Cucumbers are classified as thermophilic plants. To obtain a good harvest, a bed must be equipped for cucumbers in the greenhouse... However, in order for the harvest to really please, it is necessary to comply with some requirements for the soil, the creation of the garden itself, as well as for the planting of this crop.
Soil for planting
A regular cucumber bed is not suitable for greenhouse conditions. The composition of the soil in the greenhouse must have certain components, such as humus, compost, sod soil, sand, peat, limestone. All these components must be used in certain proportions. For example, humus in the amount of 30%, peat - 50%, and field soil - 20%. A greenhouse bed must have the following properties:
- provide good heat transfer;
- correlate the required amount of mineral fertilizers for maximum heating;
- it is easy to be saturated with water when watering and feeding;
- be fairly light and loose;
- pass the amount of air necessary for the growth of the culture.
An important procedure before planting cucumbers is a complete disinfection of the soil. It is carried out as follows:
- after the harvest is harvested, the soil is watered with a solution of copper sulfate;
- treat the soil with very high temperature steam;
- dig up the soil deeply, having previously treated it with a formalin solution;
- use a highly effective sulfuric checker.
If we talk about the size of the beds in the greenhouse, then the width should be no more than 1 m, and the length should be less than 5 m.
It is believed that the richest harvest of cucumbers can be obtained from a manure bed. For this purpose, in the fall or at least in the spring, a ditch is dug 35-40 cm deep and 40 cm wide for the entire length of the bed. Then cow dung is spread in a thick layer, rammed, poured with 1% hot manganese solution and covered with polyethylene. After heating the manure, it is sprinkled with a composition of sawdust, peat and humus. At the end, it is again poured with potassium permanganate and covered with plastic wrap until sowing.
In addition, if the acidity level is disturbed, special actions must be taken to normalize it.
Creating warm beds
There are several types of cucumber beds: deep, high, normal, warm... It is easy to make a greenhouse bed even at home. To do this, you will need the following tools: a bayonet shovel, pitchfork, rake, scythe. First of all, using a bayonet shovel, it is necessary to equip a moat of the above dimensions. The length can vary up to 5 m, which is associated with the size of the greenhouse and the wishes of the gardener.
When the trench is ready, branches of trees or shrubs are laid across it, all the voids between which are covered with sawdust. Instead of branches, you can also use freshly cut grass. It must be well trampled so that the cucumbers do not fall through and grow in the pit. If the grass layer is poorly compacted, then in a rainy summer, the fruits may rot.
The next layer should be straw (5 cm). After its laying, top dressing from manure diluted in warm water is poured into the trench. The edges of the resulting bed should be overlaid with some kind of material: branches, slate, boards, etc.
In the case of using a grass layer, the technology for preparing the beds will be slightly different. So, on top of the grass, you need to pour a hot brew of potato peels and moldy bread crusts. This broth leads to fermentation, which results in microorganisms that have a beneficial effect on the growth of cucumbers.
The finished ridge is covered with earth and poured with a bucket of boiling water, and then, as in the previous case, covered with plastic wrap. In both options, it is worth planting seeds or seedlings no earlier than 2-3 days after all layers have subsided.
Helpful hints and tips
When the preparation of the soil and the bed itself is completed, you can directly engage in planting cucumbers. The garden bed should be at least 20 cm high, and the distance between the shoots should be 30 cm. If you plant more densely, the plant will suffer from a lack of light. Since cucumbers are woven, it is necessary to pull a rope or wire over the ridges at a height of 2 m.
Temperature plays an important role in effective germination. So, at a temperature of 30 ° C, the first shoots from seeds will appear in 5 days. At 12 ° C, they will not germinate at all. The most optimal temperature is considered to be 20 ° C. With such indicators, the sprouts can be seen in 20-25 days.
In addition, to get a good harvest, the cucumber garden should be located in a place where there are no running waters, streams and irrigation canals.
Otherwise, the yield will be reduced. If the bed is arranged in the place where cucumbers already grew last year, then it is advised to replace the topsoil with a new one. It is necessary to ensure that there is no weeds... To do this, they need to be cleaned all the time, and the soil must be treated with special substances that prevent the appearance of grass and pests.
A place for greenhouses with cucumber beds is chosen so that the entire greenhouse is evenly illuminated by the sun, not too blown by the wind, and the planting sites are located from east to west, which contributes to their better warming up.
With proper arrangement of greenhouse beds, their service life can be about 10 years.
The nutrients obtained by the described methods are stored for a long time, therefore, it is not at all necessary to make new ridges for cucumbers every spring.
Thus, grow a good harvest of cucumbers in the greenhouse do it yourself is quite real. Despite the fact that it will take a certain amount of knowledge and a considerable amount of time spent, the result will certainly delight any gardener.
