How to feed cucumbers with boric acid: recipes for nutrient solutions and application patterns

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Yakov Pavlovich

Professor, Head of the Department of Vegetable Growing

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To improve growth and development, boric acid is used for cucumbers in the form of spraying. This type of feeding is very popular among farmers because it has repeatedly proven its effectiveness.

The effect of boric acid on cucumbers

Boric acid has a number of beneficial properties, due to which it has a comprehensive effect on the plant. By the way, in addition to cucumbers, you can spray peppers, tomatoes, cabbage and other garden crops with it. This is one of the most important microelements found in plants at the cellular level. It is part of many complex fertilizers for cultivated plants and flowers.

Improved photosynthesis

Light and air are the main sources of energy for photosynthesis - the process of absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. This process is equally important for both plants and humans.

For cucumbers, photosynthesis is necessary to produce a rich harvest. During the daytime, the plant absorbs components of air and sunlight, and at night, this energy allows it to grow, develop and gain strength.

Stimulating growth

With normal development in June-July, the plants should already have an ovary. If it is not there or it does not develop, then the problem is slow growth. This may be due to increased acidity of the soil, lack of nutrients in it, excess or lack of moisture. Spraying with boron will help the plant recover and resume full growth.

Boosting immunity

Boric acid is widely used as an antiseptic. When treating plants, it improves the microflora and destroys pathogens and parasites living on stems and foliage. Due to this, the protective functions of the plant are increased, and it becomes more resistant to various diseases and the influence of aggressive external factors.

Enlargement of ovaries

A sufficient number of ovaries is a guarantee of a good harvest. The owner’s task is to enlarge the ovary in all possible ways, one of which is irrigation with boric acid. Cucumbers that grow in polycarbonate greenhouses grow less, because they block access to direct sunlight. On the one hand, cucumbers are heat-loving plants, on the other hand, the sun scorches the leaves, which negatively affects the growth and development of the plant.

When using complex fertilizers that contain boron, female flowers are activated in the plant and the number of ovaries increases. The boron compound stimulates the formation of new growth points of stems and roots, increases the sugar content and taste of the fruit.

Strengthening the roots

Boron is a fixed element that never disappears from a plant; it can only be in sufficient, insufficient or excess quantities. The root system of cucumbers is taprooted, the main root of which can reach up to half a meter. This makes it possible to draw moisture and nutrients from the depths of the soil. If the root system is underdeveloped, the plant will receive fewer vitamins and minerals. Boric acid promotes root growth, thereby enhancing the growth and development of stems and flowers, and enlarging the ovary. At the same time, the fruits will be not only large, but also tasty.

What are the benefits of iodine and milk for cucumbers?

Using milk with iodine avoids chemical supplements

Iodine is a powerful antiseptic and contains many trace elements . And this has a beneficial effect on the growth of cucumbers and prevents the development of the following diseases:

• late blight:
• all types of rot (gray, white, root, wet);
• white and green mosaic;
• copperheads.

In addition, iodine improves the appearance of the plant.

Milk also contains enough beneficial elements to prevent nutritional deficiencies in the plant. Milk also extinguishes the activity of pathogenic fungi. Therefore, the combination of milk with iodine has a double effect in terms of protecting and nourishing the culture.

Disease prevention in plants should begin as soon as 5–6 full-fledged leaves are formed on the seedlings. Repeat the procedure every two weeks. Then disease outbreaks can be avoided. Iodine with milk will be useful not only for cucumbers, but also for other crops:

• eggplants;
• zucchini;
• tomatoes;
• peppers;
• cabbage

For seedlings, such feeding is absolutely safe if you adhere to the dosage. Thanks to it, plant immunity increases. The only thing is that it is recommended not to treat the seedlings with a milk-iodine composition externally - only apply at the roots. This is due to the ability of iodine to cause burns to young foliage.

Video: benefits of iodine in milk for cucumber crops

Signs of boron deficiency in plants

Boric acid deficiency negatively affects the development of cucumbers. You can independently determine it by the following symptoms.

Slow growth

With a lack of boric acid, the growth of the plant as a whole slows down. Stem growth begins to slow down, young leaves stop appearing, and the number of ovaries decreases. If cucumbers have stopped developing, they need to be fed with micro- and macroelements.

Appearance of leaves

The leaves look limp, dull and small. With a lack of boron, growth stops and the foliage will be distinguished by its dwarfism. The protective functions of the plant are also reduced, due to which the foliage may turn yellow, curl, or spots appear on it (late blight).

With a lack of boron, young leaves practically do not grow or remain miniature in size. With such a symptom, it is necessary to carry out boron treatment of the plant in order to save the harvest as a result.

Yellow border

A yellow border on the leaves of an adult plant most often appears due to a lack of moisture and a vitamin-mineral complex. Watering with boron will help restore the plant’s immunity and activate all intracellular processes in it.

See also How to grow cucumbers at home

Weak flowering

The flowering of cucumbers may slow down for various reasons, but one way or another they are all associated with a deterioration in the functioning of the plant’s immune system. Boron will help increase it. You should also eliminate other factors that may negatively affect flowering:

• watering with cold water (for watering you need to use water at room temperature);
• dense planting (there should be an average distance of 50 centimeters between bushes, depending on the variety);
• low quality seeds (it is important to use only proven high-quality seeds);
• lack of fertilizing or application of low-quality fertilizers.

Bad ovary

It happens that there are many flowers on a cucumber bush, but there is no ovary. This can also be due to a number of problems, some of which can be solved by watering with boric acid.

Increased susceptibility to disease

Leaves, flowers and fruits may turn yellow, dry out, darken, turn black, rot, etc. All these are symptoms and consequences of diseases. They arise due to the weakening of the protective functions of the plant, which arise due to deficiencies of vitamins and minerals. Boron compounds strengthen the immune system and reduce the risk of disease.

Complex boron-containing fertilizers for cucumbers

For those gardeners who are not inclined to independently create a program for feeding plants with various elements separately, instead of using boric acid, we can recommend ready-made complexes that already contain boron:

When growing cucumbers in greenhouses, you can use the boron-containing complex “Siliplant Greenhouse”.

How to determine excess

An excess of boric acid, as well as a deficiency, negatively affects the plant. If there is an excessive amount of boron, the following symptoms occur:

• during flowering, few female flowers appear (with an ovary);
• the growth and development of young leaves stops;
• Yellow border on leaves develops - a disease characterized by yellowing of leaves (occurs due to excess boron or lack of micro- and macroelements).

Expert opinion

Stanislav Pavlovich

Gardener with 17 years of experience and our expert

Ask a Question

While it’s easy to make up for a deficiency, it’s difficult to normalize an excess, so it’s better not to let it get to that point.

Fertilizer schedule

To maintain the growth and development of cucumbers, you need to feed them 3 times a season. It is impossible to spray and fertilize more often, because an excess of boron has the same negative effect on the plant, as does its deficiency.

Pre-sowing preparation

Before sowing, two types of preparation are carried out: fertilizing the soil and soaking the seeds in solutions that stimulate growth. First, the seeds need to be soaked for 20-40 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate, which is a powerful disinfectant and will protect the plant from parasites in the future. After this, you need to dip them in a solution of boric acid. To do this, you need to dissolve 2 mg of boron powder in a liter of warm clean water and stir. The seeds need to be wrapped in a fabric bag and dipped in the solution for an hour. After this they will be completely ready for sowing.

Attention: boron practically does not dissolve in cold water, so all solutions must be prepared in boiling water, and then wait until the water temperature drops.

Spraying and watering seedlings

You can water the seedlings with boron once, so as not to bring the plant to excess acid. To do this, you need to dissolve 3 grams of powder in 1 liter of boiling water, cool and stir the resulting solution with 10 liters of clean water. The concentrate cannot be used for irrigation. You can also irrigate seedlings with the resulting product from a spray bottle. This will accelerate the growth and development of cucumbers, strengthen their root system and prepare them for planting in a greenhouse or open ground. Watering with boron is carried out when the seedlings already have 3-4 full-fledged leaves; it is not necessary earlier.

Feeding adult plants

Mature plants can be fed at three stages:

• during the appearance of buds;
• when flowering;
• during ovary.

For adult plants, root feeding is best, applied along with watering. To avoid harm, the cucumbers must first be thoroughly watered with clean water. The watering solution is prepared in the same way as for fertilizing seedlings.

The use of boron powder and brilliant green

To get a clean and healthy harvest, you need to put in a lot of effort and spend a lot of time to provide the plants with proper care. Fertilizing plays a very important role in this process, and in order to grow vegetables without resorting to dangerous chemicals, you need to use natural folk methods and remedies.

Green stuff for cucumbers

Regular pharmaceutical greens are widely used by gardeners as a medicine for plants. Using a product of 40 drops of brilliant green mixed with 10 liters of water, it is easy to prevent or reduce infection of plants by various diseases by wiping the infected areas with this mixture.

Zelenka will save cucumbers and tomatoes from late blight and powdery mildew infection. Feeding with a solution of brilliant green stimulates the appearance of ovaries in plants. Before the ovaries begin to ripen, it is recommended to treat the plants with a mixture of 0.2 g of boron powder and 2 drops of brilliant green, diluted in 1 liter of water.

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Effective recipes

There are many recipes for watering or spraying with boric acid, differing in the composition and concentration of substances. Consider the most effective ones that successful farmers use on their farms.

For pest control

Boric acid is used to control ants, slugs, cockroaches and other insects. It has a cumulative effect and destroys the pest’s stomach within a few days, after which it dies.

For ants, you can use a solution of boric acid and water in a ratio of 1/10. To attract insects, you can add a little honey or sugar. The resulting product should be poured near anthills and on paths near the cucumber beds.

To attract bees

Bees are essential insects in garden beds for pollinating plants. Without them it is impossible to talk about a good and high-quality harvest. It’s good if there are fields, fruit trees or an apiary nearby. If not, then measures must be taken to attract bees to cucumbers.

To do this, they are sprayed with the following solution: for 1 liter of water you need 2-3 grams of boric acid powder and a glass of sugar. Stir everything until completely dissolved and dilute with 6-7 liters of water. The resulting product is used for sprinkling not only cucumbers, but also other plants during the flowering period. Boron enhances growth, and sugar attracts insects that pollinate flowers.

See also: How to properly grow and care for cucumbers in open ground

To prevent mineral deficiency

To compensate for the lack of nutrients, you need to dilute 10 grams of boric acid powder in 10 liters of water.

For seeds

In order to “awaken” the seeds and improve their germination, you need to dilute 0.2 grams of boric acid in a liter of warm water, cool and soak the seeds in the solution for 50-60 minutes. After this, the seeds must be sown immediately.

Stimulation of flowering and setting

To prevent flowers from falling off and to increase the ovary, you can also use a solution of boric acid instead of chemical fertilizers and fertilizing. To increase the number of flowers in which fruits will set , treatment must be carried out at the flowering stage of the cucumber. To do this, you need to dilute boron powder in hot water (2 grams per 1 liter), wait until it cools down and mix with 5 liters of clean cold water. The resulting solution should be sprayed on the plant when the buds appear, but the flowers have not yet opened. You can also add a little honey or sugar to attract insects for pollination.

Using iodine

Iodine is one of the strongest antiseptic drugs used in medicine, housekeeping and gardening. Iodine destroys many types of pathogenic microorganisms, strengthens the root system of plants without causing harm (provided the proportions are observed). Most often, iodine is used for the prevention and treatment of fungal diseases. Their presence can be guessed by the appearance of spots on the foliage or rot at the roots. To eliminate problems, you need to dilute 3 grams of boric acid, 2 grams of manganese and 50 drops of iodine in a liter of boiling water. Next, the resulting solution needs to be diluted with a bucket of water and poured over the cucumbers. It is better to do the procedure in the evening, because in the sun the minerals are poorly absorbed by the plant.

It is important to remember that boric acid does not replace fertilizer, and watering it only replenishes the lack of boron in the plant, which it already contains.

Answers to frequently asked questions

How can you determine boron deficiency in plants?

By changing the color of the leaves - it turns red or becomes bronze. Darkening appears on the fruits.

In what proportions should solutions based on boric acid be prepared?

All necessary proportions are indicated in the recipes.

When is the best time to use boron fertilizer?

Early in the morning or evening, when the sun has not yet entered into full force. When preparing seeds for sowing. Immediately after planting adult seedlings in open ground. When the first flowers and fruits appear.

General rules for use in open ground

To compensate for the lack of boron in the soil, you need to treat the soil with an acid solution. For 1 sq.m., 1 liter of standard solution is enough. Light and sandy soils usually suffer from a lack of boron, so you need to feed the soil. There are a number of rules for this:

• fertilizing should be done regularly;
• in large quantities causes toxic poisoning;
• foliar feeding is safer than spraying.

Beginner gardeners are recommended to use boron fertilizing three times per season:

1. Seed treatment.
2. Watering during flowering.
3. Spraying during the ovary period.

How to tell if cucumbers don't have enough boron

Boron deficiency is quite difficult to diagnose, since signs of a depressed state of plants (withering and dying of the top of the cucumber vine, poor development of shoots, small leaves, yellow tint of leaf edges) coincide with a reaction to unfavorable weather and other possible errors in care. There are regions located in the so-called boron-deficient zone: soddy-podzolic soils in the south of Ukraine, arid or constantly flooded regions. There you can recommend boron-based fertilizers for growing vegetables. By the way, slightly alkaline soils retain boron well, but increasing the pH above 7.5 significantly reduces the availability of this element, so liming acidic soils sometimes provokes boron deficiency.

Yellow edges of cucumber leaves may indicate a lack of boron

Additional tips and tricks

To increase the yield, but not harm the plants in the garden, you need to use tips and recommendations from professionals:

• you cannot increase the permissible dosage, this will in no way speed up the flowering or fruiting process;
• in the greenhouse it is recommended to apply root bait more often than to use spraying;
• Boron must be applied to the affected area: it can rise from the roots to the leaves, but not vice versa.