Creating a warm cucumber patch
A warm bed for cucumbers is an excellent help for a summer resident when growing a vegetable crop. You can equip it with your own hands, you just need to decide on the location.
Creating a warm cucumber patch
The essence of a warm garden
Filled with fresh organic fertilizers, a piece of land dug up together with the soil is not yet a warm ridge.
To create such conditions, a certain sequence is required, and a violation leads to the fact that the introduced organic matter does not fulfill the role of a warming agent provided for it.
A traditional warm ridge is laid in the spring with fresh organic ingredients. Under the active action of thermophilic microorganisms, organic matter begins to warm up the earth.
Cucumber seedlings are planted in a garden insulated with organic matter, no earlier than two weeks after its arrangement. During the first two weeks, as a result of the vigorous activity of thermophilic bacteria, the temperature in the soil will be too high, and immediately planted plants may die. After 14 days, the temperature will begin to drop to 16'-18 ', which allows vegetables to be transplanted into warm soil without damaging their root system.
Suitable organics
Dry hay, grass, as well as food residues are suitable for laying an insulated ridge. However, the most important component is fresh manure. It is with its presence that organic substances begin to burn out, releasing the heat necessary for plants.
You can choose horse, cow or pig manure for your garden. The main condition is that it should not be stale, but fresh.
Pros and cons of a warm ridge
Benefits
Organic insulated cucumber beds have a number of advantages that simplify the process of growing and caring for plants.
- The main purpose of such insulation is to achieve the required temperature for planting a vegetable crop by the soil soil, and the ridge, insulated with organic matter, does it well. The earth warms up in it approximately 20-30 days earlier than under normal conditions. This affects the duration of the growing season and shortens the ripening period of vegetables.
- The ridge with introduced organic matter acts as a source of a large number of components useful for cucumbers. Over time, they are converted into compost, serving as a nutritious food for vegetable crops.
- The duration of the work of the insulated organic bed is about 1.5 months. This period is just enough for the good weather to finally settle down.
Minuses
Creating a warm bed requires a lot of time and effort, and this process is not done at once, but requires repetition every new season.
Varieties of warm beds
Choose a method of making the garden
A warm cucumber bed can be done in one of the following ways:
- by deep bookmarking,
- by the method of creation on the surface of the earth,
- formation over the ground.
Ridge with a bookmark
You can make a bed with a deep bookmark by digging a trench to a depth of two shovels. In autumn, it is laid out with tree branches in the transverse direction and the free space is covered with sawdust. Straw waste, foliage is laid on top of the branches. All this is left for the winter. At the onset of spring, fresh manure is laid out on the organic matter in a layer of 0.4 m, which is spilled with hot water to warm the organic matter. All layers are covered with earth to a height of at least 20 cm.
Covering the ridge with a film allows you to speed up the combustion process of organic matter.
Ridge on the surface
Such a bed is often used for growing cucumber seedlings. It is very simple to do it. It is enough just to dig up the soil, removing weeds, lay the manure mixed with the earth, fill everything with hot water and cover with foil.
Ridge above the ground
To equip the beds, you will need additional structures made of wooden boards, slate or bricks. Compiled in the form of a container, the structure is filled with sand, then wood waste, followed by a layer of organic matter and straw. The final layer is a mixture of compost and garden soil. Each layer is carefully compacted and watered with liquid manure.
It is recommended to plant cucumber plantings on the sides of the structure. This increases the illumination of the plantings and increases the yield.
Vertical bed
It is possible to make a bed warmed with organic matter not only in a large area, but also in a small area. Such beds are called vertical.
From tires
The simplest option for a warm vertical bed is a car tire. Initially, a hole of the required diameter is dug in the ground, filled with branches, straw and organic waste. A tire is installed and filled with mixed humus and earth along the edge.
To save space, so as not to allow the cucumber bushes to grow in breadth, a grate is mounted along which the vegetable crop will rise vertically.
From the barrel
You can make a warm bed for cucumbers on a small backyard with your own hands from a plastic or metal barrel. In the fall or spring, the container is half filled with branches, sawdust or grass. Before planting, in 2 weeks, manure is poured, filled with hot water, the barrel is covered with a black film. Similarly with the previous version, arcs are mounted on the side of the barrels so that the cucumber culture grows upward.
Recommendations
For residents of northern regions with cold climatic conditions, the best will be a high ridge, which warms up faster in spring. But for these regions it is not recommended to make a warm bed in the form of a trench, because the soil will be hypothermic, and frequent rains will simply flood the bed.
Gardeners in the southern regions may not make warm beds at all, but if desired, they can use the trench arrangement method. In hot climates, trenches will retain the necessary moisture in the ground.