How to plant cucumbers in seedlings correctly and ensure a good harvest?

If you do not know in advance how to plant cucumbers in seedlings correctly, you can not only damage the crop, but generally remain without it. Seedlings need to create special conditions so that after transferring to the open ground they do not become ill or die without optimally balanced feeding and care.

Cucumber seedlings - growing at home

Planting of seeds can be done in two ways: sowing is carried out directly on the bed, or the seedlings are transferred from the cassettes to the bed. The first method yields a minimum crop, because at the time of sowing the soil is almost always still not warm enough. Growing seedlings of cucumbers promises a qualitative result - vegetables can be harvested earlier, because the seedlings are prepared in advance. In order for them to grow strong, it is necessary:

When to plant cucumbers for seedlings?

This culture is one of the heat-loving, therefore it is important to take into account both the air temperature and the level of warming up of the soil at the time of transfer of the seedlings. Terms of sowing cucumbers for seedlings are calculated according to the following principle:

  1. When crops are sown to the garden, its temperature should be at least 15 ° C. At lower values, the cucumber culture grows poorly.
  2. In a temperate climate, such conditions occur closer to the beginning of May, so it is possible to plant seeds correctly in the first days of April.
  3. If the vegetables grow in the southern latitudes, this period will be postponed to the middle of March.

Preparation of seeds of cucumbers for sowing on seedlings

To accelerate the fruiting is not difficult with the correct processing of planting material. Preparation of seeds of cucumbers for planting on seedlings is designed for:

  1. Preheating. For a month they should be kept near the heating devices at a temperature of about 25 ° C, so that they give friendly shoots after they are decided to plant them.
  2. Disinfection. Seeds are soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 2-3 hours.
  3. Swelling. The washed seed is kept on a slightly damp cloth or cotton pads in a warm dark place before they begin to peck.

Soil for seedlings of cucumbers

Do not try to grow sprouts in the land taken from the garden: it is too poor and full of infections and organisms that are dangerous for seedlings. The preparation of soil for seedlings of cucumbers consists in the production of a soil mixture that is light and rich in humus. Optimum fit such compounds as:

  1. 2 parts of peat, 2 parts of sawdust or wood bark, 1 part of humus.
  2. 1 part of the sod land, 2 parts of compost or humus.
  3. 5 parts peat, 1 part Mullein and 2 parts compost.

How to plant cucumbers in seedlings?

Properly prepared seeds begin to germinate in room conditions to obtain healthy plants that are optimally suited for transfer to a permanent growth site. There are three popular ways of growing cucumber seedlings:

  1. Landing in boxes. It assumes a subsequent picking in a small capacity vessel. A similar technique is called "sprouting in a cochlea" - an unusual pot-"shank".
  2. Planting of seeds of cucumbers into seedlings in plastic cups or paper honeycomb. The used soil mixture must be preliminarily enriched with mineral fertilizing.
  3. Cultivation in peat cassettes. The material from which they are made has a porous structure that allows the roots to germinate through it without damage.

Planting cucumbers in peat pots for seedlings

This container is considered organic: it is used only once and completely decomposes in the ground. Cultivation of seedlings of cucumbers in peat pots should be started by soaking the containers in water, after which they must be dried again and made at the bottom of each several apertures. To plant the seeds, you will have to follow a certain order:

  1. The pot is not filled to the very top: the distance from the level of the soil mixture to the edge should be 1-1.5 cm.
  2. 2-3 seeds are placed in each container. Even truck farmers who are familiar with how to plant any cucumbers in seedlings correctly, sometimes come across the fact that part of the crops do not germinate. If several seeds arise in one pot, they can later be transplanted.
  3. Landings on top are covered with earth and covered with food film for 4-5 days.

Planting cucumbers into sprouts in a cochlea

There are other ways to germinate, saving space in the room. This is the seedling of cucumbers in the "cochlea", folded from the film and is a pot, divided into several spiral sectors. In order to create it, you will need: transparent container, film or substrate for laminate, rubber bands and earth. To plant the seeds in a "snail", you need:

  1. A 10-cm-wide ribbon is placed at one end to itself, a layer of 1 cm is poured onto it, which should be slightly pinched by fingers.
  2. Seeds are laid along the entire length of the film, at a distance of 2 cm from one of the edges. They need to be lightly sprinkled with earth, since planting cucumbers in seedlings correctly, if they fit tightly to polyethylene, will not work.
  3. A ribbon with soil and seeds is rolled up in a roll to resemble a roll. "Snail" is fastened with an elastic band and installed in a transparent pot.

Care of seedlings of cucumbers at home

When there are shoots, the pots are transferred to the sunny windowsill. The most important stages, which involves caring for seedlings of cucumbers after sprouting, are watering and top dressing. The main recommendations are:

  1. Frequent watering. Water should not blur the roots, so it will be correct to use a drip system.
  2. Application of fertilizers. One-time enrich the soil with nitrogen and magnesium, trying not to get on the leaves and stems.
  3. Formation of a bush. It is not enough to know how to plant cucumbers in seedlings correctly, because you also need to make sure that the shoots are not stretched. They should receive the necessary amount of light: if there is not enough sun, it is necessary to use the lamp additionally.

Picking cucumber seedlings

If the seedlings grew in the same container, then with the appearance of 3-4 leaves they must be transferred from a common container to a new soil mixture. Diving of cucumber seedlings can be done correctly by the following method:

  1. First, containers for transplantation are prepared-plastic cups or peat cassettes. They are filled with soil from sod land, peat and sawdust.
  2. Plants are watered abundantly, and then extracted with a plastic spoon.
  3. In the cups for picking in advance, depressions are made, where the seedlings should be planted, which should be deepened to the cotyledons.

Diseases of cucumber seedlings

Regardless of the growing region, gardeners are faced with caring for vegetables with the same problems. Whatever the diseases of cucumber seedlings and their treatment, the diagnosis should be properly started with studying the changes that occur with the plant:

  1. If the leaves turn yellow, the seedlings lack mineral fertilizing . Too little seedling capacity or lack of potassium gives the shoots a distinctive shade.
  2. When large holes appear on the surface of the leaves, it is safe to say that they were settled by a bear, which can be easily removed with a mixture of vinegar and black pepper.
  3. White coating on the seedlings signals that it is infected with powdery mildew. Affected shoots are cut, the rest - sprayed with an aqueous mixture of soda ash and soap.
  4. The overflow of cucumbers provokes root rot : the seedlings inevitably die if the ground is not watered properly, after mixing it with Previcur.