Can cucumbers be grown in a polycarbonate greenhouse?

Cucumber is rightfully considered the king of summer vegetables in any country. In the greenhouse, he appears before everyone else and immediately gets on the table - excellent salads are made from cucumbers. And in the fall, cucumbers are salted and pickled, preparing wonderful crispy snacks for the winter. That is why this culture is grown by every self-respecting gardener. Growing cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse is a simple matter even for a beginner, if you carefully follow the recommendations given in our article.

Growing cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse

Choosing a variety

Before starting this responsible business - growing cucumbers - you need to decide for what purpose you are going to cultivate them. The fact is that it will depend on the correctly selected variety whether your expectations from the harvest will be justified and whether you will achieve the desired results.

General guidelines for choosing cucumber seeds

So, what are the varieties of cucumbers? Yes, of course, selection has long since done its job, and on the shelves of gardening shops you can see hundreds, if not thousands of bags of cucumber seeds. How not to get confused here and not think that maybe you shouldn't get involved with this culture or, on the contrary, buy many types of seeds indiscriminately? Neither the first nor the second approach is suitable for us. But it is extremely difficult to navigate among all this diversity for a beginner in the horticultural world.

However, not everything is so sad - on each bag of seeds there are certain tips that will help you choose the right and suitable variety for your case. First, pay attention to the timing of the ripening of the fruit.

The seed bags have all the information you need

Cucumber varieties are:

• early ripening, early ripening, super early, which give the first fruits less than 45 days after germination;

  Early ripe cucumber Altai

• mid-ripening - these are those varieties that begin to bear fruit about 45-50 days after the appearance of the first shoots;
• late ripening - bear fruit 50 days after germination.

Blooming cucumber

On a note! Remember that under the wrong temperature conditions, any cucumber will ripen very poorly and will bear fruit late. Yes, even early-maturing varieties will refuse to give you a harvest.

Also, think about what kind of cucumbers you need for pollination. From this point of view, they are also different. The following types are distinguished.

1. Bee-pollinatedthat cannot bear fruit without pollinating insects, which makes growing in a greenhouse difficult.For pollen to get from the stamens to the pistil, bees and bumblebees are needed to carry it on their paws. Or you will have to run around the greenhouse with a brush and pollinate the plants yourself.

   Early maturing bee-pollinated hybrid Spring F1

2. Self-pollinated Are varieties that bloom with flowers that have both pistils and stamens at the same time. The pollen perfectly gets from the stamens to the pistil, and the flower pollinates on its own.

   Photo of cucumber Artist F1

3. Parthenocarpic cucumbers they bear fruit without pollination at all, but such varieties will not have seeds inside.

   Specialists' recommendations on the selection of parthenocarpic cucumber varieties

Cucumber Zozulya F1

Cucumber Cupid F1 (Holland)

It is recommended to purchase either parthenocarpic cucumbers or self-pollinated varieties. For beginners, the independent pollination process may be too difficult, but without it there will be a risk that no fruit will appear at all. And in the greenhouse, as you know, bees appear extremely rarely. Is that the bees hibernate in the greenhouse.

Harvest cucumber varieties are always popular

Also, cucumbers are subdivided according to the methods of using the fruits and are salad, pickled and universal. Everything is clear from the names. It is best for novice summer residents to buy and grow universal varieties.

Salad cucumbers

Another important aspect to consider when choosing a variety - do you need hybrids or varieties? The fact is that hybrids are seeds of the first generation, which were obtained by crossing two different varieties. Hybrids, as a rule, inherit the best qualities from their parents, become more resistant to diseases, are not afraid of climatic tests and have high yields.

Greenhouse cucumber hybrids

On a note! Hybrids are always designated F1. If this is not on the seed bag, then you have the usual varieties of cucumbers.

But hybrids do not inherit their positive qualities, therefore it is pointless to collect seeds from them in order to grow cucumbers from our own next year.

Popular greenhouse cucumber hybrids

It is worth noting that varieties and hybrids of cucumbers are also subdivided by size (from tiny pickles to giant two-meter ones), by the type and color of thorns, by the method of cultivation (open or closed) and many other parameters. But, fortunately, it is not difficult even for a novice vegetable grower to deal with these names and designations.

We grow seedlings

After you have decided on the variety and purchased the seeds you need, you can start growing seedlings. This is perhaps the most crucial stage in the entire life cycle of a cucumber. It is on how good and high-quality seedlings you manage to grow, and the success of the entire enterprise in obtaining a crop will depend.

Step 1. To grow cucumber seedlings, you need soil and boxes for it. It is best to prepare the seedbed yourself. This is done simply: mix peat, humus, sawdust in a 2: 2: 1 ratio or compost, leafy and sod soil in a 1: 1: 1 ratio - and the soil for cucumber seedlings is ready.

Soil mixture for seedlings

Step 2. As a fertilizer, add 3 tbsp. tablespoons of ordinary ash and a spoonful of any complex of fertilizers.

Potash fertilizers mixed with soil

Step 3. Before you plant cucumber seeds in the soil, it should be disinfected - even if you are sure that the soil is one hundred percent pure, just in case, spill it with boiling water or steam it. This will remove plant pathogens or mold spores.

Before planting seeds, the soil must be disinfected.

On a note! Cucumber seedling boxes should not be shallow - you should not plant these crops in containers less than 10 cm deep. At the same time, always remember that the box is a temporary "shelter", and after a while the seedlings will have to dive. And cucumbers do not like too much transplantation.This is probably why many summer residents immediately plant seedlings in separate cups, but the latter take up a lot of space in the house. You can also grow seedlings in boxes, but do not sow seeds thickly.

Step 4. Rinse and disinfect seedling boxes thoroughly. It is especially important to clean wooden boxes well - it is easiest for parasites and pests to stay on the walls.

Seedling boxes

Step 5. Fill clean boxes with prepared soil and spill it so that it settles slightly.

Seedling boxes from tetrapacks filled with soil

Step 6. Prepare the seeds for planting. Dip them for 10-15 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection, then spread them on cheesecloth folded several times and pour with water. Leave it like this for about a day. After the seeds have hatched, plant them in boxes.

Hatched seeds

Step 7. Sow the seeds into small (about 1.5 cm) holes in moist soil, lightly dusting each hole with soil. Planting seeds for obtaining seedlings of cucumbers is done around April (preferably at the end of the month). Usually the seeding scheme is as follows: 10 * 10 cm or 8 * 8 cm.

Sowing seeds

Step 8. Cover the box with seedlings with foil and place them in a warm room on a lighted windowsill. You can see the first shoots in 4-5 days. Then the film can be removed.

Cover the container with foil

Step 9. Water or spray your seedlings and soil every day to keep the soil moist.

Seedlings require daily watering

Step 10. Cucumber seedlings grow quickly, so you may need a pick soon. Seedlings are carefully removed along with a lump of earth and planted in separate cups.

Picking cucumbers

Cucumber seedlings in separate cups

Planting seedlings in a greenhouse

Since cucumbers grow quickly in warm conditions (that is, at home on the windowsill), you can plant seedlings in a greenhouse in May, already 10-20 days after sowing the seeds. As a rule, young plants move when they have 4-5 true leaves.

Attention! Remember to harden the seedlings before planting. To do this, on warm days, put containers on the balcony, veranda, loggia, and bring them back at night.

Hardening of seedlings intended for growing in the open field consists in lowering the air temperature 7-10 days before planting to +15: .. 16 ° С

Before the plants move to a polycarbonate greenhouse, it is worth preparing the structure itself for receiving guests. It is best to disinfect and wash it in the fall, as well as dig up the soil and treat it from parasites. Be sure to remove all garbage from the greenhouse even in the autumn period - these are tops, leaves, sticks and branches. They can be carriers of diseases and the causative agents of plant diseases themselves.

Polycarbonate greenhouse cleaning in autumn

After the garden is harvested, the harvest is mastered, and pickles and jams are lined up in dense rows on the shelves of the pantry, I want to enjoy the fruits of my labors. However, it is too early to rest, because you need to prepare a greenhouse for wintering.

It is advisable to clean the polycarbonate greenhouse in the fall.

In the spring, about a week before planting the seedlings, dig or loosen the soil in the greenhouse again, form beds about 80-90 cm wide and about 35 cm high. The passage between them should be at least 60 cm. Apply fertilizer: it is good if you spill the soil with an aqueous solution with ingredients such as urea, potassium sulfate, superphosphate and tree resin. You can also spill the soil with a mullein dissolved in water. After that, the soil is covered with a film (preferably black) so that the soil warms up well - cucumbers cannot be planted in cold soil.

In the spring, the soil needs to be dug

Mullein as fertilizer

On the day of planting seedlings in the greenhouse, dig holes - their depth should correspond to the height of the pot in which the plant is located. Make the holes in two rows, about 80 cm apart.At the same time, plants can be planted in one row with a step of 50 cm. Be sure to spill each hole with warmed water.

Planting scheme for cucumbers

Gently taking out the earthen lump with cucumber roots from the pot, place it in the prepared hole and sprinkle with earth. It is most convenient to take out the seedlings by pressing the container of the pot from the sides several times and gently turning it over in the palm of your hand, while the fingers of the hand should, as it were, clasp the stem of the cucumber. The soil around the stem can be slightly mulched with peat and sawdust to retain moisture and heat.

Planting plants

Cucumber care

In order for cucumbers to bear fruit well, it is important to provide them with proper care, which consists in such important points:

• watering;
• temperature control and ventilation;
• bush formation;
• top dressing.

Proper watering is perhaps one of the main aspects of plant care. The optimum humidity in a greenhouse for cucumbers should be maintained at about 75-90% in the air and about 60% in the ground. Cucumbers are watered like this: about 5 liters of warm water are consumed for each square meter of the ridge. It is best to water the bushes between 11:00 and 15:00, on a hot day every other day, in cloudy weather - every 3-4 days. As soon as the first ovaries appear, watering should become more abundant - up to 8 liters per 1 m2.

A watered patch of cucumbers in a greenhouse

On a note! Cucumbers are not watered at the very root - it is best to make several grooves next to the stems on the ground and water over them.

Flowering cucumbers

Good room temperature is also important for cucumbers. In the greenhouse, it should always be the same, without abrupt changes. The optimum air temperature is about +28 degrees, and the soil should not cool below +13, otherwise the plants will not be able to absorb water.

To enhance aeration, it is important to loosen the soil around the bushes. But you need to do this without being overly zealous.

In the greenhouse, a support should also be made for the cucumbers - these can be ropes stretched to the very roof. Plants will "climb" over them and stretch upward. To obtain such supports, a so-called trellis is stretched over the rows of plants at a height of about 1.5-2 m - a wire to which the twine is tied in such a way that it reaches the top of the cucumber bushes.

Care for cucumbers in the greenhouse

Methods for vertical cultivation of cucumbers.

On a note! Any support for the cucumbers should be well secured. Otherwise, there is a risk that it will break off under the weight of the bush, and with it the plant, the fragile stem of which may break.

Plants are tied to the ropes when they have 6-8 leaves.

Garter cucumber

On a note! It is important to pinch all the first side shoots so that they do not grow to the sides. Then the cucumber bushes will be beautiful and will stretch upward. Also, the next 4-5 knots are pinched on one leaf and one fruit.

As soon as the cucumber bush grows to the trellis, its top is pinched, otherwise it will continue to grow. Pinching is carried out approximately above the second or third leaf growing after the topmost fruit.

Forming cucumbers in the greenhouse

Top dressing

Another important aspect of caring for cucumbers is feeding. Without it, the harvest is unlikely to be rich and delight you. At the same time, it is important to feed the plants correctly, and not to pour any chemistry under them. The presence of nutritional supplements during flowering and fruit formation is especially important.

Fertilizing cucumbers in the greenhouse

Before flowering, young cucumbers are fed with nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, and during fruiting, nitrogen-potassium fertilizing is carried out.

Mineral fertilizers

On a note! It is best to do the process of feeding cucumbers in the evening, and after applying fertilizers, it is advisable to spill the bushes with clean water.

The following have always been and remain a good organic fertilizer for cucumbers: mullein solution, slurry, or bird droppings.Mullein is bred as follows: stir a liter of this "treat" in a bucket of water and, adding 20 g of urea, water the bushes at the rate of 0.5 liters for one plant. But after the beginning of flowering, a little more - about 40 g - of superphosphate is added to the solution.

Manure infusion

Chicken manure solution for fertilization

The optimal mineral feeding for these crops will be a solution of nitrate (5 g), superphosphate (10 g) and potassium salt (5 g), diluted in a 10-liter bucket of water. The consumption of such mineral dressings is 0.5 liters per bush.

Cucumbers in the greenhouse are sick - what to do?

It would seem that you are doing everything you need to properly care for the cucumbers in the greenhouse, but for some reason they began to wither, lose their splendor and turn yellow. Most likely, the plants are sick. What can cucumbers suffer from, how to cope with plant sores and parasites?

Table. Diseases, pests of cucumbers and getting rid of them.

Rot gray	The first sign of the development of this disease is gray spots of various shades on the stems, as well as in the leaf sinuses. The main reason is insufficient ventilation of the room, watering with too cold water, cool air in the greenhouse, or excessively dense planting of bushes. It is easy to cope with the disease - it is enough to change the growing conditions of crops to suit them. You can also treat the affected areas by sprinkling them with powders - ash and copper sulfate.
Greenhouse whitefly	This volatile little thing can cause significant harm to any species of flora. The fact is that the whitefly feeds on the sap of living green leaves. Thus, it dries out the plants. You can cope with it using chemistry, glue traps. Prevention is important against whitefly - thoroughly clean the greenhouse from weeds.
Powdery mildew	The main symptom of the disease is a bloom of white hue, reminiscent of flour (hence the name - mealy), which occurs on the green part of the plant. Dew spreads quite quickly, and the bushes begin to wither and dry. The result is plant death. The easiest way to cope with the disease is to spray the cucumber bushes with a solution of mullein and urea (a liter of the first and 1 tbsp of the second substance is diluted in a bucket of water). It is better to spray the plants in the morning.
Melon aphid	The parasite eats leaves, shoots, branches, ovaries, causing the death of plants and depriving you of your harvest. Aphids spread very quickly and are dangerous to all plants. The best way to combat it is to spray the plantings with an aqueous solution of red pepper and tobacco dust (about 30 g and 200 g, respectively, diluted in a bucket of water). The drug is cooled, filtered, a little soap and a couple of tablespoons of ash are added to it. Cucumbers should be sprayed approximately once every 7 days at the rate of 2 l / m2.
Root rot	The disease develops due to low soil temperatures or icy watering. The first signs are wilting of leaves, yellowing of the stem and the appearance of cracks on it in the root area. You can save cucumbers only by changing the temperature regime and slightly treating the stem with a special preparation: dissolve 1 tsp in a half-liter jar of water. copper sulfate, 3 tbsp. l. chalk or fluffy lime, mix thoroughly. Apply the preparation to the root of the stem with a brush, removing some soil around it.
Brown spot	Appears at too high humidity and low temperatures at night. A characteristic feature is reddish spots-wounds on the fruits. By the way, cucumbers affected by this disease should not be eaten. To get rid of the disease, stop watering the plants for at least 4-6 days, ventilate the greenhouse well in the heat, or warm it up in cool weather. Additionally, treat the bushes with Bordeaux liquid.

This is, perhaps, all there is to know about growing cucumbers in a greenhouse for a novice gardener. It's good if at first there is a person next to you who is skilled in this business - then everything will definitely work out for you.But even if such an assistant is not around, you yourself will be able to cope with the cultivation of cucumbers and get a good harvest if you follow our recommendations.

Video - How to get a rich harvest of cucumbers in a greenhouse

Cucumber is one of the most popular agricultural crops that are in demand among the population all year round. For planting, development and abundant fruiting of cucumbers, they need a certain microclimate, which is easiest to create and maintain in a greenhouse. Many gardeners prefer polycarbonate for building a greenhouse.

Strong, durable, easy to assemble - such structures will protect the beds from wind, cold and heavy rains, protect plants from the scorching sun, and you can grow vegetables in them 9 months a year.

When is the best time to plant cucumbers in a greenhouse?

If there is a heating system and additional lighting in the greenhouse, it is necessary to sow seeds at the end of March - beginning of April. After emergence, before the formation of the first leaf, daylight hours inside the greenhouse must be extended to 14-16 hours a dayuntil the shoots are finally strong.

Greenhouse lighting, lengthening daylight hours

Lamps must be turned on in time to prevent premature darkness, even for a short time.

In an unheated greenhouse, seedlings are planted in early May (hereinafter we will consider a certain area - the Moscow region). To grow viable seedlings, you must first of all observe the temperature regime. The air temperature during the day should reach + 22 + 25 ° С, and at night + 16 + 20 ° С. The ground should be well warmed up - up to + 15 ° + 18 ° С to a depth of 10 cm. You need to start growing seedlings a month before planting them in a greenhouse in a permanent place. The seedlings should not be allowed to overgrow - this depresses the root system.

It is best to plant self-pollinated cucumber seeds. It is advisable to sort them according to the degree of size, so that in the future, on each separate ridge, you can plant seedlings from seeds of the same size. In this way, you can achieve the same degree of germination and fruit ripening.

Seedlings are ready for transplanting into a greenhouse if the stem has 3 to 4 well-formed leaves, 1-2 antennae, the stem is strong, the root system is sufficiently developed.

You can sow seeds directly into the ground... In this case, the plant will not expend energy for adaptation after transplanting and is guaranteed to avoid possible damage to the roots. But this method is best used in regions with warm climates or using seeds of cold-resistant varieties.

Seedlings of cucumbers, planted in the ground

The greenhouse for planting cucumbers must be properly prepared

This work begins at the end of autumn. First of all, the tops, leaves and roots left over from last year's plants are carefully selected from the ground. Then, the greenhouse itself is inspected and the necessary repairs are carried out. It is disinfected to destroy pests. For this, a chlorine solution is prepared from 350-400 grams of powder, which is dissolved in 8-10 liters of water and infused for 3 hours. The resulting solution is used to treat the entire inner surface of the greenhouse - the frame and other available structural elements.

Above the beds, at a height of about 2 m, ropes are pulled horizontally or supports with cords hanging from them. In the future, a young cucumber branch that has reached a length of about 30 cm, already having 5-6 leaves, will need a garter. In greenhouses, a single-stem plant is usually formed. Hanging the cucumber vine will significantly increase the yield, greatly facilitate the care of the crop, ensure the timely and quick collection of vegetables, and save space.

Soil preparation for sowing

In autumn, the soil must be completely changed or its top layer about 5 cm thick must be removed. A lot of pathogens accumulate in it during the season. The soil is treated with a solution of copper sulfate (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water).This amount is enough for processing 20-25 sq. m area. You can apply a solution of lime (20 g per 6 l of water) or potassium permanganate (6 g per 15 l of water).

Soil preparation for sowing cucumbers

Organic and mineral fertilizers are distributed on the surface of the soil per 1 sq. m:

• 20-25 kg of manure;
• 30-40 g of potash fertilizers;
• 30-40 g of phosphate fertilizers.

If the level of soil acidity is higher than 6.5 PH, add 200-400 g of lime per 1 sq. m of soil. After that, you need to dig up the ground to a depth of 30 cm.

In the spring, the beds are covered with a new layer of soil, consisting of a mixture:

• 5 parts of peat;
• 3 parts of humus;
• 2 parts of turf soil.

As a baking powder, conifer sawdust is added to the mixture.

Cucumber prefers loose soil, enriched with organic matter. For 1 sq. m of soil will require 10-15 kg of manure or compost, which is applied 14 days before planting. At the same time, 1 sq. m beds are distributed:

• 2 tbsp. l. wood ash;
• 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate;
• 2 kg of ready-made mixture "Exo".

These components are scattered in an even layer on top of the ridge, then embedded in the ground with a rake to a depth of 12 cm.

The soil for the beds should be well permeable and retain moisture. It is necessary to regularly loosen the soil, feed plants, maintain air humidity up to 85% and organize timely airing of the greenhouse. Significant changes in temperature and humidity in the greenhouse must not be allowed!

Scheme and correct disembarkation

Ribbon two-line landing pattern

Planting seedlings is simple at first glance. In fact, there are features, given which we will get the opportunity to grow cucumbers and take care of them. Usually, in a greenhouse with dimensions of 3x6 m, beds are arranged so as to provide convenient access to them: 90-100 cm wide, the width of the paths between them is 50 cm, and the distance between the plants is from 20 to 40 cm.The following scheme is often used. In the center there is a bed 90-100 cm wide. On both sides of it there are paths of 40-50 cm. Along the walls there are beds of 50 cm wide. Thus, we have 4 rows of plants: 2 of them are on the central ridge, one row along the walls. However, such a scheme is not a dogma, it can be edited depending on specific conditions - the size of the greenhouse, its shape, ceiling height, etc.

Wells for planting seedlings are staggered... Their depth should be sufficient for handling the plant along with the earthen clod. At the bottom of each hole, a little mixture is poured, including:

• humus (compost or peat) - 300-500 g;
• superphosphate - 5-10 g;
• potassium salt - 5-10 g.

The garden bed is spilled with warm water at the rate of 1 liter per one cucumber vine. Seedlings are planted in the prepared hole, sprinkled with soil, and then mulched with peat on top.

You can plant in a greenhouse with seeds, or you can seedlings

It is recommended to purchase seeds, peat cups and other materials and accessories for the garden and vegetable garden in specialized stores.

Most often, gardeners first grow seedlings, and only then plant them in the ground using small containers. The use of ready-made peat pots will simplify replanting.

The seeds are prepared for sowing. They are disinfected in a solution of potassium permanganate and dried on a napkin.

Wood sawdust is scalded with boiling water and left to cool. The bottom of the wooden box is covered with a layer of sawdust 3-4 cm thick. The prepared seeds are distributed from above and sprinkled with the remaining chopped wood. The box is installed in a warm place, periodically moistening the sawdust. When the sprouts hatch, they can be planted.

Each pot is filled with a soil mixture (peat and sawdust in a ratio of 3: 1), leaving 2 cm incomplete. Then the sprouted seed is laid out and covered with soil with a layer of 1-1.5 cm on top. The soil should not be swampy, but well moistened.

Seedlings can soon be planted in the ground

Air temperature for germinating seeds + 26 + 28 ° С. The first shoots will appear in a week.Within about 20-23 days, the plant produces 3-4 leaves.

Embedding seeds in the soil reaches a depth of 2-4 cm... Place 2-3 seeds in one hole. You can make grooves in the garden bed with a depth of 1-1.5 cm and distribute the seeds in them, sprinkling them with soil mixture on top.

How to solve problems when growing, especially care

To avoid mistakes when growing cucumbers, you need to know them "by sight". Let's consider the most common ones.

Greenhouse planting rules

Too high a planting density will deprive the plants of the amount of light and air they need. For 1 sq. m place 2-4 plants.

Airing

Avoid drafts when airing, cucumbers cannot stand them

The ventilation hatches should only be opened one by one on one side of the greenhouse. Cucumbers do not tolerate drafts. Ventilation is required if the temperature inside the greenhouse exceeds + 30 ° C.

The quality of the planting material

Be sure to check the shift by dipping them in a 5% salt solution. Empty, unusable seeds will float to the surface. Correct specimens will sink to the bottom.

Lack of food

Drying, yellowing leaves, falling off of the ovary, cessation of development ... We introduce mineral fertilizers that stimulate the growth of the culture.

Improper watering, insufficient or frequent

Lack or excess of moisture will affect the yield decline... Before flowering, cucumbers are watered abundantly with water at room temperature. During flowering, watering is halved. When the ovary has appeared, watering is resumed in the same volume. When cucumbers bear fruit, the soil must be constantly moist.

Plants wither during the day

The reason is low air humidity. It is necessary to water the soil abundantly and install containers with water without covering them with lids.

Twisted fruits

Drying out of the soil when growing cucumbers in a greenhouse

This is due to too high air temperature, insufficient or irregular watering, lack of nutrition. If the cucumbers are pear-shaped, then you need to add potassium sulfate as a top dressing (1 tbsp. L per 10 l of water). Cucumbers are like carrots - the plant lacks nitrogen. Water it with diluted mullein (1:10), bird droppings (1:20) and urea (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water).

If the leaves of the planted plants turn white after 2-3 days, this signals a low soil temperature or germ disease. In the first case, the soil is watered with warm water with potassium permanganate, the air temperature in the greenhouse is increased. When a disease is evident, the seedling must be removed immediately, otherwise the spread of the disease can be allowed.

Agricultural work is strenuous, cyclical and seemingly endless. Growing cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse minimizes the care of plants, and turns work into pleasure: there are always fresh cucumbers on the table and you can build a family business.

Growing cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse will allow you to harvest as early as possible. It is the cucumber that is considered the most popular greenhouse plant.

Polycarbonate greenhouses are great for growing this vegetable. The material retains heat, is able to transmit the required amount of light and protect cucumber leaves and ovaries from burns. The main condition for a polycarbonate greenhouse is the presence of vents through which the structure will be ventilated, since cucumber seedlings need not only heat, but also fresh air.

These greenhouses are good for creating a favorable microclimate for early cultivation of cucumbers. Polycarbonate greenhouses are easy to prepare for spring planting. It will be necessary to check the tightness of the structure and wipe the plastic cover.

When to grow?

In polycarbonate greenhouses, you can plant seeds in the ground between 15-20 April. Seedlings can be planted from May 15th. In the southern regions, seme can be planted at the end of March, and seedlings - at the 20th of April.

Creation of optimal conditions

Humidity level

Three days after planting, within two weeks, watering must be carried out strictly in the root part for the development of a good root. With excessive watering, an excess of moisture can occur, which will destroy the entire root system, and it will rot.

If there is a need for an additional increase in the humidity of the greenhouse, polycarbonate can simply be poured from a hose or from buckets. Plastic will create a greenhouse effect. You can also put a bucket of water inside the structure. The optimum humidity level for air is 80%, and for soil - 60%.

Air temperature

An improperly organized temperature regime (above 30-40 C) or a too high greenhouse effect, in which moisture is formed above 90%, can harm cucumbers. The optimum air temperature is from 25 to 28 degrees.

Seeds: how to choose a variety and prepare seeds for growing

You need to start preparing for planting with the purchase of seeds. Regardless of which variety you are going to purchase, seed preparation and processing should already be done beforehand. When seeds come across without much processing, you can prepare them yourself.

An ideal place for germinating seeds can be gauze soaked in water, previously disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate. It is suitable for disinfection. If it is difficult to get potassium permanganate, then you can replace it with a 2-3% solution of hydrogen peroxide.

First, the peroxide must be heated to a temperature of about 40 C, moisten gauze in it, and then place the seeds in it. Soak the seeds of cucumbers for 7-8 minutes. Before planting, rinse the soaked seeds well under water.

Boric acid can be another component for germination. To do this, you need a solution with an optimal temperature of 25-30 C, which consists of half a teaspoon of boric acid diluted in a glass of water. Soak in such a solution for at least two to three hours.

Ready and hardened seedlings can be considered when four viable leaves appear. Seedlings are planted in the greenhouse at the age of 30 days.

How to grow?

Step-by-step instructions for growing:

1. Cucumber loves warmth, so it is recommended to plant it in "warm" beds.
2. Manure is ideal for warming the soil. The bottom of the bed is insulated with a fresh layer of manure, which is covered from above with 25-centimeter soil.
3. Then the soil is watered and sown with seeds.
4. One square meter of a plot of land should contain 4-5 bushes.
5. Arcs are installed along the length of all beds. A film is stretched over them to create a greenhouse effect. The heat will create the process of decomposition of the manure laid out on the bottom of the bed.

How to care?

Lash formation

If the vegetable is not formed in time, then it will grow chaotically. When processing a plant, you can transfer all the ovaries and remain without a crop.

It is due to the lack of timely formation of lashes that a huge number of climbing plants are obtained, on which there are almost no fruits.

There are three main stages in the formation of lashes:

1. First step: "Blindness". At this stage, it is necessary to free the first three leaves of the plant from shoots and buds. This gives a certain stimulus to the plant for further development and obtaining a large number of ovaries, because after the appearance of the first shoots, the plant has no reason for further growth.
2. Second step: This stage is characterized by the removal of side shoots at a distance of up to half a meter from the root. Then the second half a meter is freed from excess leaves, it is necessary to leave one sheet at a time. Further, over the course of a meter, it is enough to leave three sheets.
3. Third step: The second row of the plant is processed, that is, all lateral shoots are pinched onto one leaf.

To clarify the number of shoots that must be left on the plant, it is worth focusing on its height.As the plant grows, the main stem will need to be thrown over the trellis and pinched again, leaving up to 60 cm.

From this moment, the weekly plant formation begins. During this period, it is necessary to inspect the plants so as not to miss yellowing of the leaves or their diseases. Such procedures are recommended to be carried out before lunch, so that by the evening the wounds have dried up.

Top dressing

It is recommended to use 3 types of feeding:

1. Take potassium sulfate, urea and superforsfate (1 tsp). Dilute with 10 liters of water.
2. Combine humanate (1 tablespoon) with 10 liters of water.
3. Fertilize with a mixture of liquid mullein (1 cup).

Pollination

Pollination in a greenhouse can be done in 2 methods:

1. Use of insects. In the warm season, you need to open a window in the greenhouse so that the bees can fly in on their own.
2. Manually. The process is carried out with a brush. Use the tip of the brush to remove the pollen from the male flower and carefully transfer it to the female flower.

Airing

The greenhouse needs to be ventilated regularly. To do this, you need to raise the panel or open a window for a couple of hours. On warm days, you can leave the greenhouse open all day. When ventilating, the optimum temperature in the greenhouse should be from +18 to +30 degrees.

Watering

Watering rules:

1. Do not pour water on the surface of the leaves. Polycarbonate retains moisture, and plants can become sore if not well ventilated. Ideally, the plants are watered under the root with settled warm water.
2. You can not organize watering during the day under bright sunlight, and especially pour water on the leaves. This can lead to the formation of small water droplets that act as lenses. Because of them, light will be refracted, which can burn the plant.
3. Plant bushes must be watered with warm water. The temperature should be appropriate for the environment to avoid early shedding of the ovaries. It is recommended to take running water in advance and leave it outside to reach a temperature of 15-20 degrees. This is best done in large drums or tanks.

Before the first ovary appears, watering should be done 2-3 times a week, and then every day until the first fruits.

Diseases and their treatment

Possible diseases that can harm plants:

Drying of the lower leaves

This problem appears when the plant lacks moisture. In this case, the upper branches bloom and stretch upward, tying fruits, and the lower ones begin to dry.

There are several guidelines for fixing this problem:

1. Gradual cutting of the lower leaves. This procedure can be carried out for several days.
2. Placing the plant gently on the soil. In this case, it is necessary to remove the stem from the mesh and roll the plant into a ring.
3. Fastening the stem with wire in the form of a fork and sprinkling it with earth. The top with leaves and flowers must always remain at the top.
4. After all the above procedures, the plant is daily watered, processed and fed. This should result in a new root build-up on the stem under the soil. After that, the plant will start growing again.

Lack of ovaries

Particularly popular are bunch varieties with hybrids, which give high yields and are distinguished by excellent fruit quality. One node of such plants, if properly cared for and processed, can produce up to seven ovaries.

At the first experience of growing this type of plant, you may encounter the problem of the absence of ovaries. There are several reasons for the absence, drying up and falling off of the ovaries:

1. The absence or lack of male flowers in the plant.
2. Insufficient number of pollinated flowers due to the lack of pollinating insects, which can happen due to bad and cloudy weather.
3. Insufficient soil nutrition. Modern hybrids require a lot more vitamins for growth and development. It is necessary to carry out their regular supply.As a result of improper organization of plant care, it can give many ovaries, but only one cucumber will grow, everything else will dry out and disappear. To prevent such a problem, it is necessary to carry out weekly feeding with mullein with urea.
4. For the formation of new ovaries, it is necessary to harvest cucumbers as often as possible. In the presence of already ripe cucumbers, the plant does not need to form new ovaries, it gives all the nutrients to the overgrowths. Fruiting is favorably influenced by carbon dioxide released by the mullein solution, which is recommended to be placed in a container in a greenhouse and stirred periodically. The same effect can be obtained from burning a newspaper right inside the greenhouse.

Slow fruit growth

For the active growth of fruits, you can make a "poultice". This should be done in sunny weather. The entire surface of the polycarbonate greenhouse is poured with water, and all the vents are closed. Plants and soil are also watered and left for an hour. After this procedure, you can start gradual ventilation. Harvesting regularly also promotes faster growth of new cucumbers.

It is recommended to shoot the fruit no more than 12 cm long and 5 cm thick. Harvesting is advised every day in the morning and in the evening, otherwise in a day you can find an overgrown cucumber in the garden. This is due to the lack of stimulation for the plant to make new ovaries and all the energy is spent on continuing the growth of existing fruits.

Bitter cucumbers

The taste of cucumbers, or rather their bitterness or sweetness, depends on the level of cucurbitan substance in the plant. Its amount directly depends on the growing conditions, variety and duration of fruit ripening. It is believed that fruit that ripens more than two weeks after pollination is more likely to taste bitter.

Invasion of aphids or greenhouse whiteflies

Aphids usually appear in places where a lot of weeds accumulate and the pedicels of the vegetable become its target. In such cases, it is advised to treat the plants with a solution of hot pepper (2 g per 2 liters of water). Whitefly infects leaves, its sap forms a fungus on the surface of the plant. You can get rid of it by covering all the vents with gauze.

Powdery downy mildew

This is the formation of green and oily spots on the leaves of cucumbers.

The polycarbonate greenhouse is the perfect place to grow fresh and crispy cucumbers. In these greenhouses, the plants require minimal maintenance and yield excellent yields.

Cucumber is a thermophilic crop for which outdoor cultivation is not always accompanied by favorable weather conditions. The arrangement of a polycarbonate greenhouse allows you to avoid sudden changes in temperature and humidity, for which our spring has been so famous lately. To grow a good harvest of cucumbers to the envy of all neighbors, you need to take into account a number of simple rules for caring for cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse.

Preparing the soil for planting

Pay special attention to the preparation of the soil for growing cucumbers

First of all, attention should be paid to the soil from which the plant will receive its main food. This should be done in the fall: before digging, add fresh manure, phosphorus and potash fertilizers, lime or chalk. Cucumber is very demanding on nutrition: the best soils for it are loams with a high nutrient content and an acidity level of 6.5-7.

Important! Nitrogen fertilizers are applied to the soil only in spring.

Seed selection

You can plant cucumbers by seedlings or seeds directly into the greenhouse. Seeds must be chosen correctly, it is better to use hybrids, since their flowers do not require insect pollination. These are the so-called parthenocarpics: all the flowers of such plants are female, and the fruits are tied themselves.

Planting cucumber seedlings in greenhouse soil

Here are some well-established hybrid varieties:

• Amur;
• Crispin;
• Athena;
• Ecole.

Pollinated varieties require pollinating insects. In their absence, pollination must be carried out manually. You can attract bees in this way: sprinkle the foliage of plants with boiled sugar syrup with the addition of a few drops of anise oil in the morning. Do not forget to open the vents so that insects can enter the greenhouse.

Here are some popular greenhouse bee-pollinated varieties:

• Annushka;
• Hercules;
• Crystal.

According to the purpose, the varieties are divided into salad, pickling and canning.

Manual pollination of cucumber flowers

The timing of fruit ripening also differs:

1. Early: fruiting occurs 40-45 days after planting.
2. Mid-season - 45-50 days.
3. Late: fruiting occurs in 50 days or more.

Advice. When choosing seeds for growing, pay attention to the disease resistance of the variety and its yield.

Disembarkation to a permanent place

Before planting seeds or seedlings, it is advisable to disinfect the soil with a weak solution of hot potassium permanganate or a 7% solution of copper sulfate in order to avoid the development of diseases in cucumbers. After the beds are ready, you need to pull two rows of wire at a height of 1.5-2 m with a distance between the rows of 20-30 cm - to tie the bushes. You can use plastic mesh instead of wire. It should be strengthened slightly obliquely, so it will be convenient to harvest. In addition, the plants with this method are better illuminated, respectively, and the yield is higher.

Scheme: a method of tying cucumber bushes

Plant seedlings along the wire rows or sow seeds into holes 1.5-2 cm deep at a distance of 50-60 cm from each other. After completing the work, water the seedlings again.

Important! When planting seedlings, the root collar should not be buried, as this can lead to the death of the plant.

Nutrition strategy

During fruiting, plants constantly require nutrients and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The more gas, the better. In greenhouses, compost and organic mulch are the main sources of carbon dioxide. You can increase the gas content by placing any container half filled with fresh manure or poultry droppings in the greenhouse. When this mixture is fermented, it is used for fertilizing, diluted with water in the correct proportion: manure 1:20, and bird droppings 1:40. This simple method increases the yield.

Top dressing of cucumbers is carried out with both mineral and organic fertilizers

But organic matter is not always at hand, so you can use ready-made mineral mixtures for pumpkin crops to feed cucumbers. Cucumber responds very well to foliar dressing on foliage from a spray bottle with the following composition: 2 g of boric acid per 10 liters of water.

Important! Top dressing should be done no more than 5 times per season.

Watering

The cucumber fruit is 90% water and this explains the plant's strong dependence on it. The moisture content of the soil should be constant, without jumps from waterlogging to dryness. Both lack and excess moisture are very harmful:

• the ovary is crumbling;
• the fruits curl and become bitter;
• leaves die;
• the yield is sharply reduced;
• root rot and other diseases occur.

Watering cucumber bushes can only be done with warm water, otherwise the plants will start to hurt

Water for irrigation is always warm, somewhere between +20 - + 25 ° C. It is impossible to water the plant under the very stem, as this will expose the roots. If this has already happened, then add earth. Mulching is very effective. Mulch does not allow the soil to dry out quickly, a crust does not form on the surface of the soil, the temperature regime remains constant, the aeration of the soil is doubled, the development of weeds is suppressed, which reduces the number of weeding. Use any organic material available. Peat, compost, fallen leaves, straw, grass cutting dried in the sun will do.

Attention! Soil temperature should be constant - +22 - + 24 ° C. At a temperature of + 13 - + 15 ° C, the roots of cucumbers do not assimilate water.

It is no secret that watering takes a lot of time and effort from the gardener. Nowadays, polycarbonate drip irrigation systems for greenhouses are gaining popularity. The most important advantage of such systems is a minimum of participation in the process, a person only has to open and close the tap. In addition, water consumption is reduced by several times, while water is guaranteed to be supplied to the roots.

Temperature regime

In the heat, so as not to die in the sun, plants vigorously evaporate water. At low air humidity, the roots simply do not have time to deliver moisture to the leaves. A polycarbonate greenhouse allows you to create the necessary microclimate with high humidity, which should be about 80% before fruiting, and 90% during the fruiting period. This level of humidity is achieved through spraying and watering.

Ventilate the greenhouse regularly to maintain the required microclimate

But do not forget to ventilate the greenhouse to avoid the development of diseases. Plants are afraid of drafts, so try to do this through the upper vents. On sunny days at noon it is useful to make "poultices", closing the greenhouse for 1.5-2 hours, and then ventilate.

Advice! In extreme heat, spraying the leaves with water from a spray bottle will help to increase the humidity and reduce the air temperature in the greenhouse.

Pinching and shaping

In a greenhouse, whatever size it is, it is imperative to form cucumbers. Removing everything unnecessary from the bush, we redirect the plant's forces to the development of fruits, improve illumination and air circulation. Forming allows you to get more yield from a smaller area.

For parthenocarpic varieties, light is important, and the shape of the bush is practically irrelevant: the formation of an ovary in them does not depend on the presence of pollinating insects. Most of the fruits are formed on the lateral branches of the plant. Parthenocarpics, as a rule, branch very well, it is convenient to guide them in one vine on a trellis. After the appearance of the first ovary on the plant, it must be removed, this will give an impetus to the intensive development of the plant. In the future, all lateral branches must be pinched after the formation of 3-4 fruits. When these shoots have new shoots (3rd order), then pinch over 2-3 leaves.

Bushes must be shaped and tied to a support

Pollinated varieties, as a rule, form several shoots. On the main stem, they form mostly male flowers - barren flowers, and on the side ones, mostly female ones. They branch rather late, so you need to pinch the main stem over the sixth leaf and feed the plant so that it quickly puts forward new shoots and forms an ovary.

Advice. Cucumber shoots are very fragile, so that the plant is less injured, pinch with sharp scissors, without leaving hemp.

Diseases of cucumbers

Not only cucumbers feel good in a polycarbonate greenhouse, but also their enemies: diseases, viruses and pests, which spread much faster in monoculture than in open ground. If you do not take action in time, you can be left without a harvest at all. Literally everything suffers - leaves, fruits, flowers and shoots.

Among the pests, the most common are the melon aphid and greenhouse whitefly, as well as spider mites. These insects feed on plant sap and can carry pathogens.

There are a lot of diseases and viruses in cucumbers, the most dangerous are powdery mildew, root rot, anthracnose, olive spot, peronosporosis.

Melon aphids on cucumber leaves

What are the causes of diseases.

• thickening of crops;
• poor ventilation;
• watering with cold water, its lack or excess;
• lack of crop rotation;
• wrong temperature regime;
• lack of nutrition in the soil.

Carefully monitor the health of your plants, take protective measures in time and you will always have a rich harvest.

Advice.Always be sure to decontaminate the seeds of your purchased plants, this will save you a lot of hassle in the future.

Growing cucumbers in a country greenhouse: video

Planting and caring for cucumbers: photo