How to grow seedlings of cucumbers

Cucumber seeds take root well in open ground, so summer residents prefer to plant this crop directly on the garden bed. Owners of gardens or greenhouses who want to get a crop in May, and not wait until the summer, are engaged in growing seedlings. The plant can not be called too capricious or whimsical, but it also requires proper care.

Homemade blanks

Seed is better to buy in stores, and give preference to well-known manufacturing companies. Seeds from packaging are treated with disinfectant solutions, and some are nourished with growth improvers. It is enough to germinate such preparations in warm water, and plant them in pots.

But with purchased cucumbers, you need to consider several nuances:

1. Select zoned varieties that are more resistant than exotic varieties. The latter can be grown in greenhouse conditions, but if you plant them in open ground, they will wither and die, or give a meager harvest.
2. You can buy varieties for salting: the fruits of these varieties are small and crunchy. There are options for salads, when two cucumbers are enough for the whole family, but they are unlikely to fit in a jar.
3. If you have to grow a crop in a greenhouse, it is advised to give preference to self-pollinating specimens.
4. For beginners who have minimal experience in gardening, it is better to dwell on hybrids that do not need to trim and form a bush. Such varieties do not need to be planted, or pollinated.

Classic methods
Often the seeds of cucumbers come from a grandmother or a good neighbor, some independently harvest them from the summer. If the factory seed is carefully checked and processed before packing in sachets, then you will have to tinker with your home:

1. Be sure to sort out and throw out small and deformed specimens. You should not expect that they will miraculously sprout, and turn into a healthy plant. There is only one use for such seeds - to lie peacefully in the bin.
2. Pour the remaining seed material with brine, pound vigorously for several seconds, and then let it brew for 5–10 minutes. Remove popped up seeds. They do not have a “living” middle, such seeds are soothers.
3. Rinse the remaining seed in distilled water, wrap it in a damp cloth, and dip it in a concentrated potassium permanganate solution to protect future seedlings from fungus.
4. Enough half an hour, then remove, rinse with clean water, and place in the refrigerator for a day, wrapped in a damp cloth. In this way, cucumbers temper, so that they better withstand temperature extremes.

How to prepare cucumber seeds for planting

Both store and home varieties need to be germinated.

1. Wrap in a wet rag, it is advisable not to use gauze, because young shoots get stuck in it.
2. Put in a stainless container, and place next to the battery or other heating device. Seeds should germinate at a temperature not lower than +25 degrees, and preferably at +30.
3. Wet the rag regularly, but cucumbers should not float in water. They begin to rot from excess moisture, and the risk is increased that the seedlings will get sick with a fungus, for example, a "black leg".
4. After 2-3 days, when the seeds hatch, and thin white strings appear from them, the workpiece must be immersed for 3-4 hours in a solution of wood ash. Such fertilizer nourishes them with useful substances, and accelerates growth.

Recipe: To prepare a solution, you need to mix a teaspoon of dry matter and a liter of liquid.

Soil features

Cucumber seedlings are advised to grow in separate pots, you can use plastic, or clipped bags of milk or cream. Peat tablets and glasses are sold in stores. If you put the seeds in a box, during a dive it is likely to damage the root system, which will cause a poor harvest. In addition, cucumbers growing in a bunch take away nutrients from each other and obscure the neighbor from the light.

There are several recipes for the soil, which is ideal for cucumbers:

1. Combine ordinary earth from the garden in the amount of 10–12 l with ash (one faceted glass), add 15–20 g of superphosphate, and mix everything thoroughly. If the soil is clay, it is recommended to pour 2 liters of river sand into the workpiece.
2. To grow cucumbers without using chemicals, you can try a combination of chernozem (30 l) with fine sawdust and dung compost (10 l each).
3. Some prepare the basis for seedlings from peat, which must be neutralized with ash: 50 g of the second is enough for a bucket of the first component. Add nutrients: urea (matchbox) with superphosphate (2 boxes) and potassium sulfate (1.5).

The structure of the mixture with which the cups are filled must be dense. Otherwise, during the transplant, you can injure the roots due to the fact that the soil will crumble in your hands.

Tip: Experienced summer residents are advised to try the option of black soil, humus and old alder sawdust to get strong and healthy seedlings.

Cucumber containers

The cups purchased at the store must have holes to allow oxygen to enter the soil. Homemade options from dairy bags or plastic bottles need to be pierced with a thick needle at the bottom. 5-6 small holes are enough for the roots to "breathe".

Place the dishes on a tray, fill them with a 1-2 cm drainage layer. Top - soil, which is densely tamped. In the ground, make a depression of 1.5–2 cm, and pour a little water to moisten the chernozem before planting cucumbers.

Tip: For drainage, you can use coarse sand, expanded clay or vermiculite, and sunflower husk, which is endowed with absorbing properties, is also suitable.

Phased care of cucumbers

Plant 2 seeds in a pot. Cover with glass or plastic bag, put in a warm place. In the first 5–7 days, until shoots appear, the room temperature must be maintained at a positive temperature within 23–26 degrees.

Did the cucumbers hatch? Time to remove the bag, or glass, and put the pots on the windows. Plants love sunlight, therefore, with insufficient amount of ultraviolet light, they stretch out and become thin and brittle. If the street is cloudy, you can warm the seedlings with a table lamp. The device should be placed at a distance of about 50 cm from the pots so that artificial light does not overdry the ground.

The optimum temperature for seedlings: + 20–22 in the afternoon, and from + 19–18 degrees at night, but do not lower below +16, otherwise the development of the root system slows down.

Tip: A week before planting, it is useful to take cucumbers to a balcony or courtyard, but place them in places protected from wind and drafts. Thanks to the "walking" plants are better adapted to natural conditions after planting in open ground.

If the cucumbers look weak, it is advised to install mirrors on the window that will reflect sunlight on the seedlings. Pots should be at a distance from each other. Heaped plants cover the neighbors with wide leaves, and ultraviolet light is selected.

Proper watering
Seedlings need to be watered, but in moderation. Water should not stagnate in pots. It is bad if the earth looks too wet, and lumps into clods. So, you need to limit the amount of watering, and it is better to spray the seedlings at the roots from the spray gun.

In mixtures prepared with the addition of urea or superphosphate, enough nutrients. You can apply fertilizer after the appearance of the first sheet. Nitrogen solutions are usually used, which are poured onto the roots, trying to prevent moisture from entering the leaves.

After 2 weeks after the first feeding, you can apply another nutrient fluid, consisting of a part of nitrogen, and two parts of phosphorus and potassium.

You can not water the seedlings too often, because a large amount of liquid and high temperatures are ideal conditions for the propagation of the fungus. It attacks the root system, and quickly spreads to neighboring pots.

You can not spare the sprout on which a black coating appeared. The problem cannot be solved by folk methods or with the help of special drugs. You need to throw the plant to save the rest. It is advisable to treat healthy seedlings with fungicides that will not allow the fungus to multiply.

Tip: It is better to water cucumbers in the morning, protecting the earth from direct sunlight. Cucumbers should not "sleep" with wet leaves.

The main thing is to choose the time
Usually, seedlings are planted in beds in the middle or near the end of May, therefore, it is recommended to start growing them in early April. It takes 25-30 days to form healthy and strong sprouts.

Pike without victims
Plants ready for planting have two broad leaves with a rich green hue, a thick stem, and a developed root system. But even healthy and strong cucumbers may not take root in the garden if you remove them from the pot incorrectly.

In order not to damage the roots, they get together with the ground. They stop watering the seedlings 3-4 days before transplanting into the open ground so that the soil in the pots dries out and firmly adheres to the plants. Take out carefully, without sudden movements. If disposable cups have been used, they can be removed from the bottom, or cut in half to facilitate seedling extraction.

Recommendations

1. Seeds derived from F1 hybrids cannot be used to grow seedlings. Such plants do not yield crops.
2. Planting material must be kept for at least 2 years. The best option is cucumber harvesting under the age of 4 years.
3. Owners of aquariums can carry out an additional procedure for bubbling seeds. Put the bag with planting material in a deep container filled with water. Submerge the aquarium processor in the liquid, and turn it on so that air bubbles pass through the fabric. Enough 15 hours to saturate the planting material with oxygen.
4. If both seeds, placed in the same pot, sprouted, you need to leave a stronger seedlings. Do not pull out the second sprout, but cut off or break off the top, leaving the root in the ground. Over time, it will decompose, and turn into additional fertilizer for a growing cucumber.
5. In stores you can find special lamps called "Flora", which are used to illuminate seedlings.
6. Sometimes at low temperatures, male flowers appear on the cucumbers, which must be carefully torn off.
7. Weak plants that are pulled up due to a lack of light should not be thrown away. They are planted in warm soil, sprinkled with earth to the very leaves, and the first flowers are removed so that the cucumbers grow stronger, and only then begin to bear fruit.

Caring for this culture is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. Cucumbers are a great option for beginners who want to learn the intricacies of growing seedlings, and get rewards for their work in the form of an early harvest.

Video: growing cucumber seedlings