SOURCE
Hello friends of the farm in this opportunity I am going to talk about how to grow cucumbers in pots in our home can be complicated, since they require a lot of vertical space. However, it can be achieved if you choose a variety that requires less height and stimulates its growth using a stake. The warm, nourished and humid earth is an important aspect when cultivating. It is a vegetable that is consumed a lot especially in recipes such as salads, warm or cold dishes and for our health.
Cucumber, Cucumis sativus, is an annual herbaceous plant that belongs to the botanical family Cucurbitaceae, just like melon, watermelon or pumpkin.
Here I will tell you what are the growing conditions of cucumber in pots.
HOW TO CULTIVATE CUCUMBER IN POTS
CHOOSE THE RIGHT CLASS OF CUCUMBER.
In general, bush varieties are easier to grow than vine varieties, because they need a grid to spread. The varieties that grow best in containers include the hybrid salad cucumber.
CHOOSE A LARGE MACLET.
The pot should be at least 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) in both diameters and depth, these measurements should be the same, even when using a larger pot. Make sure your pot has drainage holes. Cucumbers love water, but like any other plant, too much water can damage roots. A pot with two drainage holes is excellent to have the appropriate humidity level.
MAKE A GOOD MIX OF THE EARTH
In a good mix you should have loose soil that will drain easily and with enough organic material to nourish your plant. Combine equal parts of earth, perlite, sphagnum peat moss (moss peat), and fertilizer to obtain a simple but beneficial mixture. Do not use garden soil, it can contain pests and bacteria. Cucumber needs the farmland with pH between 5.5 and 6.5, which has good input of organic matter (you can use earthworm humus), which allows good water drainage , that the earth is loose and that it does not get stuck. Add a good fertilizer to the mix to provide additional nutrients to your plant.
PREPARE A STALL.
The vine cucumbers require a trellis / stake or stake to grow; although those of bush do not need stake, they do benefit from it. Consider having a system of metal stakes in the style of tipi (conical tent), which can be found in hardware stores, since this design encourages plants to climb and not only serve as support. In order to grow, cucumbers need the earth to reach at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
SOW CUCUMBER SEEDS
It has to be no more than 2 cm deep and cover them slightly. Cucumber seeds require a constant temperature between 25 and 27ºC. Leave for each cucumber plant about 40 cm seeds are sown when the weather is warm. ). It is common to start cultivating in early July and harvest in September.
Place the stake in the pot. The base of the stake should touch the bottom of the pot and should (the stake) stand firm without needing additional support.
LIGHT:
Locate the cucumber plants in an area with good solar exposure. The more light they receive, the greater will be the production of fruits.
TEMPERATURE:
These plants grow optimally in temperate climates, which do not exceed 30 ° C and do not fall below 8 ° C. Being above or below this range of temperatures can affect flowering and fruit formation.
IRRIGATION:
Cucumber needs regular watering to maintain the soil with a certain degree of constant humidity. It is preferable to opt for drip irrigation, it can be very simple to install in urban gardens and so we will save water and adjust well the quantities needed by the plants, avoiding problems due to deficiencies or excesses.
PRUNING OF CUCUMBER:
Throughout the life cycle of this vegetable we will remove the leaves that we see that are in poor condition, that are yellowish, brown, etc. In addition, if we want to give more vigor to the process of flowering and fruiting, we can remove some secondary stems and leave the main one and two or three more, maintaining a symmetry in the plant.
CUCUMBER TUTORING:
Being a crawling and climbing plant, it is necessary to tut the cucumber as it grows for several reasons: to favor a regular development of the plant, it makes better use of light, increases flowering and fruit growth, and prevents fungal diseases and plagues.
PESTS AND DISEASES OF CUCUMBER:
Aphids, thrips, whitefly, caterpillars or spider mites may appear, while in diseases, the most common is powdery mildew. All of them can be prevented and treated in an ecological way.
Trips
Plague of vital importance since it is responsible for many twists and lacrados in the fruits.
Mildew
(Pseudoperonospera cubensis), is the terror of cucurbits, since the disease can end your harvest in only two days
Corynespora
The Corynespora shows a series of circles that are rarely alone. There are always several circles, the size of the circles is not larger than 1 cm, it turns brown in the center and at the moment of dying opens the interior of the circle.
White mite
The white mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) is the hidden enemy. Many times one only realizes late, when they begin to see damage in the harvest.
Cenicilla
The ashtray (Erysiphe cichoacearum) is a disease that its name relates to itself, since it is similar to an ash.
CUCUMBER HARVEST:
Depending on the growing conditions and the variety of cucumber we are growing, since we started sowing the cucumber until we harvest it, 100 days may have passed.
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS DURING CUCUMBER CULTIVATION
- If you see that the fruits have rajas it can be because there is a significant temperature difference between day and night and the cucumbers suffer.
-If the cucumbers are yellowish the causes can be several: lack of light, lack of irrigation or excess of nitrogen or potassium.
-If cucumbers are curved or narrowed at the ends, it may be due to lack of water or too high temperatures.
IN CONCLUSION.
Not only can you plant cucumber with seeds, you can also grow transplanted cucumbers, but the roots are delicate and die easily when handled. If transplanted crops, choose seedlings in biodegradable containers that can be placed directly on the ground to prevent exposure of the root and reduce the risk of death.
We have to be very careful with the pesticide that you apply to your cucumbers, because ideally you or someone else will consume them. Many chemical pesticides can be harmful if they are ingested. Always check the warnings on the label before applying a chemical to your plant. Wash your crop before consuming it to get rid of chemical traces, dirt and bacteria.
SOURCE.
https://es.wikihow.com/cultivo-pepinos-en-macetas
https://www.ecoagricultor.com/cultivate-pepino-macetas-huerto-urbano-ecologico/#comment-24934
Thank you for taking a few minutes to read my article.
