Planting any crop in the same place depletes the soil and accumulates toxins. This also applies to cucumbers. The rules of agricultural technology provide for the observance of crop rotation to restore soil fertility. But in small areas or in a small greenhouse this is not always possible. In such cases, green manures come to the rescue - green spaces designed to improve soil health and replenish nutrients.
To get a good harvest of cucumbers every year, you need to know which green manure crops are suitable for cucumbers and when they need to be planted.
What are green manures and why are they needed?
Industrial crops that are grown to enrich the soil with nutrients and improve its structure are called green manures or “green fertilizers.”
Green manure plants are planted using one of the following methods::
- between rows between crops;
- as an early culture among later ones;
- at the end of summer or before winter;
- for the whole year while the soil is resting from intensive use.
Green manure is mowed before or shortly after flowering and, after rotting, plowed into the ground.
Attention! Do not confuse green manure with weeds. Useful plants turn into weeds when the moment for mowing is missed and they have time to bloom and produce seeds.
The benefits of green manure for cucumbers
Sowing green manure plants before planting cucumbers restores soil fertility naturally and increases productivity. During the growth and subsequent decay of “green fertilizers” :
- the soil is enriched with nutrients: nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and microelements;
- the soil is structured: the roots of green manure penetrate deep, loosen and improve aeration;
- soil microorganisms that fix nitrogen accumulate on dead roots;
- light sandy soils are bound and protected from erosion and weathering;
- the roots of beneficial plants deliver nutrients from the deep layers of the earth to the surface where the root system of cucumbers is located.
Planting green manure in between rows or around beds is useful.:
- their dense foliage, shading the soil, slows down the evaporation of moisture and inhibits the growth of weeds;
- companion plants repel or distract some of the cucumber pests;
- Most green manure plants are honey plants that attract bumblebees and bees, which also pollinate cucumbers.
It can be useful:
How to increase the yield of cucumbers in open ground
What to do if cucumbers grow crochet
What to do with empty flowers on cucumbers in a greenhouse
The benefits of green manure crops for cucumbers
The root shoots of cucumbers are small and are not able to penetrate deep into the soil to extract nutrients. Green manure comes to the rescue, delivering nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium and other trace elements to the roots of cucumbers.
The problems that green manure solves in limited areas of greenhouses and in small areas include:
- restoration of soil fertility;
- improvement of soil structure;
- loosening and improving aeration;
- reducing soil acidity;
- pest control;
- increasing moisture permeability.
When planting green manure between the rows, the active growth of weeds is inhibited, and the foliage of industrial plants protects the cucumber plantings from weathering and overheating. Honey-bearing green manure attracts beneficial insects that pollinate cucumbers.
Green industrial crops can be used as fertilizer for foliar feeding of cucumbers.
Familiarity with the characteristics of specific crops will help you get the maximum benefit from planting green manure plants.
What green manure is best to plant before cucumbers in the fall?
It is recommended to sow plants that do not require heat , quickly (in 1–1.5 months) gaining green mass and rotting easily in winter. They have these qualities:
- White mustard. It quickly increases mass, heals the soil, prevents the appearance of cruciferous flea beetles and slugs, and cleanses the soil of spores of pathogenic fungi.
- Oilseed radish. Grows quickly, increases soil fertility, and prevents fungal and viral diseases.
- Cold-resistant phacelia. A universal green manure that rapidly accumulates biomass. Easily decomposes, makes the soil nutritious and loose.
- Oats. Enriches the soil with nutrients and minerals.
On a note. 10 acres of mown phacelia replace 300 kg of manure.
Planting cucumber seeds in mustard
Vika
Vetch can be used as a green fertilizer for greenhouse cucumbers. This representative of the Legume family is one of the best predecessors for vegetable crops. Cucumbers grow well in beds in a greenhouse where vetch grew before them.
Gardeners usually sow a winter variety of green manure, which is distinguished by its ability to ripen quickly and produce abundant green mass. Vegetation left on the ground after mowing is easily digested by it. By rotting, it saturates the soil with nitrogen.
Vetch is used to improve the structure and increase the fertility of different types of soils, both light sandy and dense heavy ones. The plant makes the soil looser. In addition, it prevents weeds from growing in the area and destroys nematodes.
Vetch is sown in March, and also from the first days of June to the third ten days of July. After 3 months, the crop is mowed down. The seeding rate is 1500 g/100 m².
What crops are best not to plant under cucumbers?
In the open ground
It is better to plant more cold-resistant plants in open beds : winter rye, oilseed radish, phacelia.
When choosing green manure, it is worth considering the type of soil on the site:
- Phacelia and oilseed radish are ideal for depleted, sandy soils;
- heavy clay soil is softened by legumes and grains.
On a note. Experienced vegetable growers sow beds with mixtures of green manure plants. Plants complement each other, the fertilizer is more balanced.
In the greenhouse
When growing cucumbers in a greenhouse or greenhouse, observing crop rotation is problematic . If you can enrich the soil with nutrients using organic and mineral fertilizers, it is difficult to cope with the accumulation of pests and pathogens.
In this case, mustard is indispensable . The green mass of the plant disinfects and saturates the soil with nutrients. When greening in greenhouses, good results are shown by watercress and oats, which are characterized by high growth rates.
Attention! When using the same “green fertilizer” from year to year, the soil is oversaturated with some substances and lacks others. Green manure must be alternated.
Types of cucumber green manure
There is no one universal green manure plant for cucumbers. Each culture performs its own functions.
Cereals, legumes, and cruciferous crops provide particular benefits to cucumbers:
- mustard – helps destroy slugs and codling moths, inhibits the growth of weeds;
- radish – increases the yield of cucumbers, prevents the development of infectious and fungal diseases;
- oats – saturates the soil with micronutrients;
- legumes (peas, beans, chickpeas) – replenish nitrogen deficiency;
- clover, lupine – increase breathability;
- rapeseed, rapeseed - inhibit the proliferation of weeds.
The choice of industrial crop also depends on the specifics of the soil.
Depleted, nitrogen-deficient soil will be enriched with fodder peas, clover, and lupine. To improve the structure of dense, heavy soils, oats are planted, and for flooded damp areas - any cereal crop. Increases the fertility of sandy soils by planting lupine and phacelia.
How to improve the soil in a greenhouse in the fall with green manure for new plantings
Oilseed radish, calendula, and mustard will help improve the health of soil affected by pests and diseases. Fertilizes the soil, replacing organic matter - phacelia.
To achieve a more effective effect, they practice mixing cultures. Joint planting of oats and peas or a mixture of spring vetch and oats replenish the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, cleanse it of pathogenic microorganisms, turning it into black soil.
Experienced gardeners alternate sowing different crops during the season: in early spring, cruciferous crops are planted for digging, in the summer months legumes are placed between cucumber beds, and winter crops are sown in the fall.
How to properly plant green manure for cucumbers in the fall
Autumn green manure is planted after the harvest is complete , usually from mid-August to mid-September. There are several reasons to sow them in the fall:
- Saving time in spring. There is no need to plant and wait for them to germinate to prepare your beds.
- Green manure plants stay on the site longer, their root system better loosens the soil and additionally saturates it with oxygen.
- Protecting the soil from drying out and frost. Green manure remaining on the surface retains snow and moisture longer.
What nutrients do cucumbers need during growth?
For active growth in spring, cucumbers need nitrogen and phosphorus. A deficiency of one or another substance will prevent the development of the above-ground part or root system. As a result, the harvest will be small and the cucumbers will be irregular in shape.
During flowering and fruit set, potassium and trace elements are consumed in large quantities. By the time of flowering, fertilizers should already be in the soil, so if the gardener uses natural fertilizers, then by this period they should already be in accessible form. Therefore, green manure for cucumbers is sown in autumn or early spring. Such plants are not afraid of frost and manage to germinate and restore the fertile soil layer.
Green fertilizer can be used for foliar feeding. To do this, cut off the above-ground part of the green manure plants, put them in a container, fill them with plain water and wait 12–14 days. The solution is prepared in the proportion of 1 part herb and 2 parts water. Next, you can spray the leaves. This helps to avoid micronutrient and potassium deficiencies. Plant residues are used as organic fertilizer.
Let's sum it up
Green manure is grown to restore and increase soil fertility, improve its structure, and increase the number of beneficial soil microorganisms. Green manure plants are unpretentious, quickly grow green mass, and rot easily.
Autumn green manure is usually carried out on cucumber beds. Useful plants are sown densely throughout the area after harvesting, allowed to grow and left until spring. In the spring, after regrowth, they are mowed down and left to decompose. Then the beds are dug up and cucumbers are planted after 2-3 weeks.
Most often, white mustard, legumes, cereals, and mixtures of these plants are used for cucumbers. Cucumbers have no special requirements for green manure, but after them it is better to prepare the soil for other crops using mustard or vetch-oat mixture.
Which SIDERATS are better? All the SECRETS of proper sowing
Green manure in a greenhouse
In closed ground, maintaining crop rotation is much more difficult than on a plot, even a small one. Usually the most popular vegetable plants - cucumbers and tomatoes - are swapped. The earth is depleted, pathogenic microflora accumulates in it, so they are looking for various ways to enrich the soil. If possible, they try to replace it completely or partially. This expensive and time-consuming procedure is not available to everyone.
A simpler, but no less effective way is to sow green manure in a greenhouse. Legumes - beans, peas, beans - will help restore the fertility of soil depleted by cucumbers. Oilseed radish and white mustard are also good for greenhouses. They can be sown both in autumn and spring.
Oats are used as a cereal . Vico-oat mixture gives excellent results. When two plants are combined, the soil is replenished with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, and the development of nematodes is suppressed. The green mass grows quickly, it is embedded in the soil after 30–40 days, and for better processing it is spilled with a solution of the EM preparation.
on the issue of planting rye as green manure in the fall in a greenhouse . Sown in winter, it continues to grow in spring. Rye perfectly heals the soil in a greenhouse, which is often contaminated with nematodes and fungi. At the same time, it releases substances that inhibit not only weeds , but any other plants.
It has been noticed that cucumbers planted soon after the rye greens have been incorporated into the soil develop much worse than in beds free of green manure. It takes a certain amount of time to wash out harmful rye root exudates from the soil, and in the spring before planting cucumbers it is not enough.
Choose by season
For spring
What green manures are best to sow in spring?
Sowing green manure in the earliest spring is possible for those plants that are not afraid of frost - phacelia, mustard. It is also possible to plant in the spring such green manures as vetch and spring rape, rapeseed and others. Every gardener must decide what to do next with green manure in the spring. Sometimes spring green manure is not removed, but seedlings are planted directly in them, providing them with protection from adverse climatic influences. When the seedlings grow, but certainly before the green manure plants begin to budding, their greenery must be cut off. Before each flowering throughout the summer, green manure is mowed several times.
For summer
Summer cultivation of green manure in the country is suitable for those areas that are not used this season and will not be planted with cultivated plants. In the spring, green manure is sown for the summer, which regrows after mowing: clover, alfalfa and others. During the summer they are mowed several times before each flowering.
in autumn
In the autumn, green manure plants are planted after harvesting vegetable crops; winter green manure is most preferable:
- rape;
- rye;
- oats;
- mustard;
- legume-cereal mixtures;
- phacelia;
- oilseed radish.
Before winter, green manure is planted in mid-November and left in the beds until spring.
Spring rape
You can fertilize an open area of soil intended for growing cucumbers by sowing it with spring rape. This culture is cold-resistant. Its sowing is possible in early spring, immediately after the snow melts in March. In 1 month the plant reaches readiness for mowing. The seeding rate is 200 g/100 m².
Rapeseed is a representative of cruciferous crops. It can be grown on any soil except acidic and wet. Rapeseed especially does not like swampy soil.
The plant quickly grows abundant green mass. Its roots provide soil loosening. Rapeseed enriches garden soil with many useful substances.
These include phosphorus and sulfur in a form that is easily digestible for cucumbers and other garden crops. After mowing and planting, the green biomass rots, saturating the soil with nitrogen.
How and when to plant
Planting green manure can occur in early spring or autumn. If you chose the first option, then you will have to send the seeds into the ground immediately after the snow has melted. After planting, cover the soil with film. This will increase and speed up the germination of plants.
Planting cucumbers is done only after the weather has become warm outside. By this time, green manure should have grown to 10-20 cm. Planting cucumbers can be done directly into green manure. Make a hole and send the seeds. Then fill it up and cover it with a plastic cup until the first sprouts form. As soon as the cucumber shoots become strong, the green manure can be trimmed. They will then act as mulch. It will also be interesting to know when to sow clover as green manure.
On the video - how to plant green manure:
You can cut green manure before planting cucumbers. Then, within 2-3 weeks, mow down the green fertilizers and compact the biomass into the ground. After 2 weeks, the fertilizers will have time to rot and saturate the soil with nitrogen, as well as useful microelements.
Please note that cucumbers are planted early, so it is worth preparing the soil in time. It is better to choose only cold-resistant green manures that are not afraid of cold spring.
Maybe
What not to plant after cucumbers
Having found out what is best to plant in place of cucumbers, one cannot help but wonder what should not be planted after them under any circumstances.
Let us remind you once again that the main “risk group” is related plants. Cucumber belongs to the Pumpkin family, which means that its most undesirable followers on the site will be melons, watermelons, zucchini, and pumpkin .
Pumpkin plants also include more exotic plants, which, nevertheless, are found on our plots, so they should not be planted in the place of a distant relative - these are lagenaria, luffa, melotria.
cabbage after the cucumbers would also be a bad idea . The fact is that this vegetable needs soil of increased fertility, and after the same “voracious” predecessor there are not many valuable nutrients left in it. Cabbage planted in place of a cucumber will not ripen well and will completely deplete the soil, even with abundant fertilizing.
Is it necessary to dig up green manure in the spring?
Experienced agronomists say that burying the green mass of green manure planted in the spring improves the structure of the soil, increases its moisture capacity, water permeability and promotes the activation of microbiological processes. It is recommended to bury green manure for the garden, sown in the spring, in the ground 1-2 weeks before planting the main plants. Green manure crops must be cut or mowed before buds appear on them. If this is not done in time, they will grow a powerful root system, the plant stems will become rough, and the seeds will ripen and scatter throughout the entire dacha area. As a result, instead of benefiting the soil, you will get a new problem - weeds.
Green manure for open ground
In open ground conditions, it is much easier to maintain crop rotation than in a greenhouse. However, green manure restores soil balance at the lowest cost. There is no need to wait several years to repeat planting cucumbers in the garden. This is true for the trellis growing method. Three generations of green manure on one site are equivalent to a one-time application of manure or expensive mineral and organic fertilizers.
Oats, clover, and mustard sown in the rows help fight weeds in an open cucumber bed. By creating shade, these crops protect the soil from overheating in the heat, and on hot days they prevent moisture evaporation. Spring green manure covers cucumbers from the sun and wind until the seedlings get stronger.
Autumn green manure protects the soil from being washed away by precipitation and wind erosion, and keeps snow on the site.
For open beds, cold-resistant crops are recommended as green manure - oilseed radish, spring rape, mustard, phacelia. After early spring sowing, it is advisable to temporarily cover the bed with film to speed up seed germination.
The importance of green fertilizer when growing cucumbers
Green manure has a positive effect on the composition of the soil. They restore it after depletion and improve its structure, enrich it with nutritional compounds (especially nitrogen), increase moisture permeability and reduce the acidity of the soil, and promote the growth of beneficial microflora in it. The thick green mass of green manure protects the soil surface from overheating, suppresses the growth of weeds, but promotes the proliferation of beneficial worms and microorganisms.
The advisability of using green manure for cucumbers is due to the fact that this crop, like others, removes a certain amount of nutrients from the soil, but providing plants with them by applying only mineral fertilizers is problematic.
Organic fertilizers, including green manure, help provide plants with the necessary nutrients at the initial stages of development, and in moderate doses, and not in high concentration, as is the case with mineral mixtures. The effectiveness of this type of organic matter exceeds the effectiveness of manure, increases the yield of cucumbers by 12-17% and improves the quality of the product.
Oilseed radish
Oil radish can be used as a green fertilizer, suitable for both open ground and greenhouses. We are talking about an annual crop, unpretentious and cold-resistant.
Its sowing is possible in the spring, starting in April. The plant takes 1.5 to 2 months to become ready for mowing. The seeding rate is 200 g/100 m².
The culture is moisture-loving and requires watering. When grown, it produces abundant green mass. It has the property of enriching the soil with nitrogen, suppressing the development of weeds and pathogenic microorganisms.
Oilseed radish is sown on the site not only to increase soil fertility, but also to improve its health and curb the development of fungal infections.
