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To obtain good yields of cucumbers, many gardeners sow seeds for seedlings in a warm room. Here it is necessary to take into account the time of sowing seeds and planting seedlings in the ground. It is important to properly prepare the seed material so that future plants do not get sick and bear fruit well. Let's talk about all these problems and common methods of germinating seeds.
Determine the time of planting seeds
In order to choose the right time when you need to sow seeds for seedlings, you need to be guided by the timing of planting plants in open ground or a greenhouse. This procedure depends on the climatic conditions of the region, for example, for the middle zone, planting of seedlings in open beds begins on June 7, and in greenhouses - from May 10.
Plants are planted in the beds about 20 days after germination. According to the table, you can navigate the time of sowing seeds for the middle strip for seedlings.
Seed preparation before sowing
Good seedlings of cucumbers can be obtained only with the condition of correct preparation of the seed. Purchased quality seeds guarantee 100% seedlings healthy and strong plants. But this does not mean that the grains should simply be thrown into the ground. It is required to carry out their preliminary preparation, which will take additional time.
There are different methods for preparing seed material, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with one of them:
- Cucumber seeds begin to cook a month before sowing. The grains are scattered in cloth bags and hung over a heating radiator. It is important to control the temperature here. If the seeds are heated to 40aboutC, then after 7 days you can continue to work with them. When the temperature is above 25aboutC does not rise, the bags will have to hang for at least 1 month.
- A solution of 1 liter of water and 2 tbsp will help to select good seeds after warming up. l. salt. The grains are thrown into salt water and observed for about five minutes. The floating pacifiers are thrown away, and the good grains that have sunk to the bottom are washed with clean water.
- For disinfection, a pink manganese solution is prepared, where the selected seeds are placed for 20 minutes. Then they are washed again with clean water.
- The nutrient solution can be prepared at home from 20 g of wood ash per liter of water, or dilute the juice of an indoor aloe flower in half with water. Seeds are moistened with one of these solutions. If desired, feeding the grains can be done with purchased trace elements according to the instructions on the package.
- Grains are hardened at different temperatures. Initially, cucumber seeds are kept for 6 hours at room temperature +20aboutC, then they are put in the refrigerator for two days or taken out on a cold veranda. Seeds should be hardened at temperatures from 0 to -2aboutFROM.
At this point, the grains are ready for the next stage - germination.
The video shows the procedure for preparing seeds for planting:
Germinating seeds and preparing soil for seedlings
Each housewife germinates cucumber seeds according to her own method. Most often, a simple method based on wet gauze is used. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with a more effective way of germination:
- Clean sawdust is poured with boiling water and wait until they cool to room temperature. For disinfection, you can add a little manganese to boiling water.
- The cooled sawdust is squeezed out of excess water and spread in a thin layer on a plate.Cucumber seeds are evenly spread on top, and then they are covered with another layer of warm sawdust.
- The plate is tightly covered with transparent polyethylene. After 3 days, the seeds should hatch.
Alternatively, instead of a plate, it is more convenient to use transparent plastic lids from the cake packaging.
While the grains of cucumbers will germinate, it is necessary to prepare the soil for sowing them. There are several effective options for making a mixture, for example: peat with sawdust in a ratio of 8: 2, equal parts of garden soil with humus, or equal proportions of sawdust, garden soil and peat compost.
The video shows the order of germinating seeds:
Different methods of planting cucumber seeds for seedlings
So, the seeds of the cucumbers have sprouted, the soil is ready, it is time to plant the seeds for seedlings. Now we will consider how it is easier to make it at home from scrap materials.
Improper planting of the grain will lead to the fact that the sprout will not be able to free itself from the skin and will simply die.
In flower pots
Cucumber seedlings can be grown in any container, for example, flower pots with a diameter of 100 mm are suitable.
For convenience, they are placed on trays and, after planting the seeds, are tightly covered with transparent film. Until the first shoots appear, the temperature under the film should be maintained at about 27aboutC. As soon as the plant has hatched, the film is removed, and the soil is watered with warm water. Now for open seedlings of cucumbers, it is necessary to maintain a night temperature of about 20aboutC, and it is advisable to raise the daytime to 23aboutC. It is important to ensure an optimum humidity of about 70%. As the seedlings grow, the pots are pushed apart so that the cucumber leaves do not touch each other.
For an illustrative example, in the photo you can see different options for making pots for seedlings.
A method of germinating seeds under a newspaper
When growing cucumber seedlings for a greenhouse, you can use a fairly simple method. Sprouted seeds are planted under a thin layer of soil in boxes or use any large containers.
Having thus planted all the seeds of the cucumbers, cover the soil with two layers of newspaper. Watering is done with a sprayer directly over the newspaper. This will prevent soil erosion, and a damp newspaper will provide the necessary microclimate. When the first cucumber sprouts appear, the newspapers are removed, but the seedlings are not watered. At this stage, cucumber plants are afraid of abundant moisture.
The temperature regime is maintained within 25aboutC. It is important for the seedlings to provide optimal lighting. With a lack of light, the plant will stretch out and acquire a pale color.
PET bottles
With the help of five-liter plastic bottles for cucumber seedlings, you can make mini-greenhouses.
The advantage of this method is that the seedlings will not clutter up the windowsills in the house, but will sprout on the street.
Seedlings of cucumbers in PET bottles are planted as follows:
- The bottle is cut across with a sharp knife, that is, the bottom is cut off. The lower part is buried in open ground, and the soil prepared for seedling is poured into the container.
- 3 cucumber seeds are planted evenly over the area, cover this place with the top of a bottle with a twisted lid.
- After the emergence of seedlings on a warm day, the covers are unscrewed so that the plant breathes fresh air, and at night they are tightened again.
When the plant grows to the correct size, the bottles are removed from the ground, and the seedlings are transplanted into a greenhouse. This method has only one drawback. The soil inside the bottles often turns green, which cannot be avoided.
In peat tablets or plastic cups
Grow cucumber seedlings can be in plastic disposable cups or special peat tablets... In the first case, the bottoms of the cups are pierced several times to allow air to reach the roots. If it is decided to use peat washers, they are soaked in warm water for 20 minutes before planting the germinated seeds. Finished washers can be identified by their oversized dimensions. They are pulled out of the water and placed inside any plastic container, preferably with sides.
In a washer or a glass with soil, 2 germinated seeds are planted to a depth of 1 cm and everything is covered with a transparent film. Until sprouts appear under the film, maintain a temperature of at least 22aboutC and spray the soil 2 times a week.
After the first sprouts appear, the temperature is reduced by 3aboutC, and the film is removed. You can add a little warm soil inside each glass. Further care takes place, as in the above-discussed method with flower pots.
The video shows the cultivation of seedlings:
Pickling cucumber seedlings
If the cucumbers for seedlings were sown in common boxes, after the appearance of 2 to 4 leaves, the plants are transplanted into separate cups - they dive. To do this, take a special spatula or a metal spoon, pry each sprout along with the soil and place it in a glass with prepared moist soil. A little warm soil is poured on top, and then watered abundantly.
Cucumber seedlings are very tender with a branched root system. During the picking, parts of the roots are necessarily damaged, which leads to plant disease. To avoid these troubles, unnecessary picking work and get an early harvest, it is better to immediately sow the seeds in cups.
