Features of growing cucumbers under the film

Although cucumbers have become a familiar filling of Russian cuisine, their homeland is Southeast Asia. And all breeding tricks only limit the tropical nature of the vegetable, but do not eliminate it.In order to achieve a decent result, it is advisable to use protective shelters - moreover, made by technology.

Growing cucumbers under the film is much more efficient than in the open field, and at the same time less time consuming, less expensive than using greenhouses. But it is important to understand that the film covers give a decent result only against the background of a warm summer. A cold year, especially with a significant amount of precipitation, inevitably lowers the culture's efficiency.

It is worth considering that there are two options for applying the film: in the first case, it is laid out directly on the ground in order to:

• keep warm;
• retain moisture;
• stop the damage by weeds and diseases.

In another scheme, the film is thrown over the frame, made from scrap materials or purchased in finished form. In fact, this is a miniature greenhouse. In order to compensate for the coldest weather, and to get the earliest possible harvest, it is better to combine a film cover with mulching.

In those places where the film is located exactly above the holes, small cruciate holes are made in it. After establishing a strong warm weather, the seedlings are brought to the surface of the film material. This technique allows you to get rid of hilling and minimize watering plants. Remove the film from the beds is not necessary until the completion of fruiting. The location of the stems and fruits on the covering material significantly reduces the likelihood of disease, because they are not transmitted from the ground.

The use of black film is recommended, because this material has proven itself in private farms and large agricultural enterprises. The usual temperature range at which it eliminates soil freezing in winter and unjustified warming up in spring or summer is from -40 to +50 degrees. There is an increase in the number of adventitious roots, if plants are grown by this method. Harvest is formed faster and has a decent presentation.

A positive result can be achieved only if cucumber growing under the film is done on well-prepared soil. Sands and loams are optimal for this culture. And in order to get high yields, it is necessary to fertilize the land with high quality, to achieve its neutral or slightly acidic reaction. Cucumber plantations gladly accept the introduction of organic matter. It is categorically unacceptable to grow cucumbers (no matter - with or without a film) on the plots:

• with non-cultural land;
• with severe soil acidity;
• with weak warming of the earth;
• with a heavy soil mass structure;
• with a thin arable layer.

It is very good if siderats, potatoes or cabbage used to grow in the same place. But the “inherited” from the pumpkin, including watermelon, plot, just will not give the optimal result. Since the root system of cucumber stretches close to the surface, it is very important to saturate this particular layer. Adding fresh manure is recommended in the fall after the end of the active phase of the growing season. In addition to saturating the earth with useful elements, it helps to improve its structure (sand becomes stronger, and heavy clay, on the contrary, is loosened).

When there is no choice, when all the land on the site is represented by heavy clay or dense loams, it is characterized by slow heating, and the incorporation of fresh manure is recommended on average 40 days before sowing. This moment usually comes as soon as the snow melts. As a result, the soil mass drastically improves and warms up. The amount of manure added in the autumn months is determined primarily by the quality of the original soil.On light ground, sometimes 6 kg per 1 square meter are enough. m, and if it is bad, it is necessary to increase the concentration sometimes by 50%. Spring introduction of humus is practiced in an amount of about 4 kg per 1 m2, in addition to it, compost is used.

Peat is recommended only for soils that are not only heavy, but also hydrated beyond measure. As with growing without shelter, liming helps to cope with high acidity. For it use:

• ground limestone;
• tuff;
• dolomite flour (any of these three minerals must be introduced in the fall during digging).

Usually planting cucumbers under the film is produced by seeds. With an acute shortage of time, they are simply not prepared on purpose. But in this case, you will have to use exclusively black spunbond for cover. Other materials do not reliably protect the raw seed. On the territory of the Ural, Siberian and partly Far Eastern regions, this method gives a positive result only when using warm beds. Therefore, especially to save their own strength will not work.

A trench is torn off, the width of which is at least 0.7 m with a depth of approximately 0.3 m. This trench serves as a store for last year’s dry grasses, for cut branches and other useless organic matter. Over biological waste manure is laid out, the same layer is black soil. If late May cold snaps are likely, manure should be around the 0.5 m high perimeter, and a recess for the ground mass is made in the center. To plant cucumbers with greater efficiency, it is required to collect black soil or soil from those places where solanaceous cabbage grew in the previous season.

For cucumbers, rows with a recess are formed. The gaps between these rows can not be less than 0.1 m. These lines shed thoroughly with warm water, then the selected seeds are introduced into the grooves and cover them with soil. The negative side of this method is that the gardener can no longer do anything to achieve a good result. Moreover, it is impossible to determine in advance how many days in May crops will sprout, there is not even a guarantee that they will generally grow.

The traditional method involves germination in the last 24-48 hours before planting. Cucumber seeds are wrapped in wet matter and left alone. The prepared planting material is placed in pits of exactly 40 mm deep, which are pre-moistened. The distance from one pit to another should be exactly 0.1 m. The seeds should be sprinkled with soil so that they do not move anywhere by chance.

You can do without the formation of warm beds, if planted cucumbers under the film of seedlings. Then it is advisable to create a fertile layer on top of the drainage layer of expanded clay. Holding the seedlings in a standing position is possible both with arcs and with one rod. The germination of seeds should be completed by early May, for this purpose peat tablets are used, which are activated from water. Conclusion to a stable place of growth should be made from May 20 to June 15, this technique allows to exclude even the harmful effect of the June frosts.

Cucumber requires watering with extremely warm water; since the film minimizes its evaporation, it is necessary not to be carried away with excessive moisture. The space under the film is recommended to disinfect. For this purpose, the beds are treated with karbofos (60 g) or formalin (30 g), dissolved in 10 liters of water. The optimal time for disinfection is March.

The barrel is excavated and treated, as if painted with this solution. But in a situation when the rot has overtaken all the plants, or the foliage wilts already, sick cucumbers uproot and burn. The soil in the problem area is treated with the same solution.Only after that you can try to grow cucumbers under the film in the same place again. The recommended distance for arcs is 1 m, unless otherwise specified in a particular case.

Opening the film to the plants to be in the fresh air is very important in hot weather. But this can be done only for 2-5 hours and with caution. Thermal disturbance with too long opening can lead to a decrease in yield. We can do without weeding and hilling only if the holes are pre-cut at the required distances in the harboring material and measures are taken against weed infestation.

Knowing in general terms how to properly plant cucumbers under a film, it is also necessary to take into account that they will have to be pollinated artificially:

• unopened buds about 24 hours before the procedure is closed;
• when this time passes, all empty flowers are removed;
• You can still speed up the process with soft brushes.

First of all, it is necessary to distinguish the situation when the plants burned out, from the defeat by fungi or bacteria (in such cases, inevitably there are special raids or microbial colonies). You can eliminate sunburn by watering plants according to a special schedule - in the early or late hours. If burns do occur, you need to carefully observe the watering mode and its dosage, to stabilize the temperature.

If the leaves are white, it is possible that the plant was either planted too early, or the young sprouts were watered with cold water, or the soil is too acidic. The first and third mistakes cannot be corrected without another landing attempt, the second is corrected by optimization of irrigation.

How to plant cucumbers under the film, see the following video.