Rules for fertilizing cucumbers with chicken droppings
Growing cucumbers has its own characteristics associated with watering, tying and other care features. Also, in order to get a good harvest, you should take care of sufficiently feeding the plant with useful microelements. Chicken manure fertilizer for cucumber is one of the best options for outdoor growing conditions as well as greenhouse plants.
Rules for fertilizing cucumbers with chicken droppings
There are many recipes for making mortars and compost. And for those who cannot stand the smell of bird excrement, you can use the granular type of product.
The benefits of chicken droppings
Many gardeners, faced with the cultivation of vegetable crops on their site, often ask the question of whether it is possible to fertilize cucumbers with chicken droppings. The fact is that not all plants tolerate such feeding due to the high content of urea in the composition, as well as various chemical compounds. For trees, shrubs, and some garden crops, feeding with droppings is the best way to make plants strong and fertile. In terms of its properties, chicken excrement is not inferior to other bird excrement, and even cow dung.
Cucumbers and chicken droppings are also compatible. The fact is that the useful elements in its composition (potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, nitrogen, cobalt, zinc, etc.) have a beneficial effect on the growth of the culture, its immunity against diseases and pests, and on the maturation of a high-quality crop. In addition, the concentration of these substances is so high that the use of chicken manure for cucumbers is not inferior in its effectiveness to specialized mineral compositions.
Features of the
The properties of this product have one important feature. If you feed the cucumbers with a solution or compost prepared on its basis, a few weeks or even months after "harvesting", the quality of fertilization will be even better. When interacting with air, beneficial substances enter into chemical reactions, the result of which is a percentage increase in macronutrients. In addition, despite their concentration, all components of the applied top dressing are easily assimilated by plants. The main thing is to adhere to the dosage of raw materials in the preparation of solutions and composts.
Fertilizer types
Having decided to fertilize cucumbers with chicken droppings, it is important to decide what kind of it will be the most convenient and effective. Most often, gardeners use:
- Aqueous solutions from fresh poultry droppings. They are most beneficial for vegetable crops.
- Compost. Rotten excrement with straw and sawdust.
- Granular type and powder. Can be purchased from a specialist store. You can prepare the powder yourself by collecting the dried excrement.
Most of the types of dressing can be prepared on your own. The main thing is to have the material itself and to know about all the nuances of preparing a quality product. For those who do not have the opportunity to get chicken droppings, cucumbers can be fertilized with a product that is sold in the store.
Granules and powder, when diluted with water and further watering, are no less useful product than homemade products.
Chicken droppings
Chicken manure as a fertilizer for cucumbers is most effective when applied to the soil before sowing seeds. To prepare top dressing from fresh excrement, you only need the litter itself, settled water and a container (bucket, trough, etc.). The cooking process itself is as follows:
- You should mix the droppings and water in equal proportions.
- Stir them with a wooden stick.
- Cover the container with a lid and place in the shade.
Mixing of the components is carried out in a gauze bandage and rubber gloves. After 14 days, the fertilizer will stand and be ready for use. But, watering should be organized with a re-diluted substance.
How to fertilize
Water the plants before fertilizing
How much and how to fertilize cucumbers with chicken droppings:
- It is necessary to dilute the fertilizer with water in a ratio of 1/30 (for cucumbers, tomatoes and other garden crops, the solution should be weakly concentrated).
- Water the cucumbers abundantly before fertilizing. Watering should not be done, only in case of recent rainfall.
- Top dressing is applied at a distance of 10-12 cm from the stem of the plant or garden. Droppings on cucumber leaves can burn them.
- The amount of applied fertilizer is 3-5 liters per one bush.
The rest of the fertilizer can be stored until the onset of cold weather. The resulting substance is perfectly stored even at high temperatures. But, the container should not be left in the sun. The product will lose its properties.
Other vegetable crops, as well as fruit trees, can be watered with the prepared substrate. Tall plants require more nutrients, so such plants should be watered with a solution prepared in a ratio of 1/5 - 1/10.
Compost
The use of compost is also popular among gardeners. It is introduced into the soil in the fall when digging up the soil. Compost is also rarely used in the spring. The product is prepared like this:
- Excrement is poured onto the bottom of the container, in a layer of 20-25 cm.
- Straw is poured from above, 5-10 cm thick.
- 5-10 cm of straw is laid out.
- The last layer is peat. Its layer should be large - 20-25 cm.
The compost matures for up to 2 months. You can also add twigs, grass and food waste to it. Another popular way to enrich the soil is to use chicken coop bedding. Excrement mixed with straw and peat is scattered around the garden in autumn. Until spring, the litter remains on the ground, enriching it with useful substances that penetrate the soil with precipitation.
There is also a faster way to feed cucumbers. If it is not possible to wait for several weeks, you can add a tablespoon of bird excrement to a bucket of ordinary settled water for irrigation. This concentration will not harm the vegetable crop. This watering will be less effective than conventional feeding. But it is still a good option to replace it.
Granules
The product in granules is also popular. A feature of feeding cucumbers with chicken manure (granular) is that it has almost no odor and can be safely stored for the owner even indoors. In addition, the shelf life is 2 to 4 years. With the need to use this product, it must be added to the water according to the proportion given in the instructions. You can also add peat to the resulting substrate.
Conclusion
Chicken manure is one of the best ways to obtain nutrients for vegetable crops.
It has a positive effect on both the growth and fertility of cucumbers. Due to the high concentration of useful elements contained in its composition, the effectiveness of the use of this tool does not disappear even after several months after its preparation.
For poultry excrement to be beneficial, it is important to adhere to the recommendations for the preparation of solutions, composts and other substances.Any mistakes can affect the quality of the crop, plant immunity and growth. In addition, sometimes an incorrectly calculated concentration leads to the death of vegetable crops.