Cucumber - a gentle plant and transplant tolerates pretty bad.
But in order to get an early harvest, many gardeners still decide to grow cucumbers through seedlings.
In order for the vegetable to safely endure this procedure and continue to grow in the open field, you should follow some rules of transplantation.
Today we find out the following questions: when to plant cucumbers on seedlings for open ground, how to do it correctly and what to take into account?
When to land?
To select the time of transplantation, two factors should be considered: soil and air temperature and plant age.
Timing
The optimal time for planting cucumbers in open ground - the end of May.
As a rule, by this time the air in the daytime warms up above 20 degrees, and at night the temperature does not fall below 15-17.
The soil at a depth of 10 cm should warm up up to 12 degrees.
But if it's cooler outside, you shouldn't rush into disembarking.
In this regard, plastic five-liter bottles are very convenient. From them cut off the bottom and the resulting cap cover cucumber bush. In the afternoon for airing unscrew a lid, cover the bottle for the night. Turns out a kind of mini-hothousewhich allows you to plant cucumbers in the ground for one or two weeks earlier.
Age of seedlings
It is important for planting and age of seedlings. Crop of cucumber must be calculated in such a way that by the time of disembarkation he had formed 3-4 true leaves. It is at this time that the plant has a sufficiently developed root system, and it will transfer the change of the place of cultivation well. This phase of development of cucumber reaches the age of 20-25 days after germination.
Preparing for transplant
Seedlings of cucumbers before moving into the open ground should be prepared for the procedure. If you take out plants unprepared for the sun and the temperature changes and immediately place them in the soil, the cucumbers will die.
Two weeks before disembarking, boxes of cucumbers should be started out on the street..
First, for a short time, gradually increasing it.
Choose for installation of boxes the shaded place protected from a draft.
For the first walk, choose a warm, windless day.
For the prevention of infection seedlings diseases 5-6 days before planting, treat the plants with the Epin or Immunocytophyte solution.
Preparation of beds
It is important to choose the right place for planting cucumber on the site. Do not forget that cucumbers are susceptible to diseases, and when choosing a place, you need to consider which plants were located on it in the previous year.
You can not plant cucumbers after pumpkin, zucchini, squash, melon. The best predecessors are tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cabbage and onions. These cultures have different diseases with cucumber, which means that the risk of infection is minimal.
The place for cucumbers should be maximally lit by the sun. during the day and at the same time necessarily protected from the wind. Do not plant cucumbers in the draft, otherwise the harvest will not wait.
The bed for cucumbers needs to be dug up well, add humus and nitrophoska to the soil (tablespoon per square meter). If the soil is with high acidity, add slaked lime or ash when digging. Cucumber prefers loose, light formulationstherefore if on your site heavy, dense soil, it is necessary to add peat or sand to it.
The width of the beds should be chosen in such a way that it is convenient to care for the plants (80-90 cm). For cucumbers, it is advisable to make high, raised by 15-20 cm above the level of the rest of the soil beds. Such a height will provide the root system with sufficient heat.
Warm bed for cucumbers
Ideal for growing cucumbers is a warm bed based on biofuels.
In such conditions, the roots of the vegetable will get enough heat and at the same time will be provided with food.
It is significant will accelerate their growth and bring harvest closer.
- For the manufacture of beds digs trench 40-50 cm deep and 1 meter wide. A layer of soil is taken out of it and rotted manure mixed with chopped straw is placed on the bottom. The layer is equal to 20-30 cm.
- From above this layer is covered with soil removed from the trench. The thickness of the ground should be 20-30 cm.
- 1-2 days before planting cucumbers, a bed is spilled with hot water and covered with black film. By the time of planting, the soil temperature in such a bed will be optimal, and cucumber roots, placed in warm soil, easier to get accustomed.
If there is no possibility to make a warm bed, you can put a little straw manure mixture in each hole to a depth of 40-45 cm, and sprinkle it on top of it with earth. The effect will be about the same.
Landing technology
Ideal for growing cucumbers are peat pots or pills. This method allows not to injure the delicate roots and plant each plant along with a clod of earth in the prepared holes.
For planting digging holes, the depth of which must match the height of the pot or earthen coma, in which the plant is placed.
- The wells are located at a distance of 20-30 cm from each other, between the rows between plants should be 40-50 cm. Before planting, the hole is shed with water.
- Seedlings in peat pots planted in the hole with them, deepening the entire height. If the cucumber is grown in a cup, turn it over and, holding the stem with your hand, carefully remove the earth from the clod.Try to act as carefully as possible without damaging the delicate roots.
- Plants are buried in the soil to the cotyledon leaves. The soil around is lightly crushed and watered. Under each plant, you need to pour about 1 liter of liquid, so that the soil is as wet as possible.
- After watering, the surface should be ground with dry grass or fine straw so that the moisture does not evaporate. You can cover the surface with a special light-proof film.
IMPORTANT! Do not water cucumbers with cold water, the liquid should be slightly warm.
Departure in the first days after disembarkation
After planting a cucumber on the garden it is desirable shake for 1-2 daysso that the bright rays of the sun do not burn the leaves. Do not rush to water the plant until the roots take root - excess moisture at this time can cause them to rot. The first watering after the landing can be done in 2-3 days.
14 days after planting in the ground, cucumbers can be fed with organic fertilizer.
How to plant cucumbers in the open ground with seeds?
If you did not grow cucumbers in cups, you can sow them directly into the ground. Recommendations for preparing beds are the same as for planting seedlings.
When seed planted in open ground seeds? The optimal time for sowing is May 15-20. By this time, the temperature of the soil warms up to 16-18 degrees and seedlings will appear within 5-7 days.
Sowing is carried out in the wells, 2-3 seeds in each, to a depth of 2-3 cm. The number of seeds is increased in case some of them do not germinate. If all specimens have risen, select the strongest one and remove the rest. When removing, do not pull out an unnecessary sprout from the soil, as you can touch the remaining one.
Carefully break off the top of the head, leaving the root in the ground. Thinning is done no earlier than at least 3 leaflets have formed. By this time, it is already possible to identify the strongest plant, as well as to eliminate the death of the remaining in the hole.
When planting expensive varietal seeds pre-germination can be applied. To do this, place them in a damp cloth and place in a warm place. Before soaking, the seeds can be treated with Epin or Zircon preparations.
This will prevent their infection with pathogenic microbes and accelerate germination. In addition to these drugs can be used for processing a solution of potassium permanganate or aloe leaf juice.
After 4-5 days, you will see sprouted sprouts. Seed immediately plant one at a time in each well. Do not wait until the seedling from the seed becomes long - you can damage it when planting, and the plant will not grow.
For early sowing in the soil, the seeds are not soaked, as the specimens in the cold ground begin to rot.
It is advisable to sow cucumbers in two terms, for different consumption purposes.. Early, for use in salads - from the middle to the end of May. Mid-season and late, for salting - in the beginning and the middle of June.
Compliance with the rules of planting cucumbers in open ground will allow you to get an early harvest of this tasty and healthy vegetable on your own plot.
So, we discussed and found out when to plant cucumber seeds for seedlings for open ground?
Useful materials
Check out other helpful cucumber seedlings articles:
- How to grow on the windowsill, balcony and even in the basement?
- Tips for growing in various containers, particularly in peat pots and tablets.
- Find out the planting dates depending on the region.
- The reasons why the seedlings are pulled out and the leaves dry and turn yellow?
- All the secrets of seed preparation before sowing and picking young shoots.
