What to do if cucumbers don’t grow: feeding recipes

Cucumbers have stopped growing because it’s cold - what to do: tips

During spring frosts, some gardeners cover cucumbers with the help of metal arcs and modern textiles.
In cold weather, plant growth is inhibited, the roots do not absorb nutrients well so that the cucumbers grow, experienced vegetable growers advise spraying the bushes after watering, in the morning or evening, in cloudy weather cucumbers completely, with aqueous solutions (10-15 g of product per 1 bucket of water) of “Kemira”, “Kristallion”, “Rastvorin” products. When it's cold, it's better to feed cucumbers through the leaves . You can also spray the bushes with water with a growth stimulant added to it (Epin).

Other fans of growing vegetables in beds, during cold weather, install arcs and cover them with film , but under the film the plants are cold and damp, so it is better to cover them with a special material (agrotex, lutrasil) , which appeared not so long ago. It is also known that plants in the dark tolerate cold better, so experienced plant owners cover the plants with a tarpaulin, rags and straw during frosts.

Also, some vegetable growers recommend making “warm beds” for planting cucumbers in the fall . They are done like this:

• We dig a groove 30 cm deep
• We spread it with a thin layer of tops, potato peelings, grass without seeds, and cover it with earth.
• In the spring we plant cucumbers; they are much warmer in such a bed than in a regular bed.

So, now we know what to do if the cucumbers grow poorly, the leaves turn yellow, and the cucumbers do not set.

Main problems when growing

Growing cucumbers is not without its hassle: the capricious culture immediately reacts to the negative impact of the environment. By recognizing the problem and finding ways to solve it, you can correct the situation.

The cucumbers have sprouted but are not growing

It happens that cucumber seedlings stop developing or grow slowly. The problem can occur for many reasons:

• cold weather - cold snaps are often observed in spring, at night the temperature drops to slightly positive values, at temperatures below +15˚С, the growth of cucumbers stops;
• heavy soil, crust on the surface - weak roots of seedlings do not receive oxygen, nutrients are not absorbed;
• improper watering - lack of moisture or waterlogging are equally dangerous for young seedlings;
• excess air humidity in the greenhouse (above 80%), which occurs in unventilated greenhouses, combined with cold weather, often leads to the development of fungal diseases - blackleg, downy mildew, powdery mildew;
• excess fertilizer in the soil can cause burns to the root system;
• Cucumber seedlings do not like drafts; on hot days they need shading during the midday hours.
• soil contamination with weeds - the powerful root system of weeds suppresses the development of seedlings.

Reasons for stopping crop growth when planting cucumber seedlings:

• damage to the delicate root system during transplantation (the best option is to use cups with a sliding bottom, or sowing in peat containers);
• planting overgrown plants, they take a long time to take root in a new place;
• early planting of seedlings with cotyledons - underdeveloped roots cannot provide nutrition, the plant stops growing and often dies.

The optimal time for planting cucumbers in a greenhouse or beds is seedlings with 2-3 true leaves.

There are many ovaries, but they do not grow

The main causes of the problem, when cucumbers bloom profusely, set, but the cucumbers do not increase in size, turn yellow and dry out:

• cold nights, large daily temperature fluctuations;
• lack and unbalanced nutrition (primarily potassium deficiency);
• poor watering or use of cold water;
• diseases and pests - a weakened plant is not capable of bearing fruit.

You need to make sure that pollination of the cucumber has occurred. For cultivation indoors, preference should be given to parthenocarpic (self-fertile) varieties and hybrids. If bee-pollinated varieties are planted, a sweet syrup made from water and honey is used to attract insects.

Fruits are not pouring

The main reason is lack of nutrients. The plant has high growth energy and needs large quantities of macro- and microelements. With a lack of nutrition, the foliage becomes pale green, the fruits slowly fill out and become pear-shaped.

Excess nitrogen during this period is harmful; its excess leads to an increase in green mass to the detriment of flowering and fruiting.

Other reasons:

• dense plantings - cucumbers planted too close to each other or improperly formed, lack lighting, produce thin vines with poorly developing fruits;
• lack of garter - lateral stepsons creeping along the ground do not produce a harvest and weaken the plant;
• low temperatures - prolonged cold leads to impaired absorption of nutrients by the crop and slower fruiting;
• untimely harvesting - overgrown cucumbers weaken the plant and retard the growth of young greens.

At the beginning of fruiting, cucumbers should be collected every 3-4 days, at the height of the season - every other day or daily.

Soil fertilization

You have chosen a suitable variety, planted it, but the cucumbers do not grow well, what is the reason. One of the reasons may be depleted, infertile soil, unable to provide the required amount of nutrients and ensure full development.

Therefore, the land needs to be fertilized. It’s better to do this before planting, but it’s okay if the cucumbers have already sprouted. For feeding, you can take purchased fertilizers enriched with nitrogen or ordinary manure humus, chicken manure, peat, they are diluted with water and added to the plants.

Battery deficiency: how to recognize

The surest way is to look at the foliage and its shade.

• A marble surface with a light or dark green color means a lack of magnesium. Dolomite flour will help - half a glass of powder per five-liter bucket of water.
• Yellow-green tint – lack of microelements. Any complex fertilizer will help correct the situation - use it according to the attached instructions.
• A medium-sized, light-colored plant indicates a lack of nitrogen. Replenish the deficiency with infusion of manure and urea.
• Covered with a scattering of small holes. This is a consequence of the effect of sunlight on night dew droplets.
• A brown border around the edges indicates a lack of potassium. Three tablespoons of any potassium-based fertilizer per ten liters of water will solve the problem. Choose fertilizer without chlorine!
• Directed upward - needs phosphorus. One and a half tablespoons of superphosphate per five liters of water will save the situation.

Typical problems can be avoided if you remember that the slightest movement of the soil can lead to the breaking of sucking hairs on the roots - the root system of these plants is weak.

• When getting rid of weeds, cut them level with the soil rather than pulling them out. This way, the roots of the cucumbers will be more intact, and further growth of weeds will slow down.
• You should not loosen the soil under cucumbers. If the soil becomes compacted after watering, mulch it - sprinkle peat on top.

The best time for fertilizing is in the evening, immediately after watering. Uniflor series fertilizers contain two dozen microelements. This is a real must-have for plants.

Preventive measures

In order for cucumbers to develop normally, we must not forget about measures aimed at disinfection. Thus, soaking planting material in a manganese solution, hardening or freezing the soil will kill unwanted microorganisms. You can enjoy trouble-free growing cucumbers if you treat the containers with antiseptics before reusing them.

Pour into a spray bottle, then spray the entire bush. To be effective, treat with a strained mixture of wood ash or laundry soap and water. The proportions are the same.

No crop rotation

Annually growing cucumbers in one place without replacing the soil inevitably leads to a sharp decrease in yield.

Yes, in a small area it is difficult to strictly follow all the principles of cultural rotation. But you need to try to comply with it at least partially.

If you plant cucumbers in the same greenhouse or greenhouse from year to year, already in the third year a huge number of pathogens and pest larvae will accumulate in the greenhouse soil. As a result, after a few ugly greens have formed, your plants will simply wilt from powdery mildew.

Preventive measures

Prevention is the correct agricultural technology:

• plant in good fertilized soil;
• use only high-quality seeds that have undergone preparatory treatment with fungicides;
• select a sunny area for planting;
• do not plant different varieties that require different care next to each other;
• adhere to the correct planting pattern;
• maintain the correct watering regime.

A mandatory preventive measure is weekly feeding of plants:

• at the seedling stage - with nitrogen-containing fertilizer;
• during flowering and fruiting - fertilizer with potassium, phosphorus and magnesium.

How to determine which fertilizer is missing:

• the leaves are rough, the fruits are deformed, thorns grow on them - lack of nitrogen, feed with urea;
• the greens are pear-shaped and do not pour well, the edges of the leaves are yellow - there is not enough potassium, fertilize with potassium sulfate or wood ash;
• the foliage is lush and beautiful, there are a lot of barren flowers, if the fruits appear, they dry out - cucumbers “fatten” from an excess of nitrogen, it needs to be removed from the diet and fed with superphosphate.

Find out more about how to feed cucumbers to grow and increase yield.

Poor quality seed material

Poor quality seed material will not sprout

Before sowing, cucumber seeds must be carefully calibrated and checked for hollowness.

Before disembarking:

• inspect the integrity of the seed shell;
• soak them in salt water for 5 minutes: the pacifiers will float;
• germinate a few selected seeds. If they sprout, the whole batch is ready for sowing.

Attention: to increase the likelihood of self-collected seeds sprouting, the seeds are soaked in a humate solution for 12 hours before sowing.

In addition to the quality of the seeds, it is necessary to take into account the age of the seed. Cucumbers are never planted in the first year of seed collection. They practically do not sprout. Seeds of the second, or even better, third year are more productive.

When sowing overripe seeds, you should also not wait for friendly shoots. It must be taken into account that after the third year of harvest, germination rate drops by 4-5% in each season.

All types of cucumbers in one place

Spraying with boron solution increases the amount of ovary on plants

It is not recommended to grow bee-pollinated and parthenocarpic cucumbers together. Then not only the number of harvested fruits decreases, but their quality also drops sharply.

So try to carefully read the labels on packages of cucumber seeds.

Cucumbers grow poorly and grow slowly: what to feed them

If cucumbers have stopped growing, you need to decide what to do as soon as possible. First of all, in order for the crop to grow, it is necessary to feed it with special fertilizers, which can be either chemical or natural.

Natural fertilizers

Bread feeding - fill 2/3 of a bucket with bread crusts, add water, and put under a press for a week. To use, you need to dilute it three times, add 50 grams of universal fertilizer per 12 liters of water. Treat the crop at the beginning of flowering and before wilting once a week.

On a note! This product has an acidic environment, so it is excellent for alkaline soils.

Ash. To get a good cucumber harvest, you need to pour a small amount of the product under the root of the crop. It is worth remembering that the method is not permissible when simultaneously using nitrogen-containing fertilizers. It is worth stopping processing when the first small fruits appear.

Yeast feeding. To prepare, you need to take 10 grams of dry yeast, dilute it in 10 liters of warm water, add a tablespoon of sugar. Let it brew for 2.5 hours, then dilute with 50 liters of water. Used for rapid growth and the appearance of large ovaries.

Feeding with brilliant green and iodine. Used to kill diseases. The roots are treated with brilliant green; to do this, 10 drops must be dissolved in a bucket of water. Iodine is applied to leaves and shoots. It is necessary to dilute 10 ml of iodine in 10 liters of water. Spray the crop.

Processing with mullein. A folk method that allows you to grow a rich harvest. This product can be used at any stage of crop growth. Dilute a few cakes of cow dung in 10 liters of water.

Infusion of onion peel. She needs to fill a 3 liter saucepan and add water. Leave for a day, then dilute with water in a ratio of 1:10.

Often, summer residents have a situation in which cucumbers have begun to grow poorly; how to feed them is not difficult to decide; there is a wide choice.

Chemicals

• Preparations Kemir, Universal, Aquamarine are used when seedlings are moved from a house from a balcony or windowsill to the ground or to a greenhouse. In order for the shoots to sprout, you need to dilute 5-7 grams of fertilizer in 10 liters of water and water the hole.
• Microfertilizers containing boron - when treated with this product, the crop will begin to actively grow and form a large number of ovaries. Use 1 granule per 1 liter of water.

Causes of stunted growth and solution to the problem

The key to high crop productivity is compliance with basic agrotechnical methods for growing cucumbers, timely protection of plants from diseases and pests.

Growing conditions

Cucumber is a crop with a shallow root system that grows in a short time into a powerful plant that produces a bountiful harvest. The plant is demanding of soil fertility, temperature and humidity, and is responsive to timely application of fertilizers.

Temperature

Cucumbers are a heat-loving crop, the optimal growing temperature is +22-25˚С. When the temperature drops below +15˚C, the root system loses its ability to take moisture from the soil. During prolonged cold weather, the cucumber stops growing and dies even with mild frosts. The vegetable does not tolerate sudden daily temperature changes: midday heat and cold nights.

Several techniques help solve the problem:

• growing in a greenhouse, hotbed or under temporary film covers helps protect plants from frequent cold snaps in late spring and early summer;
• to keep warm, you should close the windows in the greenhouse early in the evening;
• during cold spells, containers with water are installed in the greenhouse, which release heat at night;
• Covering the soil with black film or lutrasil helps increase the soil temperature.

In cold rainy weather, you can help plants with emergency foliar phosphorus feeding - 40 grams of superphosphate per bucket of water.

Lighting

Cucumber is a light-loving plant. Greenhouses and beds for growing crops are located in places with good lighting, away from tall trees. Cultivation in partial shade or thickening of plantings leads to the formation of weak shoots, falling of ovaries, and decreased resistance to pathogenic flora. Lack of light has a negative effect on the development of roots and above-ground parts of the plant, delaying flowering by 1-2 weeks.

Tender cucumber leaves are susceptible to sunburn. In hot weather, it is recommended to shade the southern part of the greenhouse with white covering material to protect against intense solar radiation.

Watering

The culture needs regular, abundant watering (up to 8-9 liters for an adult plant), but does not like waterlogging of the soil. The plant is watered with warm, settled water. To do this, containers are installed in the greenhouse, the water in which warms up well during the day.

Water the cucumbers in the afternoon, preventing moisture from getting on the leaves. Watering with cold water leads to the formation of microcracks on the plant stem. There is a blockage of the vessels responsible for the supply of fluid and nutrients, and infectious agents penetrate into the wounds.

Soil condition

Cucumber prefers loose, air- and water-permeable light loam or sandy loam with neutral acidity (pH 5.8-6.6). The soil must be cultivated, cleared of harmful weeds, and contain a lot of humus. On acidic soils, cucumbers develop poorly and are more often susceptible to diseases.

Top dressing

For abundant growth of vegetative mass and high yield, cucumber needs regular feeding throughout the season. At the initial stage of development, the plant needs nitrogen, and during fruiting - phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.

Potassium is the defining nutritional element of cucumber. Microelements are also important for the plant: calcium, magnesium, boron, zinc. It is recommended to alternate organic and mineral fertilizers and use folk remedies.

Immediately after germination or planting of seedlings, young seedlings are sprayed with succinic acid. The substance improves survival rate and serves as a growth stimulator. When 2 true leaves appear, the plants are sprayed with a solution of urea or ammonium nitrate 1 tbsp. l. per bucket of water - fertilizing supports seedlings well in cold and damp weather.

Feeding options during budding (per 10 liters of water):

• “Agricola for cucumbers” or “Kemira Universal” - 1-2 tbsp. l.;
• diluted mullein infusion + 1 tbsp. l. potassium magnesia + 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate;
• 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate + 1 tbsp. l. ammonium sulfate + 1 tsp. ammonium nitrate.

During the flowering period, so that the ovaries do not fall off and begin to grow, complex mineral fertilizers with microelements are applied: “Kemira Lux”, “Helatin Cucumber”, “Effecton-o” according to the instructions for the drug. During flowering, phytohormones are used for better fruit set:

• “We are fruitful”;
• "Ovary",
• "Bud".

During fruiting, it is important to provide plants with phosphorus and potassium:

• potassium monophosphate - 1 tbsp. l per 10 liters of water;
• 1-1.5 tbsp. l. potassium nitrate or 1 tbsp. ash + 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate per bucket of water;
• 2 tbsp. l. nitrophoska (per 10 liters of liquid).

Folk remedies: fermented yeast supplement, whey, ammonia solution, baking soda.

Anti-stress treatment under adverse weather conditions: 50 ml of ammonia + 5 grams of iron sulfate + 10 grams of salicylic acid are diluted in a liter of water, the volume is adjusted to 10 liters and the plants are sprayed.

Planting density

Cucumbers planted too often fight for their existence, robbing each other of nutrients. Plants do not have enough light, the stems of neighboring bushes intertwine, normal air circulation is disrupted - the risk of fungal pathologies increases. Insect pests feel at ease in dense thickets.

The optimal scheme for planting cucumbers in a greenhouse: the distance between plants is 35-40 cm, between rows 40-60 cm. Per 1 sq. m area there should be no more than 3-4 plants.

In open ground, with a single-line planting scheme, seeds are sown at a distance of 20 cm from each other, rows are made every 70 cm. With the strip planting method, the distance between plants is 20 cm, in a strip 40 cm, between strips - 80-100 cm. When grown in a checkerboard manner The holes are arranged according to a 50x50 cm pattern.

Forming cucumbers

Growing on a trellis makes it possible to rationally use the area, facilitates care, and doubles the crop yield. The wire is pulled at a height of 1.8-2 m, young plants are tied when they reach a height of 10-15 cm.

Shaping a cucumber is one of the important techniques that allows you to grow a healthy, strong plant. Up to 4 true leaves, all ovaries and stepsons are removed, providing free access of air to the roots, allowing the young plant to direct its forces to the formation of a strong root system.

The side shoots formed between the 4-6 leaves are shortened to a length of 20 cm, above the 6-8 leaves they are pinched at a level of 30-40 cm. The stepsons that have reached the trellis are left 50-60 cm long. The main shoot is pinched when it reaches a length of 2 ,3-2.5 m.

Modern varieties of cucumbers - Buket, Temp, Sarovsky, Valdai - form a powerful central stem with shortened side shoots and do not require shaping.

Diseases and pests

Main diseases of cucumbers:

Tender shoots of cucumber are often attacked by pests: whitefly, spider mites, thrips, aphids. Insect infestations are especially dangerous when growing crops in greenhouses.

In case of minor damage, spraying with folk remedies is used: garlic infusion, decoction of wormwood or onion peel, ash solution. For better adhesion to the leaves, laundry soap is added to the working solution. In severe cases, insecticides are used: “Fufanon”, “Aktellik”, “Aktaru”, “Inta-vir”.

Diseases in grown plants

Cucumbers, which constantly suffer from diseases due to improper conditions or weak immunity, do not grow on the windowsill. Having taken care of the rules of cultivation, it is worth taking preventive measures to prevent possible complications:

1. Anthracnose or otherwise copperhead is a fungal disease that manifests itself in high humidity. It affects the covering of leaves, fruits and stems. Recognizable thanks to brownish spots that gradually unite into one whole. The consequence is leaf fall.
2. Downy mildew is another fungal disease, more popularly known as powdery mildew. Spots form on the leaves, the ovaries turn yellow, and the yield decreases. There are cases when, after yellowing, the ovaries fall off, but there is no harvest at all. Appears at low temperatures and high humidity.
3. Sclerotinia, also known as white rot, affects the overall development of the bush. A white coating appears throughout the plant. It ripens into mucus and initiates wilting of the top and rotting of the roots. As a preventive measure: fertilization with zinc sulfate, urea, treatment with copper sulfate is effective.
4. Gray rot - appears due to fungal spores on leaves, cucumbers or stems. Grayish covering in spots, growing over the area. Occurs at low temperatures and high humidity.

Treatment is standard, all diseases are of the same nature, so anti-fungal agents - fungicides - will help here. Suitable:

• Fitosporin-M;
• Tiram;
• Immunocytophyte;
• Hoim;
• SILK;
• Ridomil.

Traditional medicine can also help: manganese solution and Bordeaux mixture. There are also known cases of root rot caused by violations of watering and temperature regimes. A solution of copper sulfate is used as a medicine.

Important recommendations: how to prevent slow growth of cucumbers

The tips are as follows:

1. Renew the soil in the greenhouse every two years. It is necessary to remove the top layer of soil and replace it with a more fertile one. Otherwise, the soil will accumulate bacteria and viruses.
2. Planting cucumbers in open ground. Send the plant to a new place only at the age of 30 days. If you do this later, the root system will be damaged.
3. Maintain a distance of at least 20 cm between seedlings. Otherwise, the crop will die from lack of light and too wet soil.
4. Carry out systematic watering. Avoid drought or stagnation of water.
5. Purchase only high-quality seeds from trusted companies. The age of the culture is at least three years.

Fit too tight

When growing cucumbers without a trellis, it is useful to place a stake next to each plant. This way you will know where to pour the water.

Cucumbers do not tolerate crowded conditions: in such conditions, the plants are poorly lit and have almost no ventilation. And this favors the development and spread of typical cultural diseases. Cucumber pests also actively reproduce in a humid and warm environment under the shade of abundant foliage.

In such circumstances, growing cucumbers in a vertical culture (for example, on a homemade trellis) will help.

Did you know that parthenocarpic cucumbers need to be planted somewhat denser than bee-pollinated ones?

Bad Seeds

When seeds “sit in the ground” for a long time, it is due to poor quality seeds. Therefore, you need to carefully consider the process of choosing planting material.

Also, the reason may be excessive penetration of seeds into the soil. Make sure that they are no more than 3 cm deep.

Preparing the soil mixture

In order for growing cucumber seedlings to be successful, you need to pay attention to preparing the soil mixture for planting seeds. Its composition should not differ from the soil that will be present in the garden bed. So, if you decide to use pure peat as a planting material, you may encounter it drying out when it is planted in the garden bed. Ultimately, the seedlings will grow extremely slowly, since the root system in the peat will not be able to survive, which will lead to the plants losing vitality and causing the formation of adventitious roots that can find moisture in other parts of the soil located at a distance from the plant. Thus, the cucumbers will develop much more slowly, which is why they will enter the fruiting phase later than usual.

A good soil mixture can be obtained by mixing 2 parts of garden soil with 1 part of peat and 0.5-1 part of sand. It will be even better if you have stored compost from last year that has already rotted. If you decide to purchase a ready-made store-bought mixture, first fill any container with the contents of a plastic bag and leave it for 1-2 days, stirring it from time to time so that it can “breathe.” Then this soil needs to be poured into small cups, without compacting it, watered thoroughly and placed to warm up in some warm place for a couple of hours. Now everything is ready and you can start planting.

Take cups into which the sprouted seeds are placed one at a time, and the depth should be 1.5 cm. Then the cups should be covered with film and placed in a warm place (23-25 ​​degrees). You don’t have to wait long for the first shoots; green shoots appear within 3-4 days. Next, the film needs to be removed, and the seedlings continue to maintain a high temperature. After waiting for the cotyledons to unfold, the seedlings should be placed in a cool place where the temperature will be at 18-20 degrees, and left there for a couple of days. This will help prevent the seedlings from being pulled out. Young seedlings need to be provided with good lighting and moderate watering, for which only warm water is used. When plants develop a second true leaf, this indicates that they already have a sufficiently developed root system. In this regard, from this moment on, more abundant watering can be carried out. Particular care should be taken to ensure that the soil in the cups does not dry out, and that there is no excess moisture; measures should be taken to ensure normal growth of seedlings.

Lighting

Cucumber varieties for indoor soil are considered to be less demanding in terms of the amount of ultraviolet radiation than their counterparts for garden beds. However, you need to provide your plants with plenty of light (at least 10 hours a day) to get a timely, healthy harvest. You should not place containers with cucumbers on a windowsill that faces north. You should also avoid strong shading by trees and neighboring buildings. If there is a lack of natural light, especially on short autumn and winter days, it is recommended to use fluorescent or LED phytolamps with a blue-red spectrum.

Important! Plants are always drawn to a light source, so cucumber sprouts and adult bushes must be rotated 180° daily to ensure correct symmetry and uniform growth of cucumbers.

Direct, hot rays of the sun can sometimes cause overheating of cucumbers in room conditions due to the problem of constant air mobility (weak evaporation). If sagging or wilting of the leaves becomes noticeable, you need to shade them with a translucent fabric.