How to Pinch Cucumbers Properly – Useful Tips with Photos and Videos

Cucumbers are one of the most popular garden crops. Many gardeners have been perfecting their growing techniques for years in pursuit of high yields. However, it is often enough to simply follow agricultural technology and pinch the vines in a timely manner. Not all gardeners know what this technique is and whether it is necessary to pinch cucumbers, so today we will introduce you to this important and necessary procedure.

Do you need to pinch cucumbers at all?

Sometimes you can hear the opinion that pinching cucumbers in a greenhouse and open ground is a waste of time, and excellent harvests can be obtained without it. In some cases, this is the case, since everything depends on the type of plant and its characteristics. But it should be remembered that with uncontrolled growth of cucumbers on the bushes, a large number of empty flowers (male shoots) are formed. And to obtain a harvest, it is precisely the female shoots that appear exclusively on the lateral parts of the plant that are needed.

So, what happens when you pinch cucumbers:

• female flowers are formed;
• the bitterness of the fruits disappears;
• fruiting increases.

How to pinch cucumbers in a greenhouse

First of all, inexperienced gardeners wonder whether cucumbers are pinched in a greenhouse. This depends on what variety of this crop you grow. Most likely, you have parthenocarpic (fruit-bearing without pollination) varieties planted in your greenhouse.

The pinching scheme for cucumbers belonging to the parthenocarpic group looks like this:

• secure the plant to a support or trellis;
• when the main stem reaches a height of 0,5 m, remove the lower side shoots, as well as the ovaries and inflorescences. This will form a blinding zone of the bush;
• Above this area, pinch off the shoots that appear on the sides above the first leaf. At a height of about half a meter, leave one ovary and several leaves;
• at a height of 1-1,5 m, leave 3-4 shoots with several leaves and two ovaries on each;
• after another half meter, leave 3-4 ovaries and the same number of leaves on each shoot;
• if the bush is actively growing, it can be thrown over a support or trellis, and it will grow with the vine downwards;
• When there are 20 cm left to the ground, the growth point should be removed.

Be sure to leave one healthy and undamaged leaf on each ovary.

How to pinch cucumbers in open ground

Do you pinch cucumbers in open ground? After all, they should have enough space outside to grow and develop. But, given that insect-pollinated varieties are mainly planted in the beds, on which male inflorescences are formed in abundance, they need to be looked after even more carefully than greenhouse ones. Before pinching cucumbers in open ground, study the list of activities below:

• do not plant plants too close to each other;
• Before pinching, install trellises next to the bushes;
• remove inflorescences, tendrils and lateral shoots from the lower part of the plant;
• tie up the seedlings only two weeks after transplanting into open ground;
• form a weave. To do this, cut the top above the 6th leaf: the side shoots will go to the sides and can be tied up;
• leave no more than 3 sprouts on the plant;
• each shoot should have 4 ovaries;
• do not remove healthy leaves – they contain the main nutrients, cut off only diseased and damaged parts of the plant that have been attacked by pests;
• If the stems are short, you don’t need to pinch them.

Do hybrid cucumbers need to be pinched?

One of the common misconceptions is that cucumber hybrids do not need to be pinched. This is true only for some hybrid varieties that were bred relatively recently. These include, in particular, Valdai, Snowstorm, Izhorets, Blizzard, Northerner etc. Most of the fruits are formed on the main stem, but the lateral shoots are weakly formed, so there is no need to pinch them.

Basically, experts recommend shaping any cucumbers, including hybrids. To improve fruiting, all lateral stems should be removed, then the main development of the bush will go along the central stem. Or you can do the following:

• remove lateral shoots at the stage of formation of 4-5 true leaves;
• after 5-6 leaves, pinch the side shoot, leaving 20 cm in length;
• when another 5-6 true leaves grow, pinch the shoot again, leaving a shoot 40-50 cm long;
• after 5-6 more leaves appear, pinch off the top;

For more information, watch the video on how to properly pinch cucumbers.

Pinching cucumbers in a greenhouse:

Without pinching, the cucumber will spend too much energy on the development of barren flowers and side shoots, the fruits will become smaller and lose their taste. Therefore, in order to enjoy tasty and healthy fruits, be sure to carry out healthy shaping of cucumber bushes both in the greenhouse and in the open ground.