Content
- 1 At what temperature do you need to grow seedlings
- 2 When seedlings are planted in the garden
- 3 At what temperature to store seeds
- 4 Pre-sowing preparation procedures
- 5 Features of the composition of the soil for seedlings
- 6 Where to plant seedlings
- 7 Planting prepared seeds
- 8 Features of feeding and watering
Every gardener dreams of getting a rich harvest. To to grow a culture such as a cucumber should be sown beforehand. Despite the apparent simplicity, a number of conditions must be observed when growing seeds. Among them are the optimal level of humidity, soil composition, room temperature. The optimal temperature regime is also important for maintaining the germination of seeds and the development of sprouts in the open field.
At what temperature do you need to grow seedlings
The pots with sown cucumber seeds are left at a temperature of about 25-28 degrees. This mode is recommended when growing seeds until shoots appear.
Then containers with cucumber seedlings are placed in a cooler room. To avoid pulling out young shoots, a temperature of 18-20 degrees is preferable. It is also important to provide the seedlings with sufficient lighting, with a lack of sunlight, special lamps are used. One more point - as it grows, it is worth adding soil.
There are other recommendations, the use of which will help grow strong seedlings at home:
- plant seeds should be planted in separate pots, the culture does not tolerate root deformation and transplantation;
- use warm water for watering seedlings;
- the containers must be placed from each other at such a distance that they do not shade the neighboring pots with their leaves.
Before planting, the sprouts are hardened. They are placed in a cooler room, where the temperature is about 17 degrees.
When seedlings are planted in the garden
Plants can be planted after they have three true leaves. At the same time, the air temperature outside should be at least 18-20 degrees, and the soil should warm up to 16-18 degrees.
A week or two before transplanting, the seedlings are hardened. You can either take it outside or put it on the balcony. During the day, containers with plants are watered abundantly.
Certain preparation must be carried out on the garden bed. This includes:
- fertilization of the soil, 1-2 buckets of compost are applied per square meter of land;
- preparation of holes in which seedlings will be planted;
- abundant watering, 1 liter of water is planned for each hole.
If the seedlings were kept at home in peat pots, then they are buried in the holes to the edges of the container. When using plastic cups, their walls are cut, the sprout is removed along with a lump of earth and placed in a hole. After that, the plants are watered (for each cucumber - 3 liters of water), and light soil is poured on top.
If the sprout is strong and properly developed, it is planted in an upright position. The elongated seedlings are placed in the ground in an inclined state, the soil is poured down the stem. To prevent the appearance of root rot, river sand is applied to the root collars.
At what temperature to store seeds
You can grow a crop of cucumbers both from seeds purchased at the store, and from those harvested yourself. The optimum storage temperature is 15 degrees or less, the air humidity is in the range of 50-60%. Under such conditions, seed germination is maintained for 10 years.However, in order to get a bountiful harvest, it is recommended to use 3-year-old seeds for planting.
We must not forget that only seeds of varietal cucumbers can be left for planting. In this case, it is better to wait two to three years for the bushes to bear fruit well. Seeds from last season do not produce abundant crops.
When using purchased seeds, it is important to read the information on the package. If they have been treated with pest control and growth enhancers, they do not need to be soaked before planting. Otherwise, you can simply wash off the treatment layers from the seeds.
Pre-sowing preparation procedures
In order for the seeds to sprout faster and subsequently grow well, they need to be prepared for planting. Several procedures are involved in preparing untreated seeds.
- Rejection... To immediately discard seeds that will not germinate, they are soaked in a 5% saline solution. Mix the salt and seeds thoroughly and wait a few seconds. Those that settle to the bottom are of high quality, suitable for planting. Empty seeds will rise and can be discarded immediately.
- Disinfection... The seeds are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate (1 g for half a glass of water), kept for 30 minutes. After processing, washed under running water.
- Germination... Before sowing the seeds, they are wrapped in a damp cloth and left for a couple of days. It is recommended to cover the container with a cloth with a lid to keep it moist. Seeds are planted, which have appeared roots, and they have reached three millimeters.
- Hardening... This procedure is required when the seeds are planned to be planted directly into the ground. To harden the seeds, they are placed in a wet state in a refrigerator and kept for 36 hours.
Prepared and germinated seeds are lowered into the ground to a depth of no more than one and a half to two centimeters. To make them ascend faster, immediately after planting they are covered with a film. When green shoots appear, the cover is removed.
Features of the composition of the soil for seedlings
In order for the cucumber seedlings to develop correctly, along with the optimal temperature regime, they need fertile soil. One of the best options contains:
- sod land;
- peat;
- sand;
- drainage.
Drainage is a layer of expanded clay or similar material that is placed on the bottom in a small layer to drain excess moisture. It is also not recommended to use peat alone for planting seeds, as it dries quickly.
Where to plant seedlings
As for the containers, a pot for cucumber seedlings can be bought ready-made or made from improvised means. Several options will be considered below.
- Peat pot... One of the most convenient solutions for seedlings of cucumbers and other crops that do not respond well to transplantation. Plants are planted in open ground directly with a pot, so the root system is not injured during transplantation and the sprout takes root well. When purchasing them, there are two points to consider. In peat pots, the earth dries up a lot, so gardeners often place them in plastic containers. Also, in three weeks, while the seedlings of cucumbers are at home, they greatly lose their appearance. An additional plastic container will also come in handy here.
- EM trays for seedlings... These containers are a tray with special plates. They are inserted into each other, as a result, cells are obtained, where seeds are planted for seedlings. When planting plants, take out the entire plate, remove the sprout from it with a lump of earth with a shovel and place it in the ground. Thanks to this, the roots are less injured, and the cucumber seedlings take root better.
- Cassettes... A similar option, only here separate cells with drainage holes have already been formed. Due to the fact that all containers are of the same size, the seedlings grow evenly. Seed cassettes placed on the tray are easy to care for.However, during operation, plastic cells are often deformed.
- Peat tablets... Also a convenient option, they are completely placed in the soil. For cucumber seeds, it is preferable to take tablets with a diameter of 42-44 mm.
It is worth considering that, on average, it takes three weeks for seedlings to grow. After this period, it must be planted in the garden. Over-stuck seedlings take root much worse, so the seeds need to be sown 20-25 days before the planned transplant.
Planting prepared seeds
When the seeds are ready for planting, separate containers are taken for them. Large seedling boxes are also on sale. But when transplanting from a common container, the roots of the seedling are injured. Considering which seedlings do not take root well in the garden, and which adapts to new conditions, the sprout must be planted along with the entire clod of earth. Then the risk of damage to the root system is minimized.
It is preferable to plant two seeds in each pot. When shoots appear and cotyledon leaves open, you need to assess the condition of the shoots. Leave the strongest and healthiest, the second is cut off at soil level. If there are two sprouts in the pot, they will compete for light and water and will weaken as a result.
During the growth of the seedlings, they go through the following stages.
- Planting germinated seeds... Until the seedlings are visible, the pots are kept at a temperature of 25-28 degrees and covered with foil to accelerate growth.
- Lowering the temperature to 18-20 degrees... When the seeds emerge, it is recommended to lower the temperature and increase the lighting. This will prevent the hypocotal knee from stretching, and the seedlings will turn out to be strong.
- Soil addition... During the period of growing cucumber seedlings, it is recommended to do this once or twice.
- Application of top dressing... It is worth using fertilizer specifically for cucumber seedlings.
- Hardening before planting in the ground... This procedure should be carried out a week before the planned move of the seedlings. The temperature in the room is reduced to 16-18 degrees, or the cucumber seedlings are taken out to the balcony.
Features of feeding and watering
Only warm water should be used for watering cucumber seedlings. It is recommended to moisten the soil in the morning.
Complex fertilizers are used to saturate the soil. While the cucumbers are kept indoors, it is worth taking special seedling mixtures.
For bushes planted on a garden bed, it is better to prefer foliar feeding. The nutrient composition is sprayed onto the leaves of the plant. In this case, nutrients are more likely to be used for their intended purpose.
As a top dressing, a solution of ammonium nitrate is taken at the rate of 5 g of a substance per liter of water. Also use a solution urea, kemira-lux or specialized fertilizer.
Apply the composition in the evening. If you spray the solution on the leaves during the day in clear weather, the water will quickly evaporate. The concentration of the substances will increase greatly, and this will do more harm than good. You also need to make sure that the plants have time to dry out by night. They are very vulnerable to high humidity. Moreover, in cucumbers this is more pronounced than in other crops.
The maintenance of seedlings at home and its subsequent transplantation have their own characteristics. For germinating seeds, the optimum room temperature is about 25 degrees. It should be lowered at first after the emergence of shoots in order to avoid stretching the shoots. In addition to the optimal temperature, lighting and moderate moisture are important for cucumber seedlings. You need to transplant sprouts that have 2-3 full-fledged leaves. Strong and timely planted seedlings will quickly take root in a new place and subsequently give a bountiful harvest.
