Rules for watering cucumbers in a greenhouse
Watering cucumbers in a greenhouse requires gardeners to comply with certain rules that regulate the time of this process, the frequency and recommendations for the use of irrigation systems. Performing simple techniques allows you to ensure a good harvest of cucumbers with excellent taste. We will learn how to water cucumbers in a greenhouse correctly.
Rules for watering cucumbers in a greenhouse
Optimal watering conditions
For demanding cucumbers, moist, but not waterlogged, soil is preferable. With an excess of moisture, the plant becomes sick and dies. The following modes are considered optimal:
- warm, but not hot temperature range: in the range from 21 ° C to 26 ° C on a clear day and from 16 ° C to 23 ° C on cloudy rainy days or at night,
- air humidity level not less than 75%, but not more than 85%,
- the moisture level of the soil is not less than 72%, but not more than 82%, and during the fruiting stage, the moisture indicator rises to 90%.
Excessive watering of cucumbers on cloudy days, non-observance of soil moisture and its overdrying can undermine the normal development of vegetable crops. When moistened with cold or overheated water, cucumbers massively shed flowers, the ovaries stop in formation, and vegetables do not develop properly.
When watering cucumbers, one should take into account the sharp fluctuations in temperature on a sunny day, followed by a cold night, as well as dampness and drops that appear due to the formation of moisture condensation at night and in the morning.
Measures for Optimal Mode
To ensure the optimal regime required during the normal irrigation process, appropriate measures are taken:
- The required moisture level is maintained through abundant spills of cucumbers and spraying of the plants themselves and the soil at appropriate frequency. Some summer residents use little tricks: they often put containers (often boxes) with wet sand on the floor in the greenhouse room, at the bottom of which polyethylene is placed, which retains moisture. Mulching also helps to maintain the required humidity. Suitable mulch is straw, peat, cloth and foil.
- The required temperature limit is ensured by ventilation and screening of greenhouse glasses. Some seasoned gardeners shade greenhouse windows by spraying them with a suspension of chalk.
Watering requirements
The main requirements for the irrigation process in the greenhouse cultivation of cucumbers are imposed on water and irrigation technique.
Water
Among the basic rules is the use of proper water. It should be warm: its temperature should be kept between 20 ° C and 25 ° C. The composition of warm water should not include an excessive amount of salts and fluorine, chlorine and sodium impurities. Hard water is softened by using wood ash, which is added at the rate of 5 tsp. in a 10 liter bucket.
Watering equipment
Irrigation technology also has its own characteristics.Cucumbers are not hosed under strong pressure, so as not to erode the soil, not to expose the root system, not to damage the foliage, flowers and plant stems during flowering and fruiting. Specially designed irrigation nozzles are used to disperse the stream of warm water and reduce the pressure.
Watering in clear weather is recommended, alternating with the method of sprinkling from a watering can or by means of special devices.
Frequency and standard
Plant growth stage affects the amount of watering
How often to water cucumbers in a greenhouse and how many times to do it depends on the stage of development of the vegetable crop, weather and temperature conditions.
After landing
The cucumber seedlings planted in the soil are watered abundantly and with the proper frequency so that young plants take root in the new conditions. Subsequently, the number of irrigation procedures is reduced to one time every 3-6 days. Watering cucumbers in this mode continues until the flowering stage.
When flowering and fruiting
The amount of watering of vegetables during the transition of the plant to the flowering stage and when it bears fruit increases. It is correct to carry it out every 2-4 days, taking into account the condition of the soil and weather conditions.
When growing vegetables in soil greenhouse conditions, this is done:
- in January-February - once every 3-5 days,
- in March - every 3-4 days,
- in April-May - once every 2-3 days,
- in June-July - once every 2 days or every day.
Water consumption rates
The water consumption rate for watering cucumbers is in direct proportion to the level of development of the root system:
- young seedlings, in which the roots grow up to 4 cm, require no more than 4 liters per 1 sq. m of sown area,
- an adult plant, whose roots reach a length of about 15 cm, requires an increase in the rate of water consumption for irrigation to 15 liters for 1 sq. m of sown area.
In both cases, it is recommended to water the vegetable crop so that the moisture spreads and reaches the depths of the entire root system. We must not forget that in hot weather, the rate of water consumption for watering cucumbers in a greenhouse increases.
Watering in special conditions
Weather conditions and time of day change the usual irrigation technology, which is usually used for cucumbers under optimal growing conditions.
Heat
Exceeding the usual air temperature adversely affects the development of vegetable crops. It is recommended to lower the degrees to the optimal limit by humidification, accompanied by ventilation and refreshing watering. This assumes that an additional one is added to the main watering procedure, abundantly sprinkling cucumber bushes, beds, greenhouse racks and walls at the rate of 1.0-1.5 liters per 1 sq. m area.
On a clear day, cucumbers at the fruiting stage are watered in the morning.
It is worth ventilating the greenhouse in the heat when the internal temperature rises above 28 ° C-30 ° C, since cucumbers do not like drafts very much.
Rain
Watering a vegetable crop during rain, in cloudy and cold damp weather, is not worth it, or you should reduce the number of irrigations to a minimum, observing the level of moisture and the state of the soil. In such weather, evaporation is often small, because excessive moisture in the earth and an excess of moisture lead to decay of the plant lying on the ground and its subsequent death.
If necessary, watering cucumber bushes in such weather conditions is best done during the day in order to maintain optimal evaporation and the required humidity.
In the evening and at night
Evening and night time are the periods when watering cucumbers in the greenhouse is possible as an exceptional measure in extreme heat, when it is not possible to do this in the morning or during the day. The reason for the prohibition of evening and night watering of cucumbers in the greenhouse is the appearance of cracks in vegetables and stems on the soil of the plant due to temperature changes. The most suitable time for watering is considered no earlier than 1-2 hours after sunrise and no later than 1-2 hours before sunset.
Greenhouse irrigation mechanisms
The system of watering cucumbers in a greenhouse can be performed in one of several options.
By pump
When there is no water supply in the personal plot, a tank is installed near the greenhouse structure or inside it, the water into which is pumped from a well, well, or is collected during the rains.
On a warm sunny day, you can warm up the water to the desired temperature by painting the tank a dark color.
Hoses or a drip irrigation system for cucumbers in the greenhouse are connected to the installed tank. Tubes with holes made in them are laid in the beds near the roots of the plants.
Drip irrigation of cucumbers is convenient when feeding vegetable crops, which are added directly to the water tank.
Leica
You can also water cucumbers in the greenhouse manually. This is achieved with a simple garden watering can, which is also used for sprinkling vegetable crops. It is advisable to spray suspended cucumber bushes with water and mineral compositions with foliar dressing using mechanical plastic sprayers.