How to grow cucumbers to achieve high yield?

Cucumber is famous for its crisp and tender flesh and rich juice. It tastes sweet and can stimulate saliva secretion, quench thirst and refresh the mind when eaten raw, while emitting a unique aroma. This vegetable is not only nutritious, but also versatile. It can be cooked into dishes or eaten directly like fruit. So how can we grow cucumbers to achieve high yields?

1. Seedling stage

Before starting seedling cultivation, you need to prepare the seedbed. It is best to choose soil that has not been used to grow melon crops before to reduce the risk of disease transmission. The seedbed should be given ample organic fertilizer , the soil clods should be broken up, and the soil should be leveled. The recommended ratio of nutrient soil is 2/3 garden soil mixed with 1/3 decomposed organic fertilizer, add an appropriate amount of superphosphate, and use 200 to 300 times of carbendazim for soil disinfection.

2 to 3 days before sowing cucumbers, the seeds should be dried in the sun and then soaked in 60°C warm water for 15 minutes. During this period, they need to be stirred constantly to ensure that the seeds are evenly heated. After that, transfer the seeds to warm water at 25 to 33°C and soak them for 3 to 4 hours, then rinse them with clean water and place them in wet gauze to germinate. About 1 day later, when 20% of the seeds turn white, they can be sown.

2. Land preparation and transplanting

After selecting the cucumber planting site, mix the compound microbial fertilizer with the soil and make ridges in preparation for transplanting. Land preparation should adopt the method of high ridges and deep furrows. The ridge width is recommended to be 1 to 2 meters (including the ditch), and the ridge height should be at least 25 centimeters. It is best to adopt a north-south direction and plant in double rows with a plant spacing of more than 25 centimeters.

Before transplanting, use appropriate fungicides to disinfect the land. After digging furrows on the ridges and watering, place the seedlings at reasonable intervals, with about 3,500 plants planted per acre. Usually, the seedlings can be transplanted when they are 15 to 20 days old and have two true leaves.

3. Pruning and trellising

You can start trellising cucumbers when tendrils appear. It is recommended to do this every 3 to 4 days to ensure that the plants are evenly distributed. Since the side branches of cucumber grow vigorously and easily block each other, affecting photosynthesis, pruning, branch cutting and topping should be carried out at appropriate times. Cucumbers mainly rely on the main vine to produce fruits, so all side branches below the root cucumber should be removed; the side branches in the middle and upper parts should be pinched with 2 leaves left after producing 1 to 2 fruits. When the fruit-bearing area moves upward, the old leaves at the bottom of the plant should be removed in time to reduce nutrient consumption and improve permeability. Usually pinching is done when the plant has climbed all the way up the trellis.

Such management helps to effectively transport nutrients absorbed by the roots to the fruits, ensuring the yield and quality of cucumbers.

4. Temperature control

Cucumber planting is usually divided into spring (January to March) and summer (June to September). Seeds need the right humidity and temperature to grow. Growers who have the conditions can adopt multi-layer covering and heating measures after planting to maintain high temperature and humidity in the greenhouse, which is conducive to seedling growth. It is recommended to keep the temperature at 32 to 35℃ during the day and 17℃ at night. After a week of acclimatization, the temperature should be lowered appropriately to about 30℃ during the day and 16 to 18℃ at night.

5. Water and fertilizer management

Cucumbers have shallow and underdeveloped root systems and have high demands for water and fertilizer throughout the growing period, but their absorption rate is relatively low. Therefore, fertilizer and water management should follow the principle of "small amounts and multiple times".

Watering: Water once to help the seedlings grow after planting, and then water according to the dryness of the soil. When the cucumbers have 12 leaves and about 60% of the plants have small cucumbers about 12 cm in length, water them for the second time. After entering the fruit-setting period, the water requirement increases, and the watering interval should be adjusted according to the growth of the plant and the weather. Water once every 7 to 10 days in the early stage, 5 to 7 days in the middle stage, and 3 to 5 days in the late stage. It is best to water in the morning on a sunny day.

Fertilization: 2 to 3 days after transplanting, water once with crazy rooting water to promote root growth. Afterwards, apply nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers according to the fertilizer deficiency situation to ensure that the stems at the base of the plant are strong from the seedling stage to before the vines emerge. During the fruit-bearing period, in addition to sufficient water, nutrients are also needed. You can use Miaoduowang balanced fertilizer and spray it in small amounts multiple times. During the fruit expansion period, the plant's demand for fertilizer and water is the greatest. Use Guo Beiduo to spray small amounts multiple times to ensure fruit growth and development and improve quality.

6. Pest and disease control

Cucumbers are easily affected by pests and diseases such as aphids and downy mildew. You can use 10% imidacloprid to spray to control aphids, and use ethylene phosphatenic acid aluminum wettable powder solution to spray to control downy mildew. Avoid planting in fields where the previous crop was melon crops to prevent soil-borne diseases.

7. Harvest

Cucumbers grow less between 13:00 and 17:00 a day, but grow rapidly between 17:00 and 18:00, which is the peak growth period. Therefore, it is recommended to harvest in the morning and avoid the afternoon. Harvest every 2 to 3 days in the early stage and every 1 to 2 days in the peak period. When harvesting, deformed melons, melons with fallen vines and melons with thinned fruits should be removed. The harvesting criteria are that the fruit is fresh and tender, the melon is smooth, no seeds are formed and it has a certain weight.

The above is an introduction to the key points of cucumber planting. As a common crop in rural areas, the planting technology of cucumber is relatively comprehensive at present. You can choose the appropriate goose breed according to the regional environment.