Cucumbers in the greenhouse in winter and all year round
Now in stores you can buy cucumbers not only in summer, but all year round. But we rarely use this opportunity, since their taste is much worse than summer ones. This is due to the fact that the fastest-bearing varieties are grown in greenhouses, and chemical fertilizers are used. I don't even want to talk about imported greens from China, their cucumbers taste like plastic.
Content:
Winter greenhouse requirements
If you decide to grow delicious crispy cucumbers all year round for your family or for sale, you will need a heated greenhouse, and by no means biofuel. Most often they are heated using the converter method. To do this, a boiler is installed inside the greenhouse or a separate boiler room is being built not far from it. From the boiler pipes and heating radiators are led into the greenhouse.
The boiler can be solid fuel or liquid fuel. With the help of fuel, water or steam is heated in it, which go through pipes to radiators that heat the greenhouse. Obviously, such heating will be quite expensive and will pay off only if you sell the product. However, heating with electricity will be even more expensive, even if economical infrared heaters are installed. In the southern regions, greenhouses are often heated with the help of elementary stoves, but in the middle lane in winter they will warm up the greenhouse only in case of round-the-clock throwing of firewood, and after all, sometime you need to sleep.
In addition to heating, additional lighting will be needed. Cucumbers need a long daylight hours, 12-14 hours, and in winter the sun shines much less time. For greenhouses, special sodium lamps are produced that emit the spectrum necessary for photosynthesis. They are relatively inexpensive but difficult to install. Energy-saving high-pressure mercury lamps are also suitable for lighting winter greenhouses, but while their disposal is difficult, it is better not to install them. Fluorescent lamps are inexpensive, but they can look quite cumbersome. You can arrange LED lighting, but it is also not cheap.
In the greenhouse, ridges with a height of at least 20 cm should be prepared from fertile soil in half with humus. For watering, you will have to install a special system. You can, of course, water it by hand, but do not forget that the water must be warm enough. Although cucumbers love warm, humid air, minimal ventilation should be provided.
Cucumber varieties
Naturally, varieties of cucumbers should be chosen that are not bee-pollinated, since there will be no insects in the greenhouse in winter. But now there are a lot of parthenocarpic varieties and hybrids on sale, there is plenty to choose from. For a quick harvest, choose cucumbers with a short ripening period, for example, "Boy-with-finger F1", "Claudia F1", "Mother-in-law F1", "Son-in-law F1". And if you like long salad cucumbers, then you can buy "Zozulya F1".
Whichever seeds you buy are best used seedling method cultivation, and the seedlings will also need additional lighting. It is easier to organize it at home, it is enough to use a table lamp and foil, as when growing early flower seedlings. Just put the cups with seedlings in a box from under household appliances, one side of which is cut off and turned to the window, and the other is covered with foil. From above, turn on the lamp in the dark or cloudy weather.
Agrotechnics
Seedlings should be planted in a greenhouse when the soil warms up to 20-25 degrees, but before that it is disinfected with a 7% solution of copper sulfate. A distance of about a meter must be left between the rows of plants, at least 30 cm between the plants themselves, otherwise thickening and, as a result, the appearance of gray rot are possible.
In the future, the air temperature should be maintained around 20-25 degrees during the day. at night - not lower than 18 degrees. Good illumination should last 14 hours a day. The lamps are turned off at night. As they grow, the cucumbers are tied up using a trellis. The formation of a plant is carried out as follows: the lower lateral shoots are pinched above the first ovary, the second - above the second ovary, etc., so that the plant looks like an inverted Christmas tree.
Watering is carried out every day so as to deeply wet the soil, otherwise the fruits will be bitter. It is recommended to maintain soil moisture at the level of 50-60%, air - up to 90%. You need to feed the plant at the beginning of the growing season with nitrogen fertilizer, and closer to ripening - with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer. Mineral fertilizers can be combined with mullein infusion. Foliar top dressing is also recommended, especially in case of violation of the thermal regime. They are carried out using copper sulfate, boric acid and potassium permanganate. A couple of grams of these substances are dissolved in warm water and the plants are sprayed, preferably in the early morning or, conversely, in the evening. To avoid the appearance of powdery mildew, the leaves of the plants are sprayed with a mullein.
You can use a black mulch film. Weeds do not grow under it, it retains heat and moisture well in the soil.
Judging by the article, organizing year-round cultivation of cucumbers is very difficult, both in material terms and in terms of having the appropriate skills.
Of course, it is difficult and expensive, therefore, it is much cheaper to grow seedlings at home, and plant them in a greenhouse at the end of February, beginning of March, in this case, the cost of growing cucumbers will be much lower.