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The main mistake of novice gardeners is trying to grow seedlings in the land taken from their own garden. The idea of "stick it in and forget it, sometimes watered it" is very tempting, but in the case of cultivated garden plants, it will have to be abandoned. Garden land in autumn is saturated with pathogens and poor in nutrients. The nutrients from it were "sucked" by the plants that grew on it in summer. Pathogenic organisms that are not capable of harming a mature plant may well kill young and tender seedlings.
Microorganisms can be killed by disinfection, but fertilizers will have to be applied to the ground. That is, in fact, you will need to make the land for seedlings yourself. If you still have to deal with mixing different ingredients, then it makes no sense to carry land from the garden.
In addition, rarely does the soil in the garden meet all the requirements that apply to the land for seedlings of cucumbers. Such soil is found only in the Black Earth zone of Russia. In other cases, the soil is either very sandy or clayey.
It is better to buy ready-made soil or prepare the ingredients for high-quality soil yourself.
In any case, for the first few years, a novice gardener will either need to buy a ready-made mixture for cucumber seedlings, or mix purchased ingredients.
In stores, you can buy two types of soil suitable for growing seedlings: soil mixture and seedling substrate.
Soil mixture
Composition containing components of organic origin: rotted foliage, compost, humus, peat - and inorganic ingredients. For example, sand.
Seedling substrate
Any material that can replace soil: sphagnum, sawdust, coconut fibers, sand, mineral wool - soaked in nutrients.
Whatever industrial soil compositions for cucumbers are made of, they must have the following properties:
- looseness and breathability;
- acidity from 6.4 to 7.0;
- an exhaustive set of all the necessary micro and macro elements;
- good water absorption.
You can prepare the soil for cucumber seedlings yourself. There are many recipes for land for cucumber seedlings. Experienced gardeners must have their own secrets.
The classic universal version includes only four components: two parts of garden land and one part of low-lying peat, humus or rotted compost and sand or sawdust of deciduous trees.
The acidity of lowland peat ranges from 5.5 to 7.0. If the acidity is too high, a little lime or ash should be added. At the same time, it is rather difficult to determine the exact amount of alkali added at home. Perhaps you don't need to add anything at all if the acidity of your particular peat meets the requirements that cucumbers impose on the soil.
Sawdust is also not easy. When overheated, they actively absorb nitrogen from the ground. As a result, the seedlings are deprived of this important component. When preparing the earth, you need to spill sawdust with urea.
Complex fertilizer is added to the resulting land. Forty to eighty grams per bucket.
You can use a special earthen mixture for cucumbers. Experienced gardeners do not like ready-made substrates for cucumber seedlings very much, since such substrates are made on the basis of peat. If the soil dries up (they forgot to water it), the peat stops absorbing water, and the seedlings dry up.
Such a disaster can be avoided by preparing a special soil for cucumber seedlings without the use of acidic components. True, peat is still indispensable.
Four basic soil recipes for seedlings
First option
Two parts of peat land and humus, plus one part of rotted sawdust from deciduous trees. There are also ash and fertilizers from the calculation: a glass of ash per bucket and a teaspoon of potassium sulfate, urea and superphosphate.
Second option
Sod land and compost or humus equally. On a bucket of mixture, a glass of ash, potassium sulfate ten grams, superphosphate twenty grams.
The third option
For six parts of peat, one part of sand, sawdust, humus and mullein.
Fourth option
Sod land, humus, peat, stale sawdust. All components are equally divided.
Many of these components are available for purchase. Others are relatively easy to prepare yourself. You can independently make all the components of the earth for cucumber seedlings. In order to be able to prepare the ground for seedlings yourself, having made the necessary components for it, you need to figure out what all these components are made of. And also it is worth understanding their qualities.
Soil components
Mullein
This is fresh cow dung. On the one hand, it is a good fertilizer for cucumber seedlings. On the other hand, it is a source of pathogenic bacteria and weed seeds. In addition, fresh manure will melt with heat. If the soil temperature rises above fifty degrees, the plants may die.
Sawdust
Fresh or stale sawdust acts as a baking powder in the ground for seedlings. Wood-decomposing bacteria actively consume nitrogen from the soil. Overripe are called "woody earth" and are also used to prepare the soil. To obtain woody soil, sawdust must rot for at least a year. The overheating time depends on the size of the sawdust. It will take at least three years to heat up large sawdust to ground condition.
Sod land
Sometimes referred to simply as turf, although this is not true. Sod is the top layer of soil held together by the roots of grasses, as well as slices of this soil. This is a preparation for obtaining sod land.
The earth is distinguished by a small amount of nitrogen, humus and organic matter. They begin to harvest sod for her in the spring or at the end of summer.
To obtain such land, a grassy area is chosen. The best option would be a meadow where the clover grew. Sod is cut to the size of 25x30 cm and thickness ... how it goes. The thickness of the turf does not depend on the person. If possible, choose an area with a sod thickness of six to twelve centimeters. If this is not possible, you will have to accept.
The cut sods are stacked in pairs so that the grassy sides of each pair are in contact. To speed up the process of overheating, each pair is coated with mullein or horse manure. The stacks must be laid out in a shaded area.
Humus
Completely rotted manure. Very rich in nutrients. Lightweight, loose. Consists of plant residues. It is added to almost all mixtures. It is humus soil that is the main source of nutrients in all mixtures. Sometimes it is replaced with compost.
Compost
The result of overheating of various organic substances. To obtain compost, gardeners use weeded weeds or food waste. It has a high nutritional value. Moisture-intensive, loose. If the name "compost soil" is found somewhere, it is another name for compost.
Attention! The compost must be well rotted. In addition to the guarantee against the appearance of new weeds, this is insurance against infection with worms if dog, cat or pig excrement was thrown into the compost pit.
Sand
Acts as a loosening agent for soil or drainage material.
Peat
It is formed as a result of decomposition of plants in the absence of oxygen and with an excess of water. In other words, in the swamps. Color: from dark brown to light brown, - the structure, availability of nutrients, acidity, moisture capacity depend on the conditions of formation and age of a particular peat soil sample.
Peat is added to the soil to improve its quality: to increase the nutritional value, moisture capacity, and to make it more breathable. But it is recommended to apply it only after mixing with manure, fresh plants, mineral fertilizers and preliminary aging of all this mass for overheating. It is easy to see that the correct preparation of peat for use is quite laborious for the average summer resident.
Peat is low-lying, transitional and high-moor.
Lowland
Most suitable as a component of soil for cucumber seedlings. Versatile and suitable for many plants. It is formed at the bottom of the peat massif and is fed by groundwater. Seventy percent organic. Contains a large amount of essential nutrients. On contact with air, it dries up, losing organic matter and minerals.
Digging up this peat with your own hands, clearly separating it from the transitional one and not drowning in the swamp at the same time, is a non-trivial task. Therefore, the only way out here can be buying ready-made peat in a store.
Transition
The name speaks. It occupies a middle position between lowland and highland. The acidity is already too high for cucumbers. Here liming would be required. Organic residues decompose more slowly than in lowland ones.
Horse
The most accessible type of peat for a summer resident. Another name is "sphagnum", as it mainly consists of sphagnum moss. Very acidic substrate, poor in minerals. Can be used as a filter in a greenhouse. Not very desirable as a ground ingredient for cucumber seedlings.
Agroperlite and agrovermiculite can be an alternative to peat and sand. These are mineral substrates that, after processing, can not only play the role of loosening agents in the soil, but also maintain stable moisture in it. Whether to use these minerals on an “industrial scale” instead of sand to improve the soil on the site depends on prices. If sand is more expensive, then the use of agroperlite or agrovermiculite is quite justified.
They are often used as part of the soil for cucumber seedlings.
Agroperlite
Inert loosening agent in the ground. Improves moisture and air exchange. For seedlings, it is used in a mixture with humus. Wet agroperlite is mixed with wet humus in a one-to-one ratio. Seedling containers are filled, cucumber seeds are sown and sprinkled with turf soil on top.
Agrovermiculitis
Expanded mica, capable of retaining water and gradually giving it away. If the soil contains a large amount of peat, agrovermiculite is irreplaceable. With the addition of 25-75 percent vermiculite, the soil retains moisture even in drought conditions, which is especially important for cucumbers. At the same time, vermiculite does not allow waterlogging of the earth, absorbing moisture. Vermiculite does not allow "shock" seedlings with a large amount of fertilizers, as it quickly absorbs mineral salts and gradually gives them back, prolonging the effect of fertilizers. Thus, the soil with vermiculite is almost ideal for cucumbers.
