Planting time and method of autumn cucumbers

Autumn cucumbers are crisp and tender, highly nutritious, and are high-yield and easy-to-store vegetables, making them a favorite among farmers. Let’s learn about the planting time and method of autumn cucumbers.

Planting time for autumn cucumbers

The planting time of autumn cucumbers varies, starting from early to mid-July and lasting until early August. However, it is not recommended to plant autumn cucumbers after mid-to-late August, especially in the northern regions. If sowing is too late and the cucumbers have not yet borne fruit after frost, it will basically be difficult for them to bear fruit.

How to plant autumn cucumbers

1. Planting

The temperature is high when sowing autumn cucumbers, so you should give priority to varieties with stronger heat resistance. Before sowing, deep plow the soil and make it into small raised beds, and then adopt the direct seeding method. You can broadcast the seeds evenly, or you can sow them in holes, with 2-3 seeds in each hole.

2. Stay hydrated

When sowing autumn cucumbers, due to the high surface temperature, in order to increase the survival rate of the cucumber seedlings, sowing can be carried out with sufficient bottom water, or after sowing, according to the soil moisture conditions in the field, if the conditions are particularly dry, timely irrigation and watering can be carried out. After the seedlings emerge, continue to observe and replenish water.

3. Set up a pergola

After the cucumber seedlings have emerged for a period of time, they grow very fast. It is necessary to build a trellis in time to facilitate the climbing of the cucumber seedlings and the subsequent results. It is relatively simple to set up a rattan trellis. Just find some bamboo poles, put 3 or 4 of them together in a triangular or square shape at the bottom and intersect at the top, then fix them together with ropes. It is both convenient and sturdy.

4. Field management

If you want a high yield of cucumbers, nutrition is essential, so the use of fertilizer is particularly critical. The base fertilizer can be 100 kilograms of compound fertilizer per acre. When the cucumbers are in the flowering and fruiting period, top dressing is needed. Urea or compound fertilizer can be applied, with a dosage of 30-40 kilograms per acre.

It should be noted that if there is too much water and fertilizer, resulting in excessive growth of cucumbers, you can spray dwarfing agents such as chlormequat to control growth. If the cucumbers are allowed to grow vigorously, the fruits may be small and the yield will decrease. Cucumbers will encounter many diseases and pests during their entire growing period, and prevention and control work needs to be done. Cucumber downy mildew is relatively common, and can be treated by spraying fungicides such as pyraclostrobin, metalaxyl, and mancozeb . For insect pests, aphids can be sprayed with imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, etc., and pests such as the fall armyworm and the armyworm can be sprayed with insecticides such as cypermethrin, avermectin, and bifenthrin.

That’s it