Cucumber

Cucumbers originate from the tropical and subtropical forests of India, so they are thermophilic, photophilic and hygrophilous. They can grow with a slight shading, but the yield is sharply reduced, much better cucumbers develop and bear fruit in good light.

What do cucumbers like? Fertile, humus-rich soil with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction( pH 5-6), fertilization with infusion of fresh manure, mineral top dressing, moist( 80-85%) and warm soil( growth and development of roots occurs at temperatures above 15-16 degrees), moist( 85-90%) warm air( for normal growth and development they need a temperature above 20 degrees Celsius).

What do cucumbers do not like? Sour, dense, poor, cold soils, watering with cold water( below 20 degrees Celsius), drafts, abrupt temperature changes day and night( begin to taste bitter), cold nights( at night the temperature should not fall below 12-16 degrees, otherwise the greens do notgrow).In the daytime, the cucumber prefers a temperature of 22-28 degrees, but not lower than 20 and not higher than 30-32.At temperatures below 20 degrees, the growth and development of the cucumber slows down, at 15-16 degrees fruiting stops, at a temperature above 32 degrees, growth and development are suspended, and at a temperature above 36-38 degrees there is no pollination. At negative temperatures, the cucumber perishes. Cucumber does not like transplants.

If the air temperature drops to 3-4 degrees for a long time( 10-15 days), the plants do not develop, weaken strongly and later become ill with root and stem rot.

The cucumbers, like all pumpkin cultures, have a weak root system and poor regeneration of the roots, so they do not like transplants, loosening of the soil, weeding, since at the slightest movement of the soil sucking hairs break off and are not restored to this root any more. It takes time to grow a new root, on which sucking hairs are formed. Naturally, at this time development and fruiting are slowing down. Therefore, it is better to grow cucumbers in a non-seedlings way, not to transplant plants, especially when they have more than 2 true leaves, mulch the soil under the plants so that it does not have to be loosened, and cut the weeds according to the soil level, rather than pull them out.

Selecting the grade

It is better to use zoned varieties or hybrids that have proven themselves in your area. Do not chase after the exotic and in any case do not sow the whole greenhouse with the varieties you do not know. Carefully select what you need, what will give you a stable harvest, and buy a little something new to try out in your garden.

Varieties and hybrids of cucumbers created a lot, but not everyone can like you or come up because of the local climate. However, there are universal hybrids and varieties, which showed themselves perfectly in almost all regions.

When it comes to tomatoes, I usually do not recommend hybrids, because they have low taste qualities compared to varieties. But when it comes to cucumbers, it is recommended to use hybrids, not varieties. They are much more resistant to unfavorable weather, diseases and pests, grow faster and develop, give more yield and, most importantly, do not concede to the taste qualities of varieties, and sometimes exceed them. True, the seeds of hybrids are more expensive, this should also be taken into account.

Packets with varieties are usually written for open or closed soil, and this should be taken into account. But hybrids, as a rule, are suitable for greenhouses and for open ground. The most popular hybrid is the Mansion House of the St. Petersburg firm Hardwick. It has good taste qualities and gives a reliable harvest in all weather conditions. The Mansion House is good in any form: in salads, okroshke, marinades and salting.

Specially for salting by firm "Hardwick" the grade Crisp of exclusive gustatory qualities is created.

There are plentiful hybrids of universal purpose Opal and Dachny, there is a very tasty late variety. Autumn cornichon, small cucumbers of which do not exceed 8 cm. Short-bodied abundant variety of Pavlovsky universal purpose is characterized by good taste and ability to tie fruit in low light. There are good varieties created in VIR specifically for regions with cool summers and insufficient solar illumination: Nick, Kulik, Karelian. There is a long-bred hybrid Severyanin, created at the St. Petersburg Agronomical University.

Fine varieties and hybrids of Moscow firms "Gavrish" and "Sedek": hybrids of the open ground Asterix and Moscow dude, as well as hybrids of the day of greenhouses Parus, Tournament, Bleak, varieties of Virent and Piirent. In any region, we can boldly grow the widely spread hybrids Marinda, Connie, Mazay, Temp( very fast).Interest is caused by tiny hybrids specially for the preparation of pickles: Spring, Moth, Regiment's Son, Mikron. Recently, breeders have created many new hybrids with short lashes that do not require pinching. As a rule, they bear a bouquet. This Petersburg jubilee, Merry company, Friendly family, Bouquet, Acorn, By the witch's whip, At my wish, Okhotny Ryad, Spring, Emerald stream( early, shade-tolerant), Russian fun( salted hybrid of prolonged fruiting).

It is worth paying attention to the hybrids of Dutch breeding that are offered by Veyo: Asterix, Adam, Atlantis, Accord, Agibi, Amigo, Amur.

A great interest among lovers was caused by wonderful cucumbers of a new generation, triple hybrids Valaam, Saratov Cucumber, Suomi. They have excellent taste, a rich harvest and good resistance to unfavorable conditions. In addition, they have limited growth of lateral lobes, so that the whip does not need to pinch, besides fruiting by a bundle, that is, immediately several cucumbers from the sinus leaf. The only drawback is the relatively high price and fast return of the harvest.

Seed preparation

If you grow hybrids, you do not need to preheat the seeds, because they have a predominantly female type of flowering. If you grow varieties and the seeds are fresh, then the warming up is recommended to stimulate the rapid appearance of female flowers, because the varieties on the main stem predominantly grow male flowers( female flowers have a small cucumber, but for men it does not).

A month before sowing, hang a bag of seeds on a central heating battery. You can reduce this procedure if you heat the seeds in the thermos with hot( 53 degrees) water for 15-20 minutes before planting, at the same time, and free the seeds from the pathogens of bacteriosis and anthracnose.

Rule of sowing

In regions with a cold summer, cucumbers should not be grown in high greenhouses on a vertical trellis, but in a horizontal position in small guys, because warm air rising from the soil at night can quite keep heat in a small volume. In these regions, particularly in the North-West, cucumbers are not grown outdoors, they have to be grown on cover, that is, to cover the rim with cucumbers at night, and in the afternoon to open them. It is convenient to do this if you set arcs - metal or wicker rods - over beds with cucumbers. With the cut wire, it is necessary to remove the bark immediately( at this time it is removed very easily).Bend the bars arcs, stuck in the soil. Such willow arcs serve 5-6 years, if for the winter they are taken out of the soil, bundled in bundles and kept under a roof so that they do not get wet.

For the cultivation of cucumbers in a sheltered ground it is convenient to build a special box without a bottom, 2 m wide and of an arbitrary length. The box is positioned so that its long side extends from west to east, as the cucumbers will grow across the box in a southerly direction. The north side of the box is made about 80 cm high, and the southern side is only 40 cm, the sides have an oblique upper cut, dropping from 80 to 40 cm.

The bottom of the box is filled with biofuel. You can use hay, straw, leaves, unbroken compost, but not manure, as it will cause rapid growth of the aboveground part to the detriment of fruit bearing, and also provoke root rot. From above, fertile soil is filled with biofuel at a height of at least 15-20 cm. The soil should not reach about 5-7 cm to the low edge of the box.

Seeds or seedlings are planted from the high wall at a distance of 10 cm from it. Plants are placed quite often, about 15 cm apart. Behind the high wall, with the help of a bar, a film is pinned, which is thrown across the entire box and descends to the ground behind the low edge so that it can be fixed on the ground with stones and a pipe. In the afternoon, the film is thrown back behind a high wall, thrown over the low wall at night and fixed, completely covering the cucumbers. Strictly speaking, this is also a covering bed, but it's easier to work on it.

You can grow cucumbers in a vertical cylinder to save space. To do this, cut a piece of roofing material with a length of about 3 m in a cylinder with a diameter of 80-90 cm, put the cylinder on the priest, tie it with a rope so it does not fall apart, and fill it with torn magazines, old shoes, pieces of rotten stumps and boards,, then add chopped branches with leaves, unbroken compost or hay, straw, leaves, sawdust, add azofosca( 2-3 cups), then pour good soil. Up to the top of the cylinder should remain about 20 cm of empty space. The soil should be thoroughly soaked to the very bottom of the cylinder. Then cover with a tape and tie a rope. After 10-12 days the soil warms up well, and it will be possible to sow seeds of cucumbers into it.

On such a vertical bed seed is sown at a distance of 15 cm from each other along the circumference of the cylinder, retreating from the wall by 10-12 cm, and covered with a film. Frosts go on the soil, and the seeds are at a height of 80 cm, so do not freeze.

The sprouts are allowed to grow until the first real leaflet. Then the film is taken off, and a pipe or a stalk is driven into the center of the bed so that it protrudes over the cylinder about half a meter. To the upper part of the stake is attached lutrasil, which is lowered like a tent to the ground and fixed, so as not to wind the wind. Shoots are inside the tent, and they are not afraid of freezing. Lutrasil is opened only to water and feed plants. With the onset of hot weather, all lutrasil is collected from the north side, opening the plants to the sun. As the plants grow, they will descend down the walls of the cylinder downward, this bed looks effective.

Of course, you should put such a cylinder in the sunniest place. It accommodates up to 20 plants, and occupies a garden only 1 m2.

You can make a cylinder not from roofing material, but from tires that are stacked on top of each other. In the same vertical beds, it is good to grow seedlings of different crops. But they can not plant strawberries, because in winter the cylinder freezes and strawberries will die in those regions where frosty winters. In the spring, to melt the ice, the soil in these vertical beds is poured very hot water.

Pumpkin cultures can be grown with seedlings, provided that you will transplant them into the soil by transshipment, without damaging the roots, at the age of 20-25 days after emergence. It is at the stage of 1-2 leaves that the pumpkin seedlings tolerate a transplant quite well, since they practically do not yet have a root system. If you do a transplant at a later age, the root system formed by the plant will practically die and after the transplantation will begin to grow again.

It is best to grow seedlings in the cylinders of the abyss made from the newspaper. The newspaper is folded two times in half and screwed onto the bottle. It turns out a paper cylinder. Its edges are fixed with paper clips, remove the cylinder from the bottle and fill it with soil. It is possible to weld such cylinders from a piece of film using a soldering iron. To do this, the film is cut into a strip about 30 cm wide and folded in half over a wide part. Now it remains to weld it around the edge and cut it into pieces with a length of 15 cm.

Seeds can be cut into moist soil without soaking them, but it can be soaked and even pre-germinated. Do not forget to start top dressing of cucumbers as soon as shoots appear.

Transplantation will be done by transshipment, placing the cylinders together with the newspaper in prepared wells the same as the cylinder, depth. Sprinkle the soil around the newspaper. Gradually the newspaper in the soil will get wet, and roots will grow through it. If the seedlings are grown in the cylinders of the film, then it must be lowered into the prepared wells along with the film, and then carefully cut the film. The whole clod of earth will be in the hole without damaging the roots. Now pour the soil into the hole.

Plantings gently pour around the perimeter of the cylinders, not directing the stream under the root and trying not to fall on the leaves. If you want to get the first cucumbers in early-mid June, then sow them on seedlings 40-45 days before and transfer to a permanent place at the age of 20-25 days.

Regardless, you will sow cucumbers in a low or high greenhouse, first you need to dig trenches to the depth and width of the bayonet bayonet, add dry hay, leaves or unbroken compost. Return the hay taken from the trench to the hay, put the board on top and walk along it to compact the earth. Well, pour the soil and cover with a film to warm up the earth. After 5-7 days, the hay will start to rot, while the heat will be released, the soil will warm up to 15-16 degrees, and you can sow cucumbers. I make in the soil deepening the bottom of the deep dish at a distance of 25 cm from each other. I take the seed with the thumb and index finger and bury it in the soil on the phalanx of the finger so that it rises on the rib. Do not believe me - check that the seed planted on the rib rises better than it is delivered to the priest or laid flat.

For insurance, I plant 2-3 seeds in each nest in the center of the depression, placing them in a triangle 2-3 cm apart. Cover them with half a two-liter plastic bottle, well burying the edges in the soil so that slugs do not overeat the cotyledon leaves after emergence. From above I cover with a double spunbond or lutrasil. Plants calmly tolerate freezing up to - 6 degrees and at the same time grow and develop well. As soon as the first real leaf appears for cucumbers, they can be planted or discarded superfluous, leaving, naturally, the best, or to cut off unnecessary by the level of soil with scissors. From now on, they are not afraid of slugs, the bottles can be removed, leaving only a double spunbond right on the plants before the threat of nocturnal frost passes.

After finishing the frost, the cucumbers should be tied up, if you grow them on a vertical trellis. To do this, tie the cord under the first real leaf with a free loop and, turning the stem counterclockwise with a cord, hold it under each sheet. Pull the cord and tie with a bow to a horizontal wire, stretched 1.5 meters above the ground. Further, if cucumbers do not cling to the cord themselves, twist it around the stem.

When the cucumber grows to a horizontal wire, toss them through the wire and force to grow down, which will have to tie the growing end of the stem to its lower part.

Top dressing, watering

Soil must be loose, rich in organic. Before planting in each hole should be added 2-3 st.spoons of azofosca and 1 teaspoon of potassium sulfate or 1/2 cup of ash. It is good to mix the fertilizer with the soil, it is abundantly watered with lukewarm water.

Cucumber refers to potassium, its ratio N: P: K is 34: 13: 53, and at the same time, it takes relatively little nutrients from the soil( its agronorm N + P + K = 15).

It is better to combine top dressings with watering. For each bucket of water with a capacity of 10 liters, it is necessary to take 3 tbsp.spoon azofoski and add 1 tbsp.spoon of potassium plus 2 teaspoons of "Uniflor micro".You can use for fertilizing ash, spilling on wet soil after polishing 2 tbsp. Spoons of ashes around each plant, trying not to fall on the stem.

Mineral top dressing should alternate after a week with organic. As an organic feed, it is best to use an infusion of fresh manure( 1: 10) or bird droppings( 1: 20).All pumpkin love fresh manure, but only as a liquid top dressing( they do not tolerate bringing fresh manure to the root when planting).Instead of manure, you can use the infusion of weeds, which must be diluted 1: 5 with water.

Cucumbers love moist soil, but this does not mean that they should be watered excessively. The soil must be constantly moist, but not turn into slush. It is best to organize drip irrigation using hoses with holes or plastic bottles with top dressing. In the bottom of one and a half-two-liter bottles, make a hot nail with hot nails on the entire side surface. Bottom of the bottle with holes bury between cucumbers in the soil and unscrew the lid. Now your task is to ensure that there is always a weak solution of feeding in the bottle.

For preparation of a nutritious solution it is necessary to take 1 tbsp.a spoonful of mineral water and 2 teaspoons of "Uniflor-micro" for 10 liters of a solution of manure or weeds. This mixture is constantly pour into the neck of the bottle from the old teapot. Additional irrigation is not required. One bottle will completely feed 4 plants.

In cold or cool weather, cucumbers should be watered moderately, this will protect them from disease by downy mildew and rot.

If you have a high greenhouse, the air in it is very cool at night, because the heat from the soil heated up per day rises and is not enough to heat such a large volume of air. Cucumbers do not like the night cooling, so on cool nights it is necessary to include heating: it can be electric or kerosene lamps, tape heaters and other devices.

Cucumber development phases

Seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of 15-16 degrees. Therefore, they must be sown in warmed soil( for example, on a warmed ridge).Seedlings appear on the 4-6th day at a temperature of 25-30 degrees, on the 4-10th - at a temperature of 20-25 and after 10-12 days at a temperature of 17-19 degrees. In cold soil, seeds die.

The first real leaf appears 5-7 days after emergence, and flowering begins 35-40 days at a temperature of 20 degrees and after 25-30 days at 25-28 degrees. Each flower lives 3-5 days, if during this time fertilization took place, then the ovary grows very quickly at a temperature of 20-28 degrees, and in a week you can take off the young cucumbers, they will be the most delicious and without bitterness. Remove cucumbers should be young, every day, at most, every other day. Overgrown cucumbers are tasteless, in addition, they delay the growth of other zelenots.

Cucumber formation

If you grow cucumbers in a horizontal position, then they do not need to be formed. If you grow them vertically, the formation boils down to the fact that you need to "blind"( pull out what grows from the leaf axle) 3-4 bottom sheets. This is done so that the lowest lashes do not grow - they take all the nutrients first, but they hardly bear fruit because of the lack of light below. In addition, they thicken the lower part of the plants, and because of poor airing in the lower part of the plants often begin stem rot.

Then, as the cucumber grows, he needs to do a pinch of the side shoots, cutting off the end of the shoot as soon as it forms 2 leaves. Then there will not be a thickening of the greenhouse, all plants will have good access to light and air, and consequently, many cucumbers will grow. If you do not do this, you will get a continuous jungle of stems and leaves, among which only cucumbers will be seen here and there. When thickening the planting of cucumbers, the crop falls sharply. As soon as you throw the cucumber stalks through the horizontal trellis( wire), stop making the side shoots, the ends of them will branch, and on these branches fruiting will be bunches, that is, several cucumbers from one place. There are varieties and hybrids that bear a bunch along the entire stem.

Now varieties and hybrids of single-cucumber cucumbers are created, which either do not have any side shoots, or they are greatly shortened. Naturally, such cucumbers do not require any formation. Growth in them is usually limited - they end in a flower or a bunch of flowers. Harvest in them is formed only on the main stem, so their yield is lower, but they can be planted thicker, up to 10 plants per 1 m2, so that the total crop from the area of ​​the greenhouse is the same.

If you grow hybrids, then do not pick up cucumbers after the 4th leaf, because they have on the main stalk immediately go female flowers, which have a small cucumber.

If this is a variety, then on the main stalk, it is mostly male flowers. Female flowers, as a rule, are formed on lateral shoots. To accelerate the appearance of lateral shoots with female flowers, they cut off the crown with the upper growth point, and then the kidney closest to the growth point gives a lateral shoot. It is usually recommended to cut off the top of the head( pinch) over the 4th leaf of the main stem. This first lateral shoot will later replace the broken central stem. Pinching of the lateral shoots is done in the same way as in hybrids, after the 2nd leaf. The plant is thrown through a horizontal trellis, causing it to grow down, and no longer pinch.

Diseases and problems

During shoots, cotyledons can swallow slugs, so it is better to immediately put cans or halves of plastic bottles over seeded seeds.

Pay attention to the leaves: if there is a light border on young leaves, there is a greater threat of disease with downy mildew, which quickly develops with too much humidity of the air and soil, especially in cold weather. On the adult leaves on the upper side, along the veins, there are yellowish oily stains on which there is a whitish-purple bloom on the underside of the leaf. Oily spots begin to dry out, gradually grabbing the entire leaf blade. The process of infection and drying of leaves is very fast, in a few days all the plants in the greenhouse look like it's a deep fall. Naturally, there can be no talk of any fruit bearing. At the first signs of the disease, stop watering, ventilate the greenhouses well, completely fill the soil with cucumbers with ashes or chalk to dry it, leaves with oily stains and shriveled must be removed and burned. Healthy leaves sprinkled with "Phytosporin" or a solution of potassium permanganate in bright pink color to prevent their infection. Ground cucumbers can be sprinkled with the drug "Ridomil-MC".This is a chemical poison, so after processing the cucumber can be collected no earlier than 20 days.

The most common disease of cucumbers in greenhouses is bacteriosis. On the leaves at first appear angular yellow spots, which then dry out and dye. From the underside of the leaf, cloudy, pinkish droplets of liquid are visible. The same cloudy droplets appear on the sores of the fruit. In wet weather, the disease increases dramatically. Despite the fact that cucumbers are afraid of drafts, it is necessary to constantly ventilate the greenhouses, because even more than drafts, cucumbers are afraid of bacteriosis and stem rot. Humidity of air and soil should not exceed 80-85%.Cut irrigation, feed cucumbers with infusion of fresh manure or weeds, give additional potassium top dressing.

It is usually recommended to spray diseased plants with Bordeaux liquid( 1 teaspoon per 5 liters of water), but in greenhouses its use is undesirable, because within 20 days it will not be possible to use cucumbers in writing. Better use "Phytosporin", "Zircon" or infusion of garlic( 200 grams of chopped leaves and arrows of garlic pour 5 liters of water, cover, insist 4 hours and immediately spray the leaves from below).A good result is the prophylactic spraying of healthy leaves with "Zircon" together with "Epin-exstra".You can use "Novosil"( "Silk"),

Another fairly common disease - anthracnose. It usually appears after bacteriosis. First, the disease manifests itself on the leaves - they form round brown spots, which are then discolored. Then the anthracnose passes to the young greens. The fruits appear deep rounded sores with a hard edge, reminiscent of a bird's pike.

In greenhouses, you can use only "Fitosporin", "Zircon" or potassium permanganate, after spraying it is advisable to pollinate the wet leaves with ashes, or even better - with dry mustard. Ground cucumbers can be sprinkled with Bordeaux liquid( 1 teaspoon per 5 liters of water), but after that cucumbers can not be eaten for 20 days.

If the stems or stems of the leaves become soft, covered with a white coating, the cucumbers become ill with white rot. Contribute to the appearance of the disease high humidity( above 90%) with a sharp change in temperature, prolonged cooling, watering with cold water, stagnant air with thickened plantings. Urgently make foliar top dressing: 1 teaspoon of urea, a grain of copper sulfate( or "Hom" at the tip of the knife) for 10 liters of water. Stop watering, ventilate the greenhouses, remove sick fruits and leaves. Remove plaque dry or moistened in raspberry solution of potassium permanganate with a cloth, then pollinate the plant with ash or cover with putty from chalk and potassium permanganate with water. Putty should be pink. Do not tighten with removal of the plaque, until the stem rot has girdled the stem, - the upper part of the plant over this place will die.

Sometimes in greenhouses there is a withering of the whole plant. This can be caused either by a viral disease - a wilt( and then the plant should be removed so that the sucking insects do not transfer the disease to others) or root rot. In any case, it is first necessary to gently remove the soil from the roots. If the root neck is soaked, has a brown color, rotted, then it is root rot. Often, root rot occurs where manure is used as a biofuel. The top layer of soil around the plant must be removed completely. Drizzle the roots with a solution of potassium permanganate potassium or a solution of "Hom"( 1 incomplete teaspoon per 1 liter of water) to kill the fungus that is in the soil. Remove the stem from the vertical trellis, lower the lower end onto the ground with a ring and tie it to the trellis again. The stem ring lying on the soil should be sprinkled with fresh soil from the top, it should be well moistened and monitored so that it does not dry out. On the pricked part of the stem, new roots will appear, and the plant will be able to be saved, however, the yield from such plants is sharply reduced.

If the dug roots have a completely normal appearance, and the plant fades, then this is a wilt( vertical wilting).

Often on the top leaves of cucumbers growing in a greenhouse, a network of small holes is formed - holes that are caused by sunburns through drops of night dew falling from the film to the leaves.

If the leaves of cucumbers are too light and small - this is a lack of nitrogen. In the case of fruits, a narrowed, light, bent tip is formed. Feed the plants with manure( 1: 10), infusion of weeds( 1: 5), urea or ammonium nitrate( 2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water).

If a brown border appears on the edges of the leaves( edge ​​burn) is a lack of potassium. In this case, the ends of the fruits are ballooned, taking a pear-shaped shape. To prevent this, give potassium top dressing( 3 tablespoons of any chlorine-free potash fertilizer per 10 liters of water or pour around 1/2 glass of ash around the plants).

If the leaves are pointing upwards, this is a lack of phosphorus. Feed superphosphate( 3 tablespoons per 10 liters of water).

If the leaves have marble dark and light green coloring - this is a lack of magnesium. Dilute the dolomite( 1 glass of 10 liters of water) and pour the soil around the plants with this white milk.

If the leaves have acquired a yellow-green coloration, this is a lack of microelements. Feed the plants with microelements, those that you have, dissolving them according to the instructions attached to them.

All these top dressings should be done in the evening, after watering.

But it is most effective in all these cases to give foliar top dressing on leaves with a solution of "Uniflor-growth" or "Uniflor-bud"( 2 teaspoons per 10 liters of water).

The main pest of cucumbers is a spider mite. When he populates the leaf, it sucks the juices out of it, so the sheet first becomes light, then turns yellow, then dies. Ticks are very small and well visible only under the magnifying glass. They live on the underside of the leaves. Against them, spraying with "Fitoverm"( or "Iskra-Bio") is a good help. These biological preparations are absorbed by the leaf and protect the plant against all sucking and gnawing pests for 3 weeks. You can use the infusion of garlic, but then sprinkling must necessarily be done on the underside of the leaves. Do not use chemical poisons, because after processing you can not use cucumbers for food for 20 days.

In the second half of the summer, a black melon aphid can attack cucumbers. Again it should also not use pesticides, it is better to use green soap, potassium manganese solution, pine needles, garlic and other home remedies. The fact is that aphids have a very tender body, and even hot( 45-53 degrees) water will kill the aphids, but it will not damage the plant.

Typical failures in the cultivation of cucumbers

Fruits are pear-shaped - they have a tip tip. This is a lack of potassium.

The tip of the fruit is narrowed and bent like a beak, with the end usually becoming lighter - this is a lack of nitrogen.

The fruit is narrowed in the middle - the reason for the big temperature difference is day and night;Sometimes it happens because of watering with cold water.

Cucumbers curved, irregular, arched, cross-pollination of hybrids by insects. Such cucumbers should be immediately taken off and used in salads. In varieties such a phenomenon is observed when the soil is dry or unevenly watered;then it's dry, it's too wet.

Zelentsy stop in growth - it often occurs in cold weather, especially on cold nights. Sometimes this happens when there is a lack of moisture in the soil and in the air.

Ovaries turn yellow, do not develop, dry up and then fall off. There was no fertilization either because of too high a temperature in the greenhouse( above 36 degrees), or because of too much humidity( above 90%), or because of prolonged cooling and prolonged rains( in such weather insect pollinators do not fly).Sometimes this happens when the fruiting fruit: one or two fetuses grow, and the rest of this beam wither - lack of nutrition, it simply does not suffice at all.

There is a lot of bitterness in cucumbers. Cucumbers contain a valuable element - cucurbitin, which has an antitumor effect. When its concentration in fruits greatly increases - cucumbers start to be bitter. Most often this happens with a sharp change in temperature, a long cold snap, watering with cold water, uneven irrigation, that is always associated with extreme situations. Try to avoid them and, when the plants get into such conditions, let's feed calcium and potassium saltpeter. Strengthen your own immune system of plants, sprinkling them with "Zircon" or homeopathic drug "Healthy Garden".

I must say that now one of the directions of cucumber breeding is the creation of hybrids and varieties without bitterness. This, of course, is good, but cucurbitacin is a very important advantage of cucumbers.