It is almost impossible to imagine a gardena private house or a suburban plot without beds with cucumbers. Crispy and fragrant vegetables are good both fresh and in pickled or canned. And especially delicious are the salted cucumbers, which were grown by their own hands. To date, there are many different ways to grow cucumbers - in a greenhouse, in a garden under the open sky, in nets, polyethylene bags and even tents. Our article will be devoted to the cultivation of cucumbers in a barrel. We will talk about the advantages of this method and share the features of this process.
Why should you give preference to growingcucumbers in a barrel? This method has a number of advantages. Having become acquainted with them, you will certainly lose any doubts and questions about how to grow cucumbers in a barrel in the country or vegetable garden.
Benefits:
As you have seen, this method of plantingCucumbers does not have obvious drawbacks. Therefore, we further apply the description of growing cucumbers in a barrel step by step. The following sections highlight the most important points that need to be considered when planting and caring for these vegetables.
To begin, of course, you need to choose a barrel forplanting of cucumbers. For these purposes, it is not necessary to buy new containers - it is perfectly permissible to use old metal, plastic or wooden drums. Preference is given to the volume of 200 or 250 liters, but you can use smaller barrels. Preparation of the barrel is to remove its bottom and drill holes in the walls. This is done to provide soil with oxygen and access to microorganisms and beneficial insects (for example, earthworms). Wooden barrels are prone to rapid damage, so it is better to use iron or plastic.
To grow cucumbers in a barrel it is necessarycarefully prepare the land. The preparation process begins in the early spring or autumn and consists in filling the container with several layers of fertile soil. Buying a ready-made soil is not always cheap, and using simple land from the garden is quite dangerous - you can bring in seeds of weeds and various diseases. Therefore, it is worthwhile to make small efforts and take care of the fertile soil for cucumbers. The combination of three layers is considered optimal:
The filled barrel is left for the subsidence of the earth,pre-shedding it with 3-4 buckets of water. For the convenience of introducing fertilizers in the process of growing cucumbers, you can bury a cut-off bottle in the center of the top layer, in the form of a funnel.
Planting cucumber seeds in a barrel can beTo carry out for two, and even three weeks earlier, than it is done at use of open beds. Most often this is the end of April. One day before dipping the seeds into the soil, it must be thoroughly moistened. In the prepared soil, along the circumference of the barrel, grooves are made (not more than 3 centimeters), in the number of 4-5 pieces. Seeds are planted in the pits and they are covered with a layer of compost. A barrel with plantings is covered with a film and placed in a warm, well-lit place. Instead of the film, it is desirable to use agglomerated fiber, which is much stronger than the film, but lets in air and sunlight, without letting the plantings freeze.
Preparing seeds for planting is a labor-intensive process.It is enough to keep them in a warm place for a week, disinfect them in a weak manganese solution for about 20 minutes and immerse it in nitrophos for a day.
Cucumbers are not only warm, but also moisture-lovingplants. Due to the intensive growth of the leaves, the roots sometimes lack nutrients. Therefore it is necessary to water at least 3-4 times a week. The soil in drums dries slightly faster due to rapid heating and vertical outflow of water. To prevent the top layer of the primer from drying out, you can cover it with mown grass.
Like any other plant, cucumbers needadditional recharge of mineral and organic additives. To obtain a powerful and strong plant in the flowering period, it is necessary to introduce nitrogenous fertilizers into the soil. To do this, a teaspoon of urea is diluted in a bucket of water and is introduced into the barrel. During the fruiting process, the plant needs more fertilizers than ever before. It is necessary to alternate top dressing with potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus. One of the best homemade fertilizers is tincture of weeds, grass and chicken manure on warm water. This composition is insisted for about two weeks, after which it is used to feed the soil.
Cucumbers grown in a barrel, it is necessarytie up. The easiest way is to install in the center of the barrel a wooden or metal pole, about two meters high, with a cross. From her make a few rays from the rope, along which will shoot and shoot. The first garter is performed when 4-5 leaves appear.
Based on feedback on the cultivation of cucumbers in a barrelwe can say with confidence that this method has established itself among experienced gardeners and truck farmers. This is not quite the traditional method is really very convenient in small areas. Harvest, collected from such peculiar beds, has tremendous taste qualities even at earlier ripening. Even in a region that is not quite as warm as the Moscow region, growing cucumbers in a barrel is a very real way to get a delicious and healthy harvest.
