Content
Like many other vegetables, cucumbers are often planted as seedlings in the garden. Thanks to this, you can get a fresh harvest earlier, and the plants themselves will better withstand stress.
Seedlings of cucumbers develop faster and suffer less from pests and specific diseases. However, to achieve good results, you need to correctly germinate seeds at home. Next, you can watch photos and videos with how-tos for beginners.
How to choose seeds for planting
There are different types of seeds on sale. They differ in the method of cultivation, and therefore their preparation for sowing will differ.
- Regular... These seeds must be calibrated by hand before planting. Small and uneven ones are immediately discarded. Seeds of the correct shape are dipped in salt water: the good ones will sink to the bottom. Pop-up seedlings will not give and for seedlings you should not take them. The next stage of processing is rinsing the tested seeds with fresh water and drying.
- Calibrated... These seeds require moisture and warmth to germinate. First, they are wrapped in wet gauze or cloth and left at a temperature of about 30 degrees. As soon as the seed has given a root, it is immediately planted in the soil.
- Processed... Such seeds are already prepared for sowing, they can be sown directly into open ground. A very thin layer of bactericidal and antifungal drugs is applied to their surface.
- Granular... These seeds are also protected by special preparations. In addition, they are coated with a layer of nutrient that will improve the development of the seedlings.
When choosing seeds for planting in 2021, it is also important to consider the purpose of the fruit. The hybrids produce a bountiful harvest, but their fruits cannot be used to harvest seeds for the next season. For blanks, you can plant special salting or universal varieties. For direct use on seedlings, salad varieties are chosen, and miniature fruits of gherkins can be harvested daily.
How to choose the right soil
In order for seedlings to actively grow and develop in 2021, it needs a suitable the soil... It should be light and loose so that oxygen and moisture can flow to the roots. The balance of soil components is also important. The ground should not contain larvae, fungi and other microorganisms that can damage the growth of the plant.
To prepare the soil for seedlings, the following components are mixed in equal proportions:
- sand;
- peat;
- humus;
- sod soil.
All these components must be thoroughly mixed. To enrich the soil and saturate with nutrients, it is recommended to add a little sawdust, a glass of ash, a teaspoon of urea and the same amount of nitrophosphate (based on 10 kg of soil).
Before planting seeds in the soil, it must be disinfected. You can do it yourself using steaming. The soil is poured onto a mesh with small cells and kept over boiling water for 30 minutes. Then you need to let the earth cool down and put it in containers for seedlings.
You can also use a solution of potassium permanganate to disinfect the soil (regarding the concentration - the water should turn out to be crimson). Water the soil with this composition before sowing seeds and wait for it to dry.
Choosing the time to sow seeds for seedlings
For sowing seeds for seedlings in 2021, it is important to choose the right time. If you do this late, the sprout will not have time to grow stronger before planting in the ground. And if you sow the seeds too early, the plants will stop growing, stretch out and after planting they will bear less fruit. It also happens that overexposed home seedlings it simply does not take root in the ground. Therefore, it is important to monitor both the growing conditions for cucumbers and the timing.
You will need to prepare plastic cups or special peat containers. As you can see in the photo and video, they are filled with earth, two germinated seeds are placed at a depth of about 3 cm. Then they are poured over with warm water and covered with foil. When they germinate, the film is removed.
Planting seeds two at a time is necessary to ensure the desired number of seedlings. When sprouts with expanded cotyledon leaves appear, the weaker plant is removed. Otherwise, due to the struggle for sunlight and moisture, both sprouts will begin to weaken. In order not to damage the delicate roots of the second plant, the stem is carefully pinched off at the soil level. The rest of the sprout will decompose over time.
Seedlings must be planted in individual pots, as shown in the photo and video. The cucumber does not like very much when its roots are injured, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to avoid this during transplantation. Even if the plant takes root in the garden, it will subsequently bear less fruit. Therefore, cucumber seedlings are always planted directly off the ground or in a biodegradable pot. To do this, they buy peat tablets or make paper containers on their own.
Sprouted seedlings care
After germination of seeds, they need to be fed. For the procedure, it is better to leave the morning time when it is clear outside.
- When the first leaf has opened, it's time to apply ammonium nitrate.
- After 14 days, you can use a phosphorus-potassium supplement, it is diluted at a concentration of 50 g per 10 liters of water.
It is best to keep pots with freshly sown seeds at about 25 degrees. When the sprouts sprout, the temperature should be lowered to 20 degrees. Otherwise, the seedlings will quickly go up, and then wither.
A week before planting in the ground, the temperature needs to be lowered even more - to 18 degrees. The sprouts need "hardening". To do this, they are sometimes taken out onto the balcony, but the seedlings should not be left in direct sunlight.
Cucumbers require sunlight. You will have to take care of the lighting especially in cloudy weather. To accelerate the development of plants, fluorescent lamps or special phytolamps are used. They are attached above the seedlings at a distance of 5 cm. As the cucumbers grow, the lamps are raised. For home seedlings, one or two 40-80 Watt lamps will be enough.
In cloudy weather, artificial lighting is required for sprouts throughout the day. And in sunny weather, it is enough to turn on the lamps in the morning from 7 to 10 o'clock, and in the evening from 4 to 6 o'clock.
Is it possible to save pale seedlings
When growing seedlings with your own hands at home, it is not uncommon for the stems to stretch out, and the sprout itself becomes pale. This happens if the light or temperature regime is incorrectly selected for the plants.
In order for the seedlings to develop correctly, you need to lower the temperature and make the lighting more intense. For cucumbers, in this case, 15 degrees will be enough. For better illumination, containers with seedlings should be placed a little further apart so that they do not block the light of others with the leaves. On the windowsill, it is worth installing mirrors on the side and on top so that the sunlight reflects on the sprouts. If necessary, it is worth installing phytolamps over the soil, which are shown in the photo and video.
Even if the stems are too elongated, the seedlings can be planted in the garden bed on the site. In order for it to take root well in a new place, the soil must be warm and moderately moist. There are two ways to plant a plant:
- place in the ground deeper, right up to the cotyledon leaves;
- sprinkle on top with loose, warm soil.
If weak seedlings have to be planted in cold ground, the soil around the plant should be covered with a dark-colored perforated film. It does not prevent the evaporation of excess liquid and provides warming up of the roots. Thanks to this, the part of the stem located in the ground will take out additional roots that will support the weak seedlings. Over time, it will get stronger and form a full-fledged healthy bush.
What if the seedlings have bloomed
Have cucumber seedlings flowers begin to appear very quickly. The video shows that plants can still pick up buds on the windowsill. Strong seedlings will not suffer from this.
The situation is different with weakened seedlings. Here, it is better to remove the first flowers so that the plant has time to get stronger and form a full-fledged bush in the ground. He will begin to bear fruit a little later than his neighbors, but in terms of yield, he will quickly catch up with them. If you leave flowers in weak seedlings, as a result, it can shed the ovaries and give much less fruit.
Planting seedlings in the soil
In the video, the plants are not very densely arranged - there are two or three sprouts per square meter of soil. Before planting seedlings in open soil or in a greenhouse, preparatory work must be done.
- Prepare seedling holes.
- Moisten the soil, although you do not need to get too carried away with watering, the swampy land will not work for cucumbers.
- Apply top dressing.
- Sprinkle with soil on top.
Now you can start planting seedlings on the site. Turn the pot over and remove all the contents with your hands. The plant is placed in a hole along with a lump of soil. Then it is watered, and sprinkled on top, as in the video, with a small amount of dry soil. This will prevent crust formation at the planting site.
What care does the planted seedlings require?
In the garden, the seedlings still require care. Cucumbers are very demanding on moisture. Although they need a lot of liquid, it is worth avoiding excessive moisture in the soil. Only warm water is used for watering seedlings. The procedure should be carried out more often during flowering and ovary formation. If you follow these rules, the fruit will not have a bitter taste.
In addition to watering, the planted seedlings require systematic removal weeds and the formation of bushes. In order for oxygen to reach the roots, it is necessary to loosen the soil.
Growing cucumbers with your own hands takes a lot of effort. However, if you follow the recommendations and training videos in 2021, you can get a bountiful and tasty harvest from the seeds, which will delight the whole family.
