Rules for growing cucumbers in a barrel
Growing cucumbers in a barrel is an original technique proposed by the famous gardener Oktyabrina Ganichkina. Planting cucumbers in a barrel has its advantages: early harvest, land savings, ease of collection, and many others. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to grow cucumbers in a barrel correctly for an early and abundant harvest.
Rules for growing cucumbers in a barrel
Method description
Barrel-growing cucumbers is a great way to get the earliest harvest and diversify your family's diet with healthy fresh vegetables. Already in May, your children will be able to replenish their supply of vitamins, savoring delicious cucumber salads (Summer, Vitamin, Mermaid and others, usually available to us much later). This is because the soil in the container warms up much better than in a regular garden bed, and the nutrients with which you feed the cucumbers more effectively achieve their goal, contributing not only to an early, but also a bountiful harvest. In addition, with this method of cultivation, the fruits are very clean (they do not touch the ground), and the composition itself looks beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.
Since the soil protected by the walls of the container is not so susceptible to frost, you are less dependent on your climatic zone (living in the Moscow region, you can grow varieties bred in a warmer climate, for example, in Uzbekistan). I must say that this method is good not only for cucumbers - with its help you can grow both early tomatoes and bell peppers for your vitamin salads.
Planting and caring for cucumbers in a barrel does not cause any particular difficulties, but they significantly save space on the land. Moreover, the container for growing cucumbers can be installed even in a place not intended for planting, for example, in a completely asphalted yard.
We select varieties
Barrel cucumbers should be early with good yields. Many people believe that it is safer to take self-pollinated varieties that give a large number of female-type inflorescences - the so-called "girl cucumbers". Some gardeners recommend planting different varieties of cucumbers in a barrel to increase the fruiting period.
To obtain cucumbers as early as possible, many use the familiar Murom variety - bee-pollinated, but high-yielding, characterized by resistance to frost and pests. Some gardeners advise hybrid variety Connie for planting in a cucumber barrel - small smooth cucumbers with good yields. To obtain fruits of greater weight (about 120 grams), you can use hybrid varieties Courage or German. Even larger fruits are produced by the well-known variety Zozulya (cucumbers with a white barrel weighing about 260 grams), which can be planted under cover or in open ground.
Barrel preparation
For growing cucumbers, iron, wooden and even plastic barrels are suitable.An excellent choice for our alternative "bed" will be a container made of oak wood, since this material is excellent for air permeability, but has a high density and water resistance. If you have a leaky barrel (metal, wooden, plastic) - feel free to use it. The holes on the walls and bottom are simply necessary in this case: they serve for the access of air and microorganisms, as well as for the outflow of excess water.
The first step to growing cucumbers is to properly prepare the container and its contents. It is necessary to prepare containers from winter, and even better - from autumn. The contents of a cucumber barrel should have three main layers: drainage, organic, and fertile soil. On top, you can put a ten centimeter layer of ordinary soil.
Three layers
Fill the drum correctly with soil
- One third of the entire contents of the container will be drainage. For it, you can use the branches of bushes and trees that are planted in your country house. The broken off branches (or those remaining after pruning) finely cut with pruning shears and put on the bottom, and fill the fallen leaves on top.
- Another third of the content should be the organic nutrient layer. To create it, manure, potato and onion peelings, weeds, etc. are suitable.
- The last layer is fertile soil, for which well-rotted compost is often used.
When filling the container in advance, keep in mind that due to organic processes, the soil will settle slightly. Before planting, make sure that the contents do not reach the edges of the container by twenty centimeters.
Planting seeds
It is recommended to start planting cucumbers in a barrel in early May, if the air temperature has reached fifteen degrees Celsius. A standard container fits about five to six bushes, which means we need the same amount of seeds. The day before planting, the soil in the container must be well watered. We put each seed in a small depression at a distance of fifteen centimeters from each other. Sometimes more seeds are planted in the container, and then thinned out in order to plant the resulting seedlings in a garden bed in the open field.
The planted seeds should be covered with compost and the soil should be slightly compacted. You cannot water the planting. From above, close the container with a film and tie it with twine or fix it with an elastic band. You can stick arcs into the ground and make a kind of "hut". The temperature inside must be at least ten degrees Celsius.
Planting care
Timely watering is a very important care measure. The fact is that the earth in our container warms up perfectly, but dries quickly. It is necessary to water the "bed" abundantly: excess moisture will go through holes into the ground or evaporate. Watering frequency is once every two days. If desired, you can make the watering automatic using plastic bottles with several punctured holes (one and a half liter or two liter), which are installed in the ground and changed as needed.
The film should be opened after the leaves appear on the plants. The care measures also include the formation of young plants - in one stem, after two or three leaves have grown. When the plants grow up, they will need support - for this, arcs or vertical struts with stretched wire are suitable. When the stems of cucumbers are stretched, they are tied to supports, allowing them to rise up, and then beautifully curl down the container.
Method effectiveness
Today this method is quite popular. Many summer residents strive to try, like it is - cucumbers from a barrel, and then describe their results step by step or make video reviews. From the reviews about this method, we can conclude that its results almost always meet expectations. Barrel cultivation does produce an early and bountiful harvest when properly cared for.Some gardeners wrote in their reviews that the number of fruits obtained by this method was almost twice the yield from an ordinary garden bed (with the same number of bushes).
To taste, such cucumbers are in no way inferior to ground ones. In addition, the reviews often point to less laboriousness of the process compared to conventional garden work. Yields remain good even if the summer is cold and rainy.
The problem is most often called drying or "burning" of cucumbers, which happens with insufficient watering and prolonged exposure of containers to the sun in one position. These problems can be avoided by regularly watering the plants and turning or moving the containers as needed.
Helpful hints
- Before growing cucumbers in a barrel, completely prepare all three layers of soil and expose the container to the sun, watering occasionally. At first, the content is a kind of "semi-finished product" and only after three weeks you will receive the final product - well-rotted and nutritious soil for plants.
- One of the subtleties of this method is the correct location of the cucumber containers. The best places for them are south or southeast. Cucumbers love light, warmth and fresh air, but they cannot stand severe dryness and draft.
- Before planting, the seeds of the cucumbers should be prepared (except for the seeds of hybrids). The first stage of preparation is heating the seeds at a temperature of thirty degrees. The second stage is disinfection in a 1% manganese solution for twenty minutes. The third stage is soaking in nitrogen-potassium fertilizer (for example, in nitrophosphate). The fourth stage is drying.
- When opening the film after the first leaves appear, remember that it should not be thrown away for good. The film will still be useful for your plantings on cold nights, with frost or rain. Many gardeners advise using agrofibre to cover plantings, which is able to pass air and protect plants from ultraviolet radiation.
- If the plant is yellow, drooping, or almost lies, it may not have enough light or water. Try moving the container closer to light, water thoroughly and mulch the soil for better moisture retention. The easiest way to mulch a planting is to cover the soil with hay or grass.
- For more effective feeding, you can install a plastic bottle in the center of the container with the neck down, having previously cut off the bottom of it. On average, it is recommended to do four to five dressings for the entire season, alternating nitrogen, potash and phosphorus fertilizers.
- The thickened part of the cucumber near the stalk itself indicates a lack of nitrogen, and if the fruit resembles a pear shape, the plant needs more potassium.
- In order to have as many fruits as possible on the improvised "bed", harvest in time. Moreover, harvesting with this method is distinguished by special conveniences. Since the fruits hang down in the container and can be approached from any side, you can easily see how many new cucumbers have appeared today. Collect them daily in the morning or evening, carefully cutting off the stem with scissors.
- Containers with beautifully curly cucumber bushes can be brightly colored or decorated in an original way. In this form, they will become a real decoration of your yard, cottage or garden. And if you want to intensify the process of heating the earth in the container, just paint it black.