How to dive cucumber seedlings

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Diving cucumber seedlings is familiar to many gardeners, but this terminology mainly refers to tomatoes and peppers. As for the need to dive cucumber seedlings, there are two opposing opinions, the supporters of which are constantly arguing among themselves. The whole difficulty lies in the fact that cucumbers have delicate roots, and therefore, picking cucumber seedlings to a new place is painful. In the event of injury to seedlings, they are almost unable to survive, which is why carrying out a dive requires constant attention and careful handling.

Diving cucumber seedlings

What is picking?

A pick is the transfer of seedlings from the original sowing site to a wider container or directly to the soil in open ground. When diving, the shoots are removed together with a small part of the soil covering the roots, which is important for maintaining the integrity of the rhizome, which means that it provides quick adaptation to new conditions.

With such a transfer, especially weak seedlings that are not able to cope with adaptation die, and the stronger ones strengthen their growth. This process increases the disease resistance of cucumbers and their resistance to low temperatures, which is necessary for outdoor cultivation. To get acquainted in more detail with transplanting seedlings to a new place, you can watch the picking of cucumbers in a video or photo.

The need for a pick

Cucumbers have a poorly developed root system. Their roots are so thin and fragile that they can get injured by any kind of impact. In this case, the gardener needs to think carefully about whether to transplant plants and how to dive cucumbers correctly so as not to injure them. Due to the complexity of the process, many gardeners categorically insist on the incompatibility of the picking process for cucumbers.

Planting seeds in cups

According to experienced gardeners, direct planting of seeds in disposable peat cups is preferable. At the same time, no more than two seeds are placed in each small container, the cultivation time of which is 15-30 days. After the seeds sprout, they are placed in greenhouse growth conditions, in a greenhouse or open ground, and thereby dispense with the diving process.

Paper, peat or plastic cups must first be cut, freeing the plants, while from peat - plantings are buried directly into the ground.

An important point is transplanting seedlings by transshipment. That is, the exclusion of the separation of a lump of earth, entwining cucumber roots. This method increases the survival rate and quick adaptation to new conditions.

When is it worth diving seedlings?

A pick is required

As much as the gardeners do not want this, however, there are a number of cases when it is simply necessary to dive all the cucumbers.

• When planting seeds in containers that are large or deep.In this case, the plantings feel discomfort, which leads to the formation of decay, the acquisition of yellowness by the shoots, the plantings do not grow. For the sake of saving at least part of the plants, it is required to carry out a pick in a container of the optimal size.
• With insufficient lighting. It happens that the weather gets worse, it rains all day and the sky is overcast. At the same time, the plants, in search of light, stretch upward, become weak and brittle. The correct picking of all cucumbers in the open ground will help in this case to avoid problems with growing and care. By deepening the seedlings into the soil, it can be shortened, the rhizome of the plant is strengthened, due to the appearance of new branches of the root on the stem. Landings activate their immunity and become more resilient.
• With an erroneous calculation of the time of planting plantings in the soil. Cucumbers are transplanted to open soil when the temperature reaches 16 degrees, at an underestimated temperature, cucumber stalks will die. Seedlings are transplanted when the 30-day period is reached. If after this period, for some reason, you did not transplant the cucumbers into open ground, then they need to be dived into wider containers for optimal growth and development. A pick in this case is done in order to exclude overgrowth and elongation of leaves.
• When soil or plant is infected. If at least one seedling has symptoms of the disease, transplanting the seedlings into a new container is required. The same rule applies to the soil - in case of contamination, healthy soil is required.
• For natural selection, picking of cucumber plants is necessary. Due to this, only strong seedlings will survive, guaranteeing a good harvest.

In these cases, it is required to carry out a picking of cucumbers. Otherwise, it is best to avoid replanting the plants again.

Pick rules

If the picking is inevitable, the correct implementation of a clear sequence of the transplant process is required. Otherwise, it will not be possible to save some of the plants that do not have great health and vigor of growth. Only the youngest crops need to be picked. As a material, it is necessary to choose seedlings that are no more than 7 -30 days old (counting from the moment the first greenery appears on the soil). In addition, you can be guided by the appearance of the seedlings - they must have two cotyledon leaves.

• Preparing containers for cucumbers. The size of the containers must be selected slightly larger than those originally selected for sowing the cucumber. Cups made of paper or peat will be optimal, in view of the fact that when replanting again, removing the soil can have a bad effect on the development of plantings. And in such cups, you can freely place the plant in the soil.
• Soil preparation. As a filler, you can use a substrate from the store, which is optimal for vegetables or only cucumbers. You can also choose a mixture of self-preparation, consisting of sod land, rotted sawdust, organic fertilizer and peat. The preparation of the mixed mixture should begin in the fall, so that the mixture has time to rot. The option of using only one ash added to the sod land is possible. Whatever soil you choose for transplanting, the main condition is looseness, air and water capacity, and the nutritional value of the soil. Otherwise, after watering, nutrients will not be able to penetrate the entire depth of the soil.
• Filling the soil into prepared containers. Backfilling should be done by two-thirds, after which the container is left for a couple of days for the substrate to compact. If necessary, add more soil if after compaction of the soil there is a lot of free space.
• Before the start of the pick (2-3 hours), the soil in the container should be watered with warm water (not lower than room temperature), followed by 2-3 cm depressions.
• Before picking, plants are watered with warm water (2-3 hours before transplanting). When watering, it is necessary not to overdo it so that the earth does not separate from the root system and at the same time is saturated with moisture. Otherwise, it will not be possible to plant seedlings in a container without damaging the root system.
• Removing small seedlings should be done carefully. It is necessary to avoid touching the fingers of the fragile stem so as not to damage it, as it is very fragile. It will be optimal to hold the seedling by the lump of soil between the roots or in the area of ​​the cotyledon leaves. Digging up the seedlings should be done with a small round spatula, a regular tablespoon or long tweezers. In this case, it is necessary to undermine not the entire length of the working tool, but gradually going deeper under the root.
• The root of the harvested plant should be examined. If traces of infection or suppuration are found on it, discard it. If the roots of the plant are very long, they must be pinched, breaking off the long central shoots. This will provide an opportunity for the development of lateral roots, providing the seedlings with strength and strength due to uniform development.
• Placing seedlings in a prepared recess. The soil should be lightly compacted around the stem of the plant. This operation has a positive effect on the active adhesion of the root to the soil and on the adaptation of the plant to a new place.
• Planting plants should be accompanied by abundant watering. In this case, pre-settled water is used.
• Upon completion of planting, all seedlings should be covered with a dense white cloth. Such material will help protect plants from drafts and will ensure the normalization of the temperature of the soil cover, creating favorable climatic conditions.
• It is necessary to exclude a significant deepening of the cucumber plantings into the soil, as this will lead to the fact that the stem can rot, which will reduce the growth of the plant. The optimal depth is to fill the seedlings up to the knee - the fold lines that can be found on the stem.

Conclusion

Cucumber, as a whimsical plant, requires attention to two main points: the level of heat and moisture in its environment. Therefore, upon completion of the pick, containers with cucumbers must be placed in a warm place, where the minimum temperature is not lower than 20 degrees, with an ambient humidity of 80%. Such conditions can be ensured by installing a special humidifier or setting up a radiator with an additional tank where water will be poured. After 3-4 days, when the plants adapt to the new conditions, the temperature and humidity can be gradually reduced.

Since the plants have already undergone adaptation after picking, they need uniform growth in a new place. As a minimum trait for a cucumber, the temperature should be at least 16 degrees. At night, it is necessary to lower the temperature, followed by raising it to its previous value in the daytime. If the gardener knows exactly how to dive small cucumbers, then there will be no problems with transplanting seedlings to a new place, and with proper care, you can collect a bountiful harvest.