by Want to increase your cucumber harvest but don’t know where to start? We offer simple techniques that will help you get twice as many cucumbers. You can try all the methods together or choose the ones that suit your plot.
Cucumbers are one of the most beloved garden crops, so every gardener wants their fruits to be the most beautiful and crispy. Due to its unpretentiousness, cucumbers usually give a good harvest. But the possibilities of this plant are much wider than it might seem at first glance! Therefore, try to use the techniques that we will tell you about, and soon you will notice the first positive changes.
Method 1. Helping cucumbers pollinate
In the second half of summer, insects are no longer so active in pollinating flowers, so it is worth attracting winged helpers to your plot. For example, spray the beds with a sugar solution (100 g per 1 liter of water) and soon bees, wasps and bumblebees will flock to the sweet aroma. A radical solution may be to buy a beehive.
Pollinating insects cannot stand the smell of smoke, so to avoid scaring them away from the area, do not burn plant waste, and grill kebabs away from the beds.
Or you can take matters into your own hands and engage in artificial pollination of cucumbers. Using a soft brush, transfer pollen from male flowers (with stamens) to female flowers (with pistils). And soon the female flowers will have ovaries!
For those who grow parthenocarpic and self-pollinating cucumbers, these tips will not be relevant. But if you prefer bee-pollinated varieties and hybrids, take note.
Method 2. Remove lateral shoots from cucumbers
This technique is useful only for late-planted cucumbers. It is in the second half of July that they are side-shooted – removing lateral shoots and ovaries from the leaf axils. For early and mid-season varieties, the procedure is carried out until the middle of the season, and at the end of July, 2 strong side-shoots are left on the bush so that they replace the main stems that have borne fruit.
Thanks to pinching, the plant mainly spends energy on setting fruit, and in the future, you can pick a couple of kilograms more cucumbers from the bush than usual.
One of the reasons for the lack of cucumbers or low fruiting is the presence of a large number of lateral shoots. Therefore, do not neglect side shoots.
Only side shoots that have reached 4-6 cm should be removed so as not to damage the main stem and flowers. You can do side shoot removal by hand or with scissors. First, pull back the cucumber leaf, and then remove the side shoot hidden behind it.
Pinching is especially useful for greenhouse cucumbers, because they often lack light, and this procedure improves the illumination of the leaves and the bush as a whole.
Method 3. Tying up cucumber vines
Want to harvest twice as many cucumbers and at the same time protect cucumbers from pests and make harvesting easier? Then tie up the vines! Plants shorter than 30 cm do not need to be tied up so as not to damage the stems. But older bushes can be placed on a trellis, arches or net. There are many ways, but the main two are horizontal and vertical. The first method is used for the whole bed, and the second is individually for each plant, so it is often more labor-intensive.
Tied cucumbers will suffer less from mechanical damage, for example, when someone accidentally steps on the leaves, as well as from fungal diseases, the spores of which are in the soil and from there are transferred to the plants.
Method 4. Watering cucumbers correctly
Cucumbers are very moisture-loving, and if there is not enough water, then you may not get a double harvest. And those fruits that grow will be crooked and bitter. To avoid this, take a watering can and every 2-3 days (depending on weather conditions) pour 6-12 liters of water per 1 sq.m. For cucumbers in a greenhouse, the period between waterings can be reduced to 1-2 days, and the dose of water can be increased to 10-15 liters per 1 sq.m.
You shouldn’t overdo it with watering, either, so as not to cause a surge in diseases. Monitor the external condition of the plants. If the leaves are elastic and the ovaries are strong, everything is fine, do not change the usual watering regime.
Water for irrigation should be warm. It is better to use a watering can and pour water under the root. Cucumber will not like abundant watering and irrigation from a hose. The ideal time for the procedure is evening. On cloudy days, watering should be reduced, because the roots will practically not absorb water.
Method 5. Feeding cucumbers with milk and grass
It turns out that regular milk can speed up the growth of cucumbers and increase the harvest by 1,5-2 times! The fact is that milk contains a lot of potassium, which is responsible for the formation of fruits. In addition, after watering with diluted milk, beneficial microorganisms will begin to multiply in the soil, which will improve the nutrition of plants.
To prepare the dressing, add 1 glass of milk to a bucket of water, mix thoroughly and water all the beds. Do not exceed the concentration of milk, and it is strictly not recommended to pour it into the soil in its pure form, so as not to provoke the death of plants. You can use this dressing every 2 weeks until the end of fruiting.
Another natural fertilizer that will increase the yield and give cucumbers a special taste is herbal infusion. It is very easy to prepare. Finely chop nettle, bluegrass, wormwood and other herbs, fill a third of a bucket with them and pour warm water. Strain the infusion after 3 days. For feeding, dilute 1 liter of the preparation in 10 liters of water.
Method 6. Mulching or hilling cucumbers
Mulching is one of the main factors that allows you to double the fruiting. And all because mulch retains moisture in the soil (you can water the plants a little less often), protects cucumbers from temperature changes that this crop does not tolerate, improves air exchange. A mulched bed looks neat: the fruits do not lie on the ground and remain whole longer. It is a pleasure to look after it, because there are no weeds!
Sawdust, straw, humus, peat and other materials can be used as mulch, with the exception of green manure. When rotting, they can attract pests and provoke the development of pathogenic bacteria.
Usually cucumbers are mulched after planting seedlings in the ground, but it is not too late to do this procedure in July. The main thing is to make sure that the mulch does not touch the stems of the plants.
If for some reason you do not like mulching, be sure to carry out hilling, which will also help to retain moisture in the soil and strengthen the root system. The fact is that after fertilizing, the roots have already grown enough and they need to be covered with soil so that the bush is more resistant to the wind. In July, this is done 1-2 times, lightly raking the soil to the stems.
Method 7. Loosen the soil in cucumber beds
For those who have mulched cucumber beds, this technique is irrelevant. For everyone else, after watering and rain, it is worth slightly loosening the soil so that a crust does not form on it. This procedure will deliver air to the roots, which means that the ovaries will be strong and will not fall off. In peat soil, it is enough to pierce the soil with a pitchfork in several places to a depth of 3-4 cm to improve air exchange.
You should not overuse loosening so as not to damage the root system of cucumbers.
Method 8. Increasing the carbon dioxide content in a greenhouse with cucumbers
Greenhouse cucumbers often lack carbon dioxide for active photosynthesis. And, accordingly, the plants do not develop and bloom as actively. This problem is easy to solve – put a barrel of mullein in the greenhouse or hotbed. And a rich harvest will not keep you waiting!
In professional greenhouses, dry ice is used to increase the level of carbon dioxide. If you manage to get it, spread it in the morning between the rows at the rate of 2 g of dry ice per 1 sq. m.
Method 9. Protecting cucumbers from adverse conditions, diseases and pests
If cucumber leaves are constantly stepped on, the plant experiences stress and does not bear fruit as actively. Therefore, walk around the plantings carefully or tie up the vines so that they do not lie on the paths.
In summer, there is often heavy rainfall, which provokes the appearance of rot on cucumbers. Therefore, weed out weeds in time, which take nutrients from the soil, loosen the beds and feed cucumbers with potassium sulfate (15 g per 1 sq.m; about 2-3 times until the end of the season). To protect against stress, it is worth spraying the plantings with Epin or Cytovit according to the instructions.
To prevent diseases and pests from preventing you from doubling your harvest, dust the cucumber leaves with ash or spray them with tobacco infusion (400 g per 10 l, leave for 2 days; dilute the finished infusion with water 1:1).
Method 10. Harvest cucumbers regularly
Don’t wait until the cucumbers get big, pick them every two days immediately after they reach 10-15 cm in length. This will stimulate the plant to bloom more actively and form new ovaries. It is best to pick in the morning or evening so that the cucumbers stay firm longer. Also remove all crooked and damaged fruits so that they do not become sources of infection.
During harvesting, the vines must not be pulled or tugged. The stalks must remain on the plant. It is better to use scissors, pruning shears or a knife to remove the cucumbers.
Now you can boast of a double harvest and treat all your neighbors with wonderful cucumbers. Save this article so that you don’t forget about the described techniques next year! And July is also a very suitable time for sowing cucumbers. See for yourself!
