First the cucumbers grew loose and empty inside this year. In what causes, care errors and what to do to prevent them from being hollow Let's try to figure it out. Despite the fact that I have been growing them for years, I have not changed the technology, watered them and even fed them. Maybe I chose the wrong variety or they are missing something. These questions concern many gardeners and gardeners. After all, cucumbers are perhaps the most common vegetable on our table after potatoes.
Why are cucumbers empty inside? According to science, this is a developmental defect.
To put it simply, they overfed it with nitrogen, overexposed it to the bush, and in general the weather was not good, either cold and rainy, or too hot.
What to do - when choosing a variety, give preference to parthenocarpic hybrids and regularly feed with potassium and phosphorus!
But more about everything.
Unbalanced diet
The main and most common reason that cucumbers grow empty is untimely feeding. Basically, this is an excess of nitrogen with a lack of phosphorus, potassium and calcium, as well as poor digestibility of microelements.
Secret No. 1! Many gardeners make the mistake of considering mullein to be the best fertilizer. This is not the case for cucumbers. During the flowering and ovary phases, it is the mineral nutritional components that are needed - potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and many others.
Important! Do not overfeed cucumbers with nitrogen. An overdose occurs even if, during digging, more than 10 kg of manure per 1 sq. m was added to the planting. m, and then fed with urea (urea or ammonium nitrate).
What to do?
When digging when planting, it is better to add compost and wood ash. You can use mineral fertilizers (complex, such as diammophosphate, potassium monophosphate, pure, phosphorus - superphosphate, potassium - potassium sulfate or specialized ones, such as Acrycola).
Important! To quickly correct the situation, you can carry out foliar feeding, i.e. Spray cucumber bushes directly on the leaves.
Calcium is necessary for the development of the root system.
Watch the video : How to help cucumbers with a lack of calcium and microelements (if voids form inside the fruit)
Important! Lack of nutrients can lead to twisted and deformed fruits or yellowing of leaf edges.
Ways to solve the problem
When hollow cucumbers appear on a plot, they do not always mean the destruction of the entire crop. A solution to a problem can be found if it is detected in a timely manner. To eliminate it, change the conditions for growing the vegetable and change the watering scheme:
- For irrigation, use only warm water, heated to a temperature of +22 to +24 degrees. Then the roots absorb the right amount of moisture, and the excess evaporates.
- In cloudy, rainy weather, irrigation is limited, since the root system in such conditions is not able to absorb water.
- When humidifying, reduce the jet pressure. Water is directed exactly to the root without eroding the soil. Spraying of tops is carried out late in the evening, after sunset.
If there are a large number of hollow fruits, lighting errors are corrected. The bushes are thinned to reduce shading. If the beds are in the shade during greenhouse cultivation, additional lighting with ultraviolet lamps is installed inside the shelter.
Advice!
To improve the quality of greens, additional fertilizers are applied. A good option would be to feed with compost. But with additional application of urea, the condition of the soil deteriorates greatly. The fruits grow small and tasteless.
Insufficient watering
One of the main reasons for the appearance of looseness and emptiness inside the fruit is improper watering.
Watering should be regular and sufficient. If you don’t water the cucumbers for 3-4 days, the soil becomes quite dry. When you water suddenly and in large quantities, it can lead to tissue rupture, cracks and voids.
Important! Improper watering can also lead to deformed and distorted fruits.
- It is important to water cucumbers every day, in the evening or in the morning, especially if you have a hot climate.
- The water should be warm 25-28 degrees.
- Also, do not forget about loosening, this will allow air circulation at the roots, which promotes rapid growth.
How to water cucumbers correctly, read our article: How to properly water cucumbers in a greenhouse and open ground
Secret No. 2 In order to prevent the formation of a crust on the soil and retain moisture at the roots longer, the holes need to be mulched, possibly with straw or compost.
How often to pick cucumbers
In order not to collect empty cucumbers, it is important not to miss the moment. Overgrown cucumbers more often suffer from voids inside, since they can no longer provide nutrition and liquid to the entire volume inside the peel.
Solution
Ideally, during peak cucumber harvest, pick greens every day. Summer residents who visit the site only on weekends are most at risk of picking cucumbers that are empty inside. Take this time off or ask your neighbors to visit your garden beds.
Cucumbers collected at moderate temperature and humidity, most often at the end of summer, are best suited for pickling and pickling.
Soil features
Why are cucumbers empty in open ground and in greenhouses? The soil in the cucumber bed should be soft and loose. It is impossible to get a good harvest from hard, depleted and sandy soil. The main thing: after watering you need to loosen it, since air circulation at the roots is the key to success.
Ideally, for garden beds, it is better to use purchased soil saturated with fertilizers and all the necessary components, such as:
- compost or humus - add 5-8 kg per 1 square meter of bed.
- wood ash at the rate of 100-200 g per 1 sq. m.
- You can apply mineral fertilizers before planting, such as: nitroammophoska (2 tablespoons per 1 sq. m), superphosphate, urea, ammonium nitrate, potassium sulfate.
Organic or mineral fertilizers can be applied directly into the prepared holes during planting.
How to properly prepare the soil and plant cucumbers, read our articles:
Growing cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse: when and how to plant
Planting cucumbers with seeds in open ground: rules for sowing and growing
How to feed cucumbers that are empty inside: video tips
In a video clip from the YouTube channel, an experienced gardener explains why cucumbers can be empty inside and how to feed them to correct the situation.
And if you have already started picking cucumbers, pay attention to our recipes for lightly salted cucumbers:
- Dry pickling of cucumbers in a bag or container in 2 hours + video recipe.
- Lightly salted cucumbers in cold water + video recipe.
- Crispy aromatic lightly salted cucumbers in hot water + video recipe.
Diseases of cucumbers, mainly viral
The reason for the appearance of voids can be infection of the bushes with viral diseases.
For example, viral necrosis can reduce the yield of cucumbers by 70% or leave us without a harvest at all. Cucumbers are often infected with the tobacco mosaic virus. In this case, it is necessary to immediately treat the bushes with iodine solution, the concentration is described in the article
You can use Antichlorosin, Mik-Reacom or iron sulfate (50 g per 10 liters of water). Continue processing until the leaves turn green.
More details about diseases of cucumbers in the article: Main diseases of cucumbers, their description and methods of treatment with photo examples
You can increase the immunity of plants in a greenhouse (soil) with the help of growth regulators ( Zircon, Fitoverm, Fitosporin). More details about each in our articles.
By observing crop rotation, choosing varieties that are resistant to viruses and using the above-mentioned drugs, you will definitely not be left without a harvest.
Tips and tricks
Before planting, it is recommended to treat the seeds with a solution of wood ash . This composition saturates the seed with essential nutrients and increases plant immunity. The culture becomes more resistant to climatic conditions and diseases.
To avoid problems when growing, it is recommended to use trellises for cucumbers . This will avoid lack of lighting.
The hardening procedure is effective . Before planting, seeds are placed in a damp cloth or gauze and left in a warm room with an air temperature of at least +25°C. As soon as several young shoots hatch, the seed is placed in the refrigerator for 24 hours. After this, the seeds are kept in a cool room, for example, in a cellar or on a balcony, so that they recover from the cold.
plays an important role in the development of cucumbers . They get along well with garlic and onions, legumes and lettuce, celery and beets. And if you plant shrubs next to corn, you can collect juicy, slightly sweet fruits.
Variety selection
Therefore, if you plant, then use familiar varieties and good hybrids, purchased in a trusted place from trusted manufacturers.
Secret #3 Don't want empty cucumbers? Do not plant early and pollinated varieties. With short daylight hours, they are physiologically unable to form full-fledged fruits.
If you plan to choose parthenocarpic hybrids for autumn rotation, which do not depend on the length of daylight hours, medium or late ripening. And well branched: the main vine with a short daylight hours reduces the growth force.
Juicy, crispy F1 hybrids that do not form voids in the fruits:
- Grasshopper,
- green wave,
- Petrel,
- Buyan,
- Makar,
- Dragonfly,
- The hit of the season,
- Okhotny Ryad,
- Marina Grove.
Trick! If you picked cucumbers and they turned out to be hollow inside, but you need to preserve them, use this advice: soak in salted water before canning for 2-3 hours. The concentration of the solution per 1 liter of water is 1 teaspoon. A spoonful of salt. So that they are saturated with water. And the salt will hold it in. And for the winter there will be cucumbers - not soft, without voids. That's the whole secret.
Watch the video : How to grow a cucumber without voids
Prevention
For planting, seed material of varieties adapted to the soil and climatic conditions of the growing region is used. To prevent voids from forming inside the fruit, the composition of the soil is controlled, avoiding an increased nitrogen content.
To protect against diseases, bushes are sprayed with mullein solution. The liquid for feeding is prepared by mixing 1 kg of organic matter and 3 liters of water. The product is left to infuse for 3 days. Then the liquid is diluted with the same volume of water.
To prevent plant tissue from becoming covered with cracks and to prevent voids from appearing inside the fruit, cucumber plantings are treated with a whey solution. It is prepared from equal amounts of water and sour milk. To protect against viral infection, bushes and soil are treated with a solution of potassium permanganate.
When growing in a greenhouse, plants are regularly sprayed with a 2% formaldehyde solution. Liquid consumption is 1 liter for every 1 m². In the evenings, the greenhouse premises are ventilated. In cloudy and rainy weather, the doors are opened during the day. If the temperature drops below +20 degrees, open ground plants are covered with spunbond. In greenhouses, the temperature is controlled using heaters.
To avoid the appearance of low-quality fruits, the rules of agricultural technology are followed when growing cucumbers. The reason for the formation of voids in fruits is improper cultivation, unsuitable conditions, and some diseases. To prevent hollowness, preventive measures are carried out in a timely manner.
