Rules for pinching cucumbers in a greenhouse
Before you start growing vegetables in a greenhouse, keep in mind that a good harvest can only be obtained if all the rules for caring for plants are followed. Temperature regime, air humidity, regular watering and fertilizing with mineral fertilizers - you will have to pay special attention to all these procedures every day, in the morning and in the evening. In addition, there are secrets in growing individual vegetables. For example, pinching cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse is a must if you want to grow tasty and fresh fruits and reap a good harvest. So what is the meaning of pinching and is it necessary at all?
Rules for pinching cucumbers in a greenhouse
Why is it necessary to do this
First, let's figure out why you need to pinch cucumbers in greenhouses at all. In greenhouse conditions, such comfortable conditions are created that the plants not only actively grow and develop, but also release many shoots. As a result, it becomes too dark and crowded in the greenhouse for all the seedlings. Unfortunately, this does not reflect in the best way on their viability. The main escape has to literally survive, competing and vying for light and water with its stepsons. The lash begins to intensively gain growth, and the number of leaves on the shoot, on the contrary, decreases, which also negatively affects the yield, since it is in the thick of leaves that the ovaries and fruits of cucumbers are formed.
A natural question arises, do all the cucumbers need to be pinned? Yes, otherwise the plant will not have enough strength to develop and feed, and it will simply begin to shed the ovary. Experimentally, agronomists have found that, having additional extra shoots of 30-50 cm in size, cucumbers can lose up to one and a half kilograms of harvest. The best solution to the problem is to provide proper care for the plant, as well as to remove stepchildren from cucumbers, which will allow the main whip to take root, gain growth, form ovaries, without spending energy on competition with other shoots.
Pinching scheme
Consider how to properly pinch cucumbers in a greenhouse. To carry out this procedure without errors, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the vegetable culture. In fact, cucumbers are a large liana, from which from time to time it is necessary to remove young shoots in order for the main bush to develop normally and without problems. The scheme for pinching cucumbers in greenhouses is presented below.
- Full pruning is in progress. Stepsons in all cucumbers that grow in the nodal part of the stem must be removed.
- Only those stepsons are removed that are located below the first 6 leaves of the sprout.
- In order not to waste energy on the formation of early cucumbers, all flowers at 4 nodes are removed.
Remember that the young shoots of the plant are brittle and tender, so cucumbers should be pinned in a polycarbonate greenhouse very carefully, trying not to damage the bush.Also, do not forget that female flowers are located on additional shoots, and male flowers are located on the main stem. Therefore, you need to carry out the procedure carefully, otherwise you can harm the pollination process, which, of course, will lead to a lack of harvest.
Time for the procedure
The next question that worries gardeners after pinching cucumbers in a greenhouse sounds like this: when is it best to do it? The most optimal period for the procedure was and remains the end of July, but it is also worth taking into account the climatic features of the territory in which you live.
If you do not have time to carry it out before the formation of multiple shoots, this will significantly reduce the amount of your future harvest.
The process of pinching in a greenhouse
It is necessary to correctly remove the stepsons from the plant
Studying how to correctly pinch cucumbers on your own, keep in mind, and one more important point. To grow these vegetables in a greenhouse, experienced gardeners choose hybrid varieties. In this case, when pinching, the seedling is left with 3 main stems. If you choose to grow non-hybrid cucumbers, you should only form one main stem. In order to carry out the procedure correctly, use the step-by-step scheme that will tell you how to pick off stepchildren from cucumbers.
- To begin with, lightly pull back the leaf or shoot of the seedling. Then gently pinch off the stepson. Try to do this as close to the base of the stem as possible. What is it for? In order not to leave outgrowths that can begin to develop again.
- Make sure not to damage the skin on the main stem and leaves, because cucumbers will take a lot of time to heal the resulting wounds later.
- The second time, the procedure for removing shoots can be carried out when 5-7 leaves are formed on the stem. During pinching, it is imperative to leave one leaf and one ovary at the plant.
- Many inexperienced gardeners are wondering if cucumbers are being stepchild for the third time? If you want to harvest a good and tasty harvest, then this must be done without fail. According to the scheme of vegetable growers, you should wait until 8 to 10 leaves grow on the seedling, and then pinch off all excess again. During this procedure, you need to leave on the stem not only the fruit, but also two leaves.
As a rule, by this time the cucumber lash reaches a large size and it can be easily tied to the trellis without any problems. The most common twine can serve as a support. Tying lashes will allow you to economically distribute space in the greenhouse so that the shoots do not interfere with each other. This is done very carefully and carefully, because if the cucumber crown is damaged, the plant will begin to deteriorate, turn yellow and, most likely, will completely die. At the same time, you still have to cut off the top, but only when the lateral processes grow large enough (0.5 m).
Recommendations
You should not start picking cucumbers growing in the ground if there are not at least 4 leaves on the main shoot. Only after this can one begin to pinch the nearest processes.
It is during this period that it is worth strengthening care for the cultivation of seedlings. Pay close attention to fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, organize intensive watering, while not forgetting about the airing of the greenhouse and the humidity regime.
Conclusion
Now it is clear how to pinch cucumbers in a greenhouse. On this, the procedure can be considered complete, but experienced vegetable growers recommend that you constantly monitor the plant and from time to time remove excess shoots, otherwise they will still take micronutrients from the main stem.
You will of course decide whether or not to pinch the cucumbers. However, by experience it has long been proven that this procedure increases the yield of vegetables several times.