How to form and when to pinch cucumbers? These are very urgent questions for many gardeners, since it is very difficult to understand all the features of modern varieties and hybrids. In addition, the formation of cucumber bushes also depends on the place of cultivation: in open ground or in a greenhouse, directly on a garden bed or on a trellis. Of course, you can find a lot of tips on this topic both in the press and on the Internet, but which of them to use in order to get a normal crop is the question.
How to pinch cucumbers (photo)
Cucumber is a climbing vine, so in order to save space, this plant is best grown on a trellis. This is especially true for greenhouse breeding. This technology helps to significantly increase productivity, because it provides for the formation of a plant during its development. This process is carried out by removing excess shoots, which, if left unattended, will only take nutrients in vain, but will not bear fruit. When you pinch the cucumbers correctly, then the plant grows a powerful stem, the required number of tops, healthy lateral shoots and a large number of fruits. It should be remembered that the pinching process is carried out before flowering. When removing excess shoots, care must be taken not to damage the main stem and remaining leaves. When pinching cucumbers, it is necessary to slightly pull out the leaf with one hand, and with the other, carefully pinch off the stepson right at the stem. For convenience and to avoid damage to the whip, you can use scissors with rounded tips.
How to pinch cucumbers (diagram)
When the plant ejects the fourth leaf, it is necessary to stepchain side shoots, as well as flower buds, near it. After completing the first pinching procedure , cucumbers need to be tied to a trellis. To do this, pull a wire from above the top of the bed to which the twine is tied - cucumber lashes will continue to hold onto it. Then it is recommended to feed cucumbers with humus or ready-made fertilizers. It is important not to forget about timely watering of plants, as well as good ventilation, if cultivation is carried out in a greenhouse. When do I pinch cucumbers a second time? When the 5th, 6th and 7th sheets appear, however, this is done in a slightly different way.
When re-pinching on the side shoots, one formed ovary and one leaf are left, and all other shoots are carefully removed and wrapped around the grown cucumber whip around the rope tied to the trellis. The next pinching is done after the appearance of the next three sheets (8th, 9th and 10th). In the process of the third herding, a pair of leaves and two young cucumbers are left. And after 11 leaves all the ovaries are removed, but three leaves are left and the same number of cucumbers on each shoot.
When do I pinch winter cucumbers?
As for winter greenhouse cucumbers, for example, the Relay variety, when planting in January, it usually does not have enough light, which is why lateral shoots appear on the main stem only in the axils of the 8–9th leaf. They stepchild, and then leave the side shoots, pinching them on 1-3 sheets. When the lash grows to the trellis, its top is bent to the wire. Next, the plant is stepsoned at a 1.5-meter height from the surface of the garden.