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Experienced gardeners know how to speed up the growth of cucumbers in a greenhouse. Plants grow vigorously when favorable conditions are created for them. The condition of the cucumbers depends on many factors. Low temperature, illness, frost, excess or lack of moisture can slow down the development of cucumbers and even cause their death. If you closely monitor the condition of the seedlings and respond in time to any changes in conditions in the greenhouse, the first cucumber can be picked in May.
Correct temperature regime
Knowing how to grow cucumbers correctly, you can get an early harvest. Cucumbers love warmth and find it difficult to tolerate sudden changes in temperature. On sunny days, the air in the greenhouse should warm up to 25 - 30 degrees.
If the sky is covered with clouds, the plants will be comfortable at a temperature of 20-22 degrees.
At night, the air should not be cooled below 18 degrees.
If the low temperature lasts for several days, you will not be able to get a good harvest.
Critical air cooling in the greenhouse for more than 5 days will cause seedling death. To maintain the required level of heat, experienced gardeners recommend heating the greenhouse room.
Several holes with a diameter of 40-50 cm and a depth of 30 cm need to be made in the garden bed. They should be at a distance of 2 meters from each other in order to evenly warm the air in the greenhouse.
The holes are filled with a mixture of fresh straw manure with sawdust, dry grass and straw. The mixture must be poured over with a hot solution urea.
To prepare the solution, add 10 tablespoons of urea to a bucket of water (10 l).
Cucumbers are afraid of frost. With a sharp and strong drop in temperature, it is better to cover the greenhouse with sheets of roofing material or rags. Plants can be hidden under newspaper covers. To heat the greenhouse for the period of a sharp drop in temperature, you can use electric heaters, heat guns or containers with warm water.
Ensuring Optimal Carbon Dioxide Levels
In order for the cucumbers to grow, develop and ripen quickly, it is necessary to provide a sufficient level of carbon dioxide in the greenhouse. In outdoor air, its concentration is approximately 0.2%. The greenhouse air contains even less carbon dioxide. With a concentration of 0.5%, it is possible to achieve a significant acceleration of plant growth and an increase in yield by 45%.
They increase the carbon dioxide content in different ways:
- Containers with a mullein are placed in the greenhouse.
- Pieces of dry ice are laid out along the perimeter of the plot with seedlings.
- Using a siphon for soda water, the liquid is carbonated and left in containers near the planted plants. The room should be carbonated twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. It is advisable to do this a couple of hours after sunrise and 3.5 hours before sunset.
Greenhouse ventilation
Using the advice of gardeners on how to grow cucumbers quickly, you can avoid many mistakes. The greenhouse must be ventilated to prevent air stagnation. Its presence is evidenced by highly moistened soil. High soil moisture significantly slows down plant growth. The soil in the greenhouse must definitely dry out before the next watering.
In extreme heat, it is especially important to ventilate the greenhouse so that the air in it does not heat up to high temperatures.In extreme heat, plants slow down their growth.
It is better to open doors and windows in the evenings. In this case, you must ensure that there are no drafts.
How to water the plants
Cucumbers do not tolerate either a lack or an excess of moisture.
Immediately after planting the seedlings in the greenhouse and before flowering, water the garden should be moderate. Plants need daily watering. About 5 - 10 liters of water are poured into 1 square meter. On cool days, the amount of water is reduced to 2 - 3 liters.
When flowers appear, the watering intensity is reduced to 4 - 5 liters per square meter. With this mode, the seedlings will not grow excessively, giving strength to the formation of ovaries.
If you had to miss more than two waterings, the soil should be moistened more than usual.
Regular plant nutrition
One of the main reasons for the growth retardation of cucumbers is inadequate nutrition during the growing season. To grow a large number of fruits, you need regular feeding. Fertilize the soil immediately after planting seedlings. Ammonium nitrate (15 g), potassium chloride (15 g) and double superphosphate (20 g) mix, then dilute with water (10 L). A bucket of fertilizer is enough for 10-15 plants.
The second time you need to feed the plants during flowering and the formation of ovaries. To prepare the fertilizer, 0.5 liters of liquid mullein is dissolved in water (10 liters). It is worth adding 1 tablespoon to the solution nitrophosphate, 0.5 g of boric acid, 0.3 g of manganese sulfate and 50 g of potassium sulfate. The prepared solution is enough to process 3 square meters of land.
To increase the yield of cucumbers, after 2 weeks, you need to fertilize the plants again with a less concentrated mullein solution. This time, only 1.5 - 2.5 tablespoons of fertilizers need to be dissolved in a bucket of water (10 liters). A bucket of fertilizer should be poured onto 1.2 square meters of soil. After 2 weeks, the procedure must be repeated.
Yeast will help speed up the growth of plants. Once in the ground, they release substances useful for the plant: vitamins, phytohormones, auxins. During watering, carbonic acid is released, phosphorus and nitrogen are formed.
One package of yeast (40 g) is diluted in a bucket of water (10 l) and left to ferment for 3 days in a sunny area. The solution must be stirred periodically. 0.5 l of the composition is poured under each plant.
Knowing how to increase the yield, you need to adhere to the recommended dosages. An abundance of yeast can cause overgrowth of tops and few ovaries. Wood ash can partially neutralize the effect of yeast. Add 1 glass of ash to the solution. Better to take the ashes of fruit trees.
Fertilize plant roots after generous watering in the evening on a cloudy day.
Recommendations of experienced gardeners
To stimulate the growth of cucumbers and obtain a bountiful harvest, several rules must be followed:
- It is necessary to spud the bushes after the formation of the third leaf.
- After the appearance of 5 leaves, the shoot must be pinched with a knife. The formation of side shoots will help speed up the emergence of fruits.
- To grow a good harvest, plants need to be loosened regularly. In this case, one must try not to damage the root system.
- The soil under the plants is covered with compost or peat. This will allow the cucumbers to accumulate nutrients and use them for rapid growth.
- Artificial pollination will accelerate the formation of ovaries. It is carried out using a soft brush, transferring pollen from male flowers to female ones.
- The harvest of cucumbers in the greenhouse must be removed in a timely manner. Harvesting vegetables regularly will stimulate the ripening of new fruits.
Method for increasing female flowers
To make more female flowers, experienced gardeners carry out the "smoke" of cucumbers. It must be started before the flowering period. Watering should be stopped 5 days before the smoking procedure. Iron portable stoves without pipes are installed in the greenhouse. Burning coals are placed in them and the door is tightly closed. Firewood is placed on the stove. High temperatures cause wood to smolder and release carbon monoxide. The smoke provokes the development of female flowers.
Smoldering embers can be placed in an old iron baby bath or in a basin. It is important to prevent the appearance of open flames and to ensure that no fire occurs. The procedure is done in the morning on sunny days, when the temperature rises to 30 degrees.
