experienced gardener will tell you how to properly grow cucumbers at home in order to get a good harvest.
Strong seedlings of cucumbers will delight not only with fruits earlier than usual, but also with the duration of fruiting. And to ensure that this crunchy vegetable is abundant throughout the season, it is recommended that you plant multiple crops every 20 days in accordance with all growing rules.
Useful materials
Explore other helpful articles on cucumber seedlings:
- How to grow properly on a windowsill, balcony and even in the basement?
- Tips for growing in different containers.
- Check the pick-up times by region.
- The reasons why the leaves of seedlings dry and turn yellow and what diseases are they susceptible to?
