How to properly grow cucumbers in bags? Step by step guide

Features of the landing method

Regardless of the variety, cucumbers are demanding on soil. They need fertile, warm, loose, moist soil. And this result can be achieved by planting vegetables in bags: woven, plastic, bags of sugar and other bulk products. They contain soil mixed with fertilizers, and a drainage and irrigation system is provided.

In large containers, the root system deepens faster, where it receives maximum nutrients. The fruits are actively growing and developing. In addition, in bags (if installed in the right place) the soil does not overheat, and the roots breathe and do not suffer from excess moisture - it leaves without additional drainage.

According to the technique, there are more than 10 plants in bags per square meter, while in open ground it is possible to grow no more than 4 healthy roots.

The method of planting vegetables in bags - a “vertical bed” - is simple and suitable for any plot, even a small one, saves space in the garden and allows you to grow cucumbers on a large loggia, balcony, or porch. The bags last for several seasons. After harvesting, the soil is poured out and the cloth is dried so that the “beds” can be reused next year.

Sowing seeds for growing seedlings

You need to start by choosing varieties. Cucumbers are planted for fresh consumption, as well as for canning.

Depending on the needs, the amount of planting material of each type is determined. Usually, seedlings are grown with some reserve, so that later they can be guided when planting, leaving only the strongest seedlings.

Growing cucumbers in bags begins with planting and germinating seedlings. Each gardener goes through the main preparatory stages:

It starts with seed selection. There are several selection methods, the simplest is to analyze the linear dimensions of existing or purchased seeds.

The minimum size is 6 mm in length.

The fullness of the seeds should also be assessed. To do this, soak in a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate. It is enough to drop a few grains of potassium permanganate into a small glass. Drowned seeds can be used for sowing. Those that float can be thrown away; they will not germinate.

Vegetable growers have come up with a great way to germinate seeds. Use a roll of toilet paper.

1. About 50 cm of paper is unrolled.
2. Moisturizes, for example, from a syringe.
3. The seeds of the future seedlings are laid out with tweezers and placed at a distance of about 2 cm from each other.
4. The roll is rolled up and secured with an elastic band.
5. The assembled roll with seeds is placed in a glass (you can put several blanks with different plants).
6. A small amount of water is poured, it will feed the seeds through the capillaries during the germination process.
7. The plastic bag will maintain 100% humidity inside the bookmark.
8. Sprouted seeds are planted in peat pots. Usually two future plants are planted; in the future, you can choose and leave the strongest of the two.

The video below shows another method of germinating seeds.

Pros and cons of the method

By choosing the technology of planting cucumbers in bags, gardeners get rid of many of the problems associated with growing this crop in open ground or a greenhouse. Advantages of the method:

• Space saving, compact. A good harvest is harvested from a small plot.
• Vegetables ripen earlier than in open ground.
• Mobility. The vertical bed can be dragged in case of emergency. It makes it possible to grow vegetables in areas that are not suitable for this: under a fence, on a balcony, etc.
• No weeds or parasites. Weeds do not have time to grow, moles cannot reach the roots, and the dangerous late blight disease does not damage the plants if watered correctly.
• Ease of hilling and maintenance in general.
• Vegetables are clean and not rotten.

The presented agricultural technology has few disadvantages, but they do exist. Those who have tried to grow cucumbers in bags call the method painstaking; it requires thoughtful, thorough preparation. The disadvantages also include:

• the need for additional materials;
• the importance of correctly timing landing;
• difficulties with watering and setting up the drainage system (you cannot overwater the bushes, and if there is not enough water, the cucumbers will taste bitter);
• The moisture level in the bags needs strict control.

Disinfect seeds

How to plant cucumbers in bags:

Selection of bags

Preparing to organize a vertical bed begins with choosing materials. For planting you will need:

• bags;
• soil and fertilizers;
• sticks and ropes for gartering plants;
• irrigation pipes (plus hoses).

The choice of bags must be approached especially carefully: choose products of the required volume and material so that the root system develops inside without being subject to drought or rotting. Subsequently, caring for such a bed will not bring much trouble. How to choose bags?

1. The optimal volume is at least 50 liters (optimally: 70-120). One plant is planted in small containers, and two roots are planted in larger bags.
2. Best materials: polypropylene fiber. It is used to make bags for sugar and other bulk products. Fabric and polyethylene are allowed, but these materials do not allow water to pass through well and do not heat up.
3. Light-colored material will not overheat in the sun, so it is good if the bag is white.

For cucumber seedlings, used bags of flour, sugar, construction waste, even thick plastic bags for waste are suitable. The fabric should easily allow air and moisture to pass through and have a weave. New products do not require additional processing, and if they have already been used before, the bags are washed, dried, and treated with fungicides.

Preparing bags and filling soil

Bags should not only be durable, but also clean; it is better to take new ones; turn used ones inside out, rinse and dry in the sun. Next, follow the rules:

1. The bag will fill to about halfway. Wrap the edges up to this level with a roller, which will serve as the edge of the future mini-bed.
2. Pour any of the available materials into the bottom: manure or chicken droppings, weeded weeds, straw, sawdust, kitchen waste, last year's leaves, thin twigs, that is, everything that you usually send to compost. The thickness of such a layer is a quarter of the height of the entire bag (20–30 cm).
3. Compact the resulting “pillow” and water. You can use hot water, regular water from a barrel, or a solution with a compost accelerator, Fitosporin, Radiance, etc.
4. Pour 3-4 buckets of soil mixture on top, consisting of ordinary soil from the site and humus - 2:1 or 1:1, depending on the fertility of the soil on your site. Add 1-2 cups of wood ash. Another option is to buy ready-made universal primer. The layer of soil mixture above the “cushion” should be at least 20 cm.
5. At the bottom of the bag, at the ends, and not at the bottom, make several punctures with a knife. Without them, rain and irrigation water will stagnate in the bag, the roots will begin to rot, and the plants will turn yellow and die.
6. It is better to place the bag in a recess; if you grow it on a balcony or terrace, then place a basin to drain the water.

Filling bags

Choosing fertile soil for cucumbers is a primary task. Vegetables prefer organic matter, compost, rotted manure. Experienced agronomists add a little bit of everything to the soil, as well as complex fertilizers. But it is unprofitable to fill the entire volume with fertile soil, especially large containers, so half of them are filled with plant waste. The practice is like this:

1. The bottom layer is drainage and makes up half of the total volume. The bottom is filled with grass, hay, fallen leaves and unrotted compost. You can add fresh manure if it is expected that the roots will not reach the humus. Do not place sharp branches or wood chips - they can tear the bottom.
2. The middle layer is a quarter of the volume and consists of rotted compost or manure. This is a growing medium for cucumbers.
3. Loose garden soil is the top layer.
4. If necessary, add nutrients to the soil: ash, potassium, phosphorus, complex fertilizers.

Soil preparation

If a bag of standard volume (50-70 l) is selected for planting vegetables, the composition of the soil for one bed looks something like this:

• 2 buckets (20-24 l) of earth;
• bucket (10-12 l) of humus;
• hay, sawdust and other organic waste – 10 l;
• potassium – 10 g;
• superphosphate – 10 g.

The bags are filled with soil in the place where you plan to leave them, so as not to drag the heavy bed later.

When the “beds” are filled with soil and humus, water the soil moderately. The bags are tied, placed in a sunny place for 5-8 days so that the ground warms up, then taken to the shade. Cucumbers prefer cool weather and feel good under trees, near a gazebo or greenhouse, or near a fence. The bags are untied, deepened a little, dug into the ground so that the bed stands firmly. You can plant cucumbers.

Formation of bushes

It is best to plant cucumbers in early August, and if it gets cold early, then in mid-July. If you planted cucumbers early, then it is better to cut off the tendrils, but if planting was late, then you don’t have to bother: the greens are unlikely to overgrow much.

When planting in early spring, it is advisable to form the bushes into one stem, and in the fall the greens can be left alone: ​​there will already be a lot of cucumbers. Just make a trellis along which the stems will trail.

I formed the bushes into one stem, so I received the first cucumber two to three days earlier. This means that due to the absence of excess green mass, nutrients were spent specifically on fruit formation.

However, with this formation the yield will be slightly smaller. This is how cucumbers are usually formed in a greenhouse, where conditions are more comfortable for the plants.

If you form bushes into two stems, then you will begin to harvest a little later, but it will be more abundant. The cucumbers I keep against a well-lit wall produce a larger yield than those growing against the fence. But in any case, I’m going to shoot greens until the end of September, and possibly until mid-October - it all depends on the weather.

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Step-by-step planting steps

Before planting seeds in bags, gardeners take care of the drainage and support system. For the latter, a long (1.5-2 m) stick is installed in the ground, at the end of which a nail is hammered and a tight rope or fishing line is tied. The support reaches to the very bottom and is located in the center of the bed.

The stick is installed before planting so as not to damage the roots of the plants. Next to the support - if drip irrigation is planned - hollow tubes with holes are inserted (more on them later). 24 hours before planting seedlings or seeds, water the soil in bags generously.

There are several ways to grow cucumbers: the seedling method and sowing seeds in open ground - in this case, a bag. It is preferable to choose the option with seedlings, since growing seeds is not very convenient if there is a stick of support sticking out. But some gardeners choose this technique because it saves time and does not require transporting the sprouts.

Planting seeds

This method is suitable for warm regions, where comfortable weather sets in already in the first ten days of May. It is advisable to choose two-year or three-year seed material.

Before planting the seeds, they are prepared:

• dried;
• soak in water in a transparent container for 24 hours;
• placed in the cold for hardening for 3 days;
• are rejected.

Only seeds that have sunk to the bottom of the container are suitable for cultivation. Those that rise to the surface are empty, they are thrown away. Seed planting scheme:

1. They begin planting at the end of May.
2. There are 15-20 seeds per bed.
3. Water the bag generously and make holes in the soil at equal distances from each other.
4. Pre-prepared seeds (dried, treated, if desired, with anti-parasite agents) are deepened into the ground 3-5 cm.
5. 3-4 seeds are planted near the central support, the rest are placed in the side slits made in the bag.
6. The planting is covered with cellophane to ensure optimal humidity and temperature. Do not remove until the first shoots.

Transplanting

The seedling method is chosen in colder areas. Seeds are sown at home in late April-early May. A separate cup is provided for each sprout, into which nutrient soil is added as the plant grows. At the end of May, 3-4 leaves are formed on each seedling. When a stable plus has been established outside, the sprouts can be planted. Planting plan:

1. The day before planting, cucumbers in peat cups are watered abundantly to easily remove the root system along with the soil.
2. In the soil in bags, depressions are made to the size of a cup. The bottom of each hole is moistened with warm water.
3. The seedlings are placed one by one in the holes and sprinkled with earth so that all the roots are covered.
4. The seedlings are shaded for 3 days so that the seedlings get used to the soil.

An experienced gardener will tell you how to plant cucumber seedlings in bags in the video below:

Preparing packages

First you need to prepare the packages. You can make them from the most ordinary black polyethylene film, which is 1.5 m wide and 40 cm long.

Therefore, measure the material using a tape and cut the piece with scissors. With 1.5 m of strip you will get 3 cucumber bags.

These sizes are not accidental. First of all, it is very convenient to divide the width of the polyethylene, allocating 50 cm for each bag. And a height of 40 cm corresponds to the depth of a 20 liter bucket. Accordingly, the resulting bags are 20 liters in volume - this is enough for growing cucumbers.

Then measure 50 cm, place the film on a flat wooden surface, take a newspaper, it is important that it is folded in one layer, and a pyrography gun with a thick tip. The thicker the tip, the wider the edge will be, so the bag will be stronger. Slowly run the gun over the surface of the newspaper, which will seal the film underneath but will not melt because the metal tip does not come into direct contact with the polyethylene.

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This way the edge will be very strong and quite wide.

Caring for cucumbers in bags

When the seedlings are planted, the bags should take their proper place. Their edges are folded, forming low sides. This way the soil will not spill out. Vertical beds must be provided with moisture and slightly shaded, for example, by placing them under trees.

If everything is done correctly, caring for the garden bed will not take much time. Much less labor costs are required for several reasons:

• almost no weeds grow, so weeding is minimal;
• due to the fact that the soil in the bags is ventilated, there is no need for loosening and digging;
• if the soil is supplied with nutrients, fertilizing is not done;
• Such cucumbers are watered less often than those growing in ordinary beds.

Watering cucumbers

For vertical beds, watering cucumbers can be organized in the usual way, but experienced gardeners who use this technique recommend doing it by drip. You'll have to tinker, but the system has undoubted advantages:

• reducing the risk of root rotting and fungal diseases;
• harvest ripening several times earlier;
• slowing down the growth of weeds.

It is necessary to organize an irrigation system before planting, so care is taken to ensure its readiness in advance. Take a plastic pipe with a diameter of 2-4 cm and cut it so that it is 15-20 cm longer than the bag. You will need two such pieces per bag. The lower part, deepened into the soil, is equipped with holes made at a distance of 15 cm from each other. Irrigation pipes are installed at a distance from the support.

Adapters are inserted into the upper part of the pipe and connected to a hose through which the water that has settled in the barrel is supplied. Excess moisture flows into the pallets if the bags are kept indoors, and into the ground if they are kept outdoors. The frequency of watering is depending on the weather, 2-3 times a week in the evening.

Fertilizer

It is more convenient to supply nutrients to the roots through a tube used for watering. Fertilizers are poured through a funnel or cut-off plastic bottle.

What kind of feeding do cucumbers need:

1. Three times throughout the entire season, starting from the moment the sprouts appear with 2-3 pairs of true leaves, mineral fertilizers are applied to the soil. These include potassium salt and superphosphates.
2. Organic mineral fertilizers are added a month after watering: honey solution, nettle infusion, chicken droppings.
3. Several times during the summer, the leaves are sprayed with a solution containing beneficial microelements.

Formation of bushes

Sprouts that have grown 20-30 cm with 5 true leaves are ready for gartering. It is carried out in two ways: vertical and horizontal, but only the first option is suitable for a vertical bed.

How to garter:

1. A nail is nailed to the top of the support, ropes (threads, fishing line) are tied to it - one end for each shoot.
2. The knot is tied between the second and third leaves. It should not be too tight, because the sprout will increase in size.
3. The threads are pulled and attached to the support.

Traditional varieties of cucumbers produce female flowers on the side stems, which are fertile, and male empty flowers on the main shoots. To form more side stems and female flowers, pinching is done. The top of the central stem breaks off after the sixth leaf. The side shoots are tied to the central stem on a stick so that they do not interfere with the formation of cucumbers. A few side stems are left.

The formation of a bush is necessary in order to limit the growth of a large number of lateral branches, to which the plant will give all its nutritional forces.

Care

Work on caring for cucumbers that were planted in bags is associated with the formation of a bush, fertilizing, watering, preventing various diseases, increasing productivity and directly harvesting cucumbers. The process of forming a bush has already been described above. It should be noted that for its formation, supports for shoots must already be installed in the bags, which need to be periodically pinched. You can read how to properly pick cucumbers here. Cucumber bushes are growing and require not only formation, but also gartering of the bushes. After more than five leaves appear on the bush, the bush is tied to twine, which was previously attached to the top of a wooden stick installed in the center of the bag. Each bush should have its own separate strand of twine. Next, the bush must be constantly shaped and unwanted shoots removed.

Basic rules for caring for cucumbers

Watering

Watering of plants is carried out using tubes pre-installed in the soil. Cucumbers planted in bags require less watering than ground cucumbers; it is enough to water once every three days. Especially if the bag is made of plastic, the moisture remains in it for quite a long time. This article will tell you about self-pollinating varieties of cucumbers for the greenhouse.

If the bag is transparent, the presence of moisture in it will be indicated by drops and perspiration on the inside of the bag. Water cucumbers only with warm water within 25 degrees.

Watering is carried out using plastic tubes installed in bags

If the tubular irrigation system is not effective due to a large number of seedlings or a heavy harvest, the plant's roots will come out through the walls of the bag. In this case, for additional watering, the roots along with the bag are immersed in a container of water.

Top dressing

Cucumbers should be fed with organic fertilizers such as mullein and herbal infusions, as well as mineral fertilizers with breaks between each of them for at least 10 days. An important point in caring for cucumbers is constant inspection of the bushes of the crop and timely identification of diseases to which they are susceptible. It is necessary to treat or prevent diseases in a timely manner. What fertilizing and fertilizers are useful for cucumbers is described in this link.

To obtain a large yield, add mineral and organic fertilizers to the soil

The most common diseases are powdery poca, downy mildew, and cladosporiosis.

Difficulties when growing in bags

In terms of maintenance, vertical beds are better than traditional ones. But even for experienced gardeners, the process of growing cucumbers in bags causes difficulties. And the main thing, according to amateur agronomists, is soil moisture. The soil may be dry on top, but moisture will stagnate inside the bags, leading to rotting of the root system. The best solution to the moisture problem is a drip irrigation system.

Other difficulties in growing vertical beds include:

• Overheating of roots. Bags get hot in the sun, especially if they are in direct sunlight.
• Planting density. Gardeners plant 4 or more seedlings in one bag, which reduces their fruiting.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of this method include:

• saving space, since you can grow cucumbers on the balcony;
• no need to make beds and weed crops;
• the root area of ​​the vegetable is protected from mole crickets and root rot;
• the harvest is harvested much earlier than the one obtained from the garden at the dacha;
• Harvesting a culture grown in a bag is convenient.

Among the negative aspects of growing cucumbers using this method are:

• the need to carry out preparatory work before landing;
• certain difficulties regarding maintaining the required humidity and temperature in the bags. In this regard, everything should be controlled as in a greenhouse, since high rates can lead to the death of the root system of the crop.

How to increase productivity?

In order for cucumbers to develop well, a certain number of seeds - no more than 20 - and 3-4 bushes, if they are seedlings, are planted in one 50-liter bag. The quality, not the quantity, of shoots is the key to a good harvest. Experienced gardeners share their secrets of growing cucumbers. Pollination plays an important role:

1. You can increase the yield of bee-pollinated varieties by spraying the plants with sweetened water in cloudy weather, which will attract insects.
2. The quality of pollination of varietal cucumbers will increase the content of female inflorescences and a specimen with male flowers together.
3. Trimming the lower leaves allows pollinators to reach the lower ovaries.

Transplanting seedlings

Cucumber seedlings are ready to be transplanted into a bag after the 3rd leaf appears on it. You need to take it out along with the lump of earth in which it grew. This will keep the fragile roots intact.

You can simplify the excavation process if you pre-moisten the soil (several hours before).

Make holes in the bag in the soil and water it with warm water. An earthen lump with a sprout is placed in a hole and sprinkled with earth to the level of the cotyledon leaves. The seedlings are irrigated again from above.

Further care

For the first 3-4 days after transplantation, bags of cucumbers are placed in a dark place. This will help them adapt to new conditions. It is permissible to cover the plantings with lutrasil, mesh, tulle or spandbond.

Watering of planted plants is carried out using pre-installed plastic tubes. Moisturizing should be daily during hot periods, but not too often during cool periods.

In a similar way, cucumbers are fed with fertilizing solutions containing mullein. Frequency – once every 7-10 days. Additionally, foliar feeding is carried out several times a season by spraying.

During the care process, cucumber bushes are shaped to give them the correct shape and limit the growth of vines. This has a beneficial effect on the amount of harvest, because The plant's forces will be directed to setting and ripening cucumbers.

The peculiarity of the process is to tie the central stem to a pole and freely grow the descending side ones. 3-5 internodes are left on the vines for fruits. Shoots of the third row are removed.

Although vegetables cultivated using this technology are less likely to get sick and are little damaged by pests, it is recommended to carry out foliar treatments on the foliage so as not to accumulate drug residues at the bottom of the bag.

Harvesting

Timely harvesting will help prolong fruiting and collect the maximum amount of harvest. It is advisable to pick fresh cucumbers as they ripen, even every day. Green leaves left on a branch inhibit the development of new ovaries. You can determine that a cucumber is ripe by the following signs:

• the structure of the fetus is formed;
• the secondary flower fragment has dried out;
• coloring is uniform.

Some gardeners harvest cucumbers earlier, preferring young fruits - gherkins. They are smaller in size, ideal for blanks. In addition to fresh fruits, gardeners should regularly get rid of all diseased cucumbers - remove hooked ones, those with scratches and spots. The latter may indicate the development of the disease.

Fertilizer application

Cucumbers are fed with organic and mineral fertilizers. Among organic ones, chicken manure, nettle infusion, and honey solution are very popular. They fertilize the soil when the first shoots appear, and then once a month after watering.

Among mineral fertilizers, superphosphates and potassium salt are suitable for cucumbers. The dosage must strictly comply with the instructions, otherwise the plants may be harmed. Mineral fertilizers are applied to the soil about three times during the summer. They fertilize for the first time when well-formed sprouts with several pairs of true leaves appear from the soil.

Diseases and pests

Cucumbers growing in bags are less likely to suffer from diseases and are attacked by pests. The more attentive the gardener, the sooner the first signs of the disease will be noticed and measures taken. Methods to combat common diseases:

1. Powdery mildew is sprayed against fungus with special solutions, fungicides, and sour milk.
2. Copper oxychloride and Bordeaux mixture help against brown spot.
3. Leaves affected by rot (gray, white) are removed. The plant is sprayed with fungicides.
4. Root rot is difficult to treat. Healthy vines take root again and change the watering regime.

Proper cultivation of cucumbers in a vertical bed guarantees a good harvest with a minimum of physical and time costs. But you need to plan the cultivation of vegetables at the initial stage: prepare bags, install them in a good shady place, provide support and a drip irrigation system, plant seedlings at the optimal distance from each other. Taking into account all the nuances, you can harvest a good harvest of cucumbers even on the balcony.

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Insect pests: how to protect cucumbers?

Cucumber seedlings can be attacked by pests: spider mites or aphids. As a preventive measure, frequent spraying of the plant with clean water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate is useful.

Plantings are inspected daily. The detected larvae are washed off with a cotton swab. In case of severe damage, treatment with an insecticide spray is possible. The plants are sprayed generously, and after 3 days the procedure is repeated. Read more about methods of controlling aphids and spider mites.

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