Do I need to mulch cucumbers? How and with what to mulch cucumbers in a greenhouse and open ground. Mulching materials and their application. Types of mulching

Mulching cucumbers in a greenhouse is an agrotechnical technique, thanks to which in the future you can get excellent fruiting and healthy plantings. Thanks to the fact that mulch is used for cucumbers, their care is greatly simplified, regardless of whether the cucumbers are grown in a greenhouse or in open ground.

The positive aspects of mulching

Among the key positive aspects of using mulch for garden crops are the following:

Thanks to mulch material, plants are reliably protected from unfavorable climatic conditions, from sudden low temperatures, which negatively affect the growth and development of heat-loving garden crops.
The quality and quantity of the harvest increases significantly. On those plantations where mulch is used, productivity increases several times. This has been proven by research and by vegetable growers themselves.
The need to irrigate plants is significantly reduced, since mulch covers the top layer of soil and the root system, thereby retaining moisture near the roots. This material also protects from direct sunlight on roots that are too close to the soil surface. So, cucumber bushes should not be moistened so often and not so abundantly.
Thanks to mulching, weed activity is suppressed.
There is no need to hill up the plantings. When using organic material, the soil becomes more saturated with air, earthworms begin to actively reproduce in it, loosening the soil, providing air access to the root system.
After laying mulch, the soil does not suffer from weathering or leaching of positive mineral elements, which are necessary for the active development of crops. Thanks to this, there is no need to frequently fertilize the plantings.
It is no longer necessary to loosen the soil so often; mulching reduces trauma to the root system located too close to the soil surface.

And another significant advantage is that the ripening fruits end up on a clean layer of organic material, as a result of which they are clean and do not begin to rot.

What is used for mulching

In order to mulch cucumbers, it is necessary to use various coatings. They can be inorganic - non-woven products, synthetic materials, or organic - peat, compost, straw, sawdust. Experienced vegetable growers often use materials such as lutrasil, a perforated film material.

It is not recommended to use grass that has just been mowed, since it can cause the development of putrefactive processes in the soil and, accordingly, in the bushes of the crop itself.

In addition, various pests, such as slugs, are often found in freshly cut grass.

According to experienced agronomists, the use of such materials for growing garden crops in a greenhouse or open ground is mandatory. They recommend using materials such as straw, hay, compost, and dry leaves. When using lutrasil or black film, seedlings are planted directly in the slots, which are made after the film is stretched over the selected area.

Despite the advantages, this method of mulching threatens severe overheating on hot days, so it is recommended to additionally shade the plants. Or, when the days are too hot, it is better to remove the covering altogether, or put a white transparent film on top.

Application of polyethylene

This method is an alternative way to create mulch in garden beds. In this case, transparent polyethylene film is used, which is not needed for housework. When using this option, the seed material is planted in the soil, then the soil is covered with transparent light polyethylene; the layer should not be too dense.

After the first young sprouts appear, there is no need to remove the covering material; it is enough just to make cross-shaped slits in the material itself, where the active growth of the plantings begins. The use of such material is advisable when growing garden crops in a greenhouse.

When creating such a unique greenhouse, excellent germination occurs not only of cucumber crops, but also of other plantings. The growth and activity of weeds is inhibited by film cover.

Cucumber bushes will thrive in such conditions, since they love high temperatures, high humidity and lack of loosening (which often injures the delicate roots, which are often too close to the soil surface).

Features of mulching

It is recommended to lay mulch material immediately when the first young shoots appear or after ready-made cucumber seedlings have been planted. It is recommended to periodically add a new layer of mulch and update it throughout the growing season.

Before covering the soil with mulch material, all weeds should be completely removed. Such measures are especially important when growing plants in a greenhouse.

If organic mulch materials are used when growing crops in open ground, they do not need to be removed; they simply rot before the end of the growing season. And if they are used when growing in a greenhouse, they must be removed.

Thanks to the use of mulch, future yields are significantly increased.

Growing cucumbers in open ground is the most affordable way for most gardeners, since installing and maintaining a greenhouse requires a lot of money, time and, of course, skills.

Mulching is an agricultural technique that gives good results for a wide variety of garden plants. Using it on cucumbers can significantly simplify their care in open ground.

How to mulch cucumbers

The procedure, firstly, provides protection against temperature fluctuations, which has a particularly bad effect on heat-loving cucumbers. Secondly, fruiting increases significantly (almost 2 times). Thirdly, mulching reduces the vegetable crop's need for water, since the covered soil is less exposed to the drying effects of wind and direct sunlight, and, accordingly, consumes less moisture. Fourthly, the presence of mulch reduces the growth of weeds. In the case of cucumbers, you do not need to use wire to develop the vines. In addition, there is no hilling after the procedure. Mulch makes the soil, especially in a greenhouse, more breathable, which, in turn, helps to increase the number of earthworms and other microorganisms. As a result, plant roots can breathe easier without additional loosening, which injures the root system. Also, nutrients that contribute to plant development are not washed out or eroded from the soil. Accordingly, cucumbers need to be “fed” with mineral fertilizers much less often. And finally, the emerging cucumbers do not lie on the ground, but on a layer of mulch and remain clean, which means they spoil less.

When mulching cucumbers, adhere to the following recommendations:

Mulch is not left on the beds all year round. The soil is given the opportunity to rest. In the fall, after harvesting, the mulch is removed.
Mulch the soil only when it warms up.
When using colored inorganic mulch, be sure to take into account what color the cucumbers prefer.
Cucumbers prefer acidic soil. Peat, pine needles, sawdust, and wood chips are suitable as mulch on alkaline soils.

For cucumbers, manure with straw, hay, compost and fallen leaves are chosen as covering materials. Cardboard and paper are rarely used to prevent rotting. Note that you should not use freshly cut grass, because it can provoke the development of various rots, and such grass often contains a lot of slugs.

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When and how to mulch cucumbers in open ground

For mulching cucumbers in open ground, the spring season is considered optimal. The main purpose of spring mulching of warmed soil is to protect the plant from overheating and drying out, that is, after the end of the cold season, you need to wait a little for the soil to warm up.

You should start mulching immediately after emergence or planting of seedlings. A layer of organic mulch can and should be added throughout the season. The more bacteria there are in the soil, the faster they process the lower edge of organic matter - the more fertile the soil becomes.

Before mulching cucumbers, it is necessary to carefully remove all weeds that have already grown. Otherwise, they will also be protected by mulch, and it will be very inconvenient to weed them out.

The mulch layer, if possible, should not come into contact with the stems of cucumber sprouts, especially at an early age. This can cause damage, and even blackleg disease.
Organic mulching of cucumbers in open ground

Useful properties and disadvantages of each type of mulch for cucumbers:

Mulching with sawdust and tree bark repels slugs. When sawdust and bark rot, nitrogen is released. The required layer is 3-5 cm. Apply in the first half of summer, when the weather is hot. During the rainy season, it is saturated with moisture, which does not evaporate for a long time. It is better to use coarse wood chips.
Straw repels slugs, retains heat and protects against frost. Reduces nitrogen content in the soil. The required layer is 10-15 cm. Apply in the first half of summer, when the weather is hot. During the rainy season, it is saturated with moisture, which does not evaporate for a long time.
Peat saturates the soil with useful substances, prevents the development of pathogenic microflora, and retains moisture. Cover the soil with a layer of 5-7 cm. They are not removed from the beds for the winter, they are left as fertilizer.
Needles and cones contain few nutrients, have virtually no effect on soil fertility, but have an antibacterial effect. Only rotted pine and larch needles are used. Lay in a layer of 3 cm.
Fallen leaves protect against temperature changes and retain heat. Use only in hot weather. When it rains, the foliage rots, which leads to diseases of the cucumbers.
Manure is often used with straw in a 1:1 ratio. It is not used in its pure form. For cucumbers, they are used only in cold climates and heavy rains. In the South, manure is not used as mulch for cucumbers.
Compost has a neutral reaction, saturates the soil with humus, and contains many beneficial bacteria. Lay a layer of 5 cm. They are not removed from the beds for the winter, they are left as fertilizer. Rotted compost is the most valuable organic fertilizer, because it does not contain weed seeds. Pig manure and bird droppings are not used as mulch.

Inorganic mulching of cucumbers in open ground

Inorganic mulching successfully copes with protective functions if they are not related to plant nutrition. The inorganics used could be roughly classified as follows:

black (sometimes colored) film and textile materials, as well as paper and cardboard;
stones (crushed stone, gravel, pebbles, etc.);
expanded clay

The last two types have decorative and applied significance, since they can perfectly decorate a garden or landscape composition, but can also interfere with periodically necessary earthworks associated with cultivating the soil for growing garden and vegetable crops. Expanded clay also has a weak structure and is subject to decay into smaller and smaller particles over time.

The root system of cucumbers is located close to the surface and it is very important for it that the top layer of soil does not dry out. Black film mulch helps out by retaining moisture and the required temperature conditions. Mulching with black film reduces soil temperature by 2 - 4 C. There is another advantage of such mulching: suppression of weeds that cannot develop without light. This is precisely what will not be achieved if the mulching film is transparent. The weeds underneath will, unfortunately, feel luxurious! Therefore, black film is the best option.

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The film can not be removed until the end of the growing season. Mulching film protects plants from frost. To obtain a high yield of cucumbers, it is necessary to properly provide the plants with nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) throughout the growing season.

Black perforated film and lutrasil have proven themselves well. When using such mulch, cucumber seedlings are planted in slits in the material. However, such mulch also has a drawback - it gets very hot in the heat. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to cover the dark material with light material on top. This mulch protects against weeds and prevents fruits from lying on the ground. Transparent polyethylene is also suitable for mulching cucumber plantings. The crops are simply covered with material, and when shoots appear, slits are made in it. True, not only cucumbers, but also weeds grow well in such a greenhouse. But there is no need to weed them out; over time, they die off on their own. Black agrofibre has even more advantages than black film. The material breathes and allows water to pass through. The only downside to inorganic mulching is that it is more expensive compared to organic mulching.

Mulching the soil, especially in rows, together with drip irrigation makes it possible to save half of the water, create favorable conditions for the growth of roots, stems and shoots, reduce weediness in crops, avoid soil compaction and, thereby, significantly increase the yield.

Mulching helps to significantly reduce your own efforts in growing cucumbers in open ground, forget about weeding, frequent watering and loosening, but still get a rich and healthy harvest.

Mulching is a process of caring for agricultural crops that allows you to achieve high yields and make the work of the summer resident easier. Allows you to ease the work of summer residents in growing various crops, thereby freeing up time for rest. In addition, the use of organic mulch compositions improves soil quality and increases harvest yields.

Features of mulching in a greenhouse

The mulching process is not a very common procedure for agrotechnical influence on crops by ordinary summer residents. Not all amateur gardeners know about such a useful procedure as mulching. For the most part, they are accustomed to destroying all organic products that the earth produces. But this is a serious misconception, since the earth without these additives turns into concrete. Accordingly, in order to somehow make the soil fertile, gardeners have to moisten and harrow it for long hours. And annual two-season digging in such a situation is an urgent need.

In addition, every piece of land free from crops will sooner or later be overgrown with weeds, accordingly, it must be weeded regularly. Any uncovered piece of soil will harden after the next watering, and this leads to the need for loosening. And in addition, moisture from the same unmulched lands evaporates much faster, which means that watering should be done much more often.

And a very useful discovery in gardening and horticulture was the procedure of mulching. It can greatly simplify all these unpleasant operations for processing almost all country crops. Mulching allows you to free up time for more relevant and useful things in the summer. It is only necessary to carry out mulching once a season, which allows you to enrich the soil with useful substances and thereby increase the yield and its quality.

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The meaning of mulching

Mulching, with minimal costs, significantly reduces the hassle of weeding, watering, harrowing, and digging, and the yield increases many times over.

The mulching process allows you to:

reduce watering and loosening. Mulch helps retain moisture in the soil and prevent the top layer of soil from hardening;
stop constantly digging up the earth. This action is replaced by loosening the beds with a flat cutter. The soil under the mulch does not harden. Digging up the soil when mulching becomes not only an unnecessary task, but even harmful. Since sticking a cutting into the ground can destroy the integrity of the soil, killing beneficial microorganisms. In addition, the likelihood of regular weeding is reduced, since seeds and weed roots from the lower layers of the soil do not reach the upper layers;
with a thick layer of mulch and preliminary thorough weeding, the risk of overgrowing the land with weeds is reduced to zero;
the use of organic mulch compositions (hay, straw, ground bark) significantly increases soil fertility. And this leads to saving money and time on fertilizers;
indicators increase many times over using mulching;
the ripening period of cucumbers decreases by an average of 10 days;
mulch eliminates the risk of weathering and leaching of mineral fertilizers, while cucumbers feed more intensively;
mulch has a beneficial effect on the penetration of oxygen directly to the root system, and also promotes the appearance of microorganisms and earthworms necessary for the soil;
ripening and growing cucumbers are located on a mulched layer, while remaining clean. In such a situation, the option of rotting and damage is excluded;
mulch helps preserve the necessary. Maintains balance during temperature changes.

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Timing and methods of mulching

The soil should be mulched in the first half of summer. At that moment when the earth warmed up well. However, the soil should be thoroughly loosened. It is necessary to completely get rid of weeds. Next, a layer of mulch is distributed over the prepared soil. Do not skimp on the thickness of the mulch (minimum - 5 cm). It is worth knowing that the mulch should not reach the stem or trunk of the cucumbers.

The mulch distributed in this way will rot by September (recycled by an earthworm). If bark elements remain on the surface (it requires more time to process), then there is no need to remove it.

Cleaning mulch in greenhouses and greenhouses becomes more difficult. Since there are a number of nuances when preparing soil in a greenhouse:

first of all, the top layer of soil is removed;
The beds are processed using biological fuel.

As a result, when harvesting, it is necessary to remove both the top layer of soil and the layer of mulch. If during the growth of cucumbers, neither they nor the soil were exposed to diseases, then it is quite possible to reuse these layers.

Cucumbers, unlike other crops, are not so capricious, so all existing coatings are suitable for them. Synthetic film, nonwoven materials, peat, sawdust, and chaff will also come in handy. But there is still an exception - freshly cut grass. It promotes the formation of rot on cucumbers and the proliferation of slugs.

But the most outstanding option in terms of impact on yield is black perforated film. To do this, even before planting the cucumbers, a film is spread on the previously prepared soil in the greenhouse. Holes are made in the film. It is in these holes that the seedlings are planted. This mulching method has one drawback - the black color. It is this color that, in the scorching sun, contributes to overheating of the earth.

The way out of this situation can be either removing the black film during the heat, or laying white material on top of it.

The option of using transparent polyethylene is quite effective, but not yet so widespread. Thus, the remaining film from last year’s greenhouse cover can be used as a mulch layer. Cucumber seeds must be planted in greenhouse beds. Next, they must be immediately covered with ordinary film, which should not be placed close to the ground. As soon as the cucumbers have sprouted, the film is not removed, but holes are carefully made in it at the site of the shoots. Of course, in such conditions, weed growth is ensured at the highest rate.

However, in this case, weeding is not necessary, since the grass will not be knocked out onto the surface, which will reduce its efforts to death and debate. And this, in turn, will provide additional nutrition for the cucumbers. In such an atmosphere, the root system of cucumbers develops well, which means that the appearance of barren flowers on cucumbers is excluded. In addition, minimal and extremely rare watering is required.

When using an organic composition, under no circumstances should the mulch touch the cucumber stems. It is during the seedling and growth stage that this should be observed. Otherwise, there is a high probability of developing a disease such as black leg in the cucumber crop. It is extremely difficult to get rid of it. The diseased stem will have to be removed, and accordingly the yield will be reduced.

The mulching layer should be replenished throughout the entire season. It should be noted that the appearance and reproduction of microorganisms in the soil leads to increased processing of the lower organic layer. This means that the land becomes much richer and more fertile.

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Mulch compositions

The choice of ingredients for mulching should be based on the needs of the land where you plan to grow cucumbers. If the soil is rich in organic fertilizers, then you can completely do without them. But in the opposite situation, you will have to introduce organic components into the mulch.

Among the components of the mulch layer can be: sawdust, leaves, straw, seed husks, pine needles, compost, tree bark, reeds.

If it is impossible to carry out mulching for a given season, you can stock up on the necessary ingredients, constantly accumulating them. And next year, having prepared the soil, carefully distribute the mulch throughout the greenhouse, on the ridges, among the bushes and trees. 3 cm of mulch will significantly ease the work of the summer resident.

It should be clarified that for the soil in a greenhouse or greenhouse, the best mulching composition is compost, straw, and dry leaves.

Good afternoon I heard that you can artificially maintain the desired level of humidity when growing vegetables in a greenhouse. I am a beginner gardener; last year I planted cucumber seedlings for the first time. I was tired of pulling the weeds, and there was also something wrong with the watering, the soil kept drying out. Apparently, the cucumbers clearly did not have enough moisture, although they watered them often. On the other hand, I’m also afraid to fill it. I heard that mulching can help. This is true? And if so, what is the best mulch for cucumbers?

Indeed, cucumbers are a very capricious crop. They are particularly demanding in terms of humidity, heat, and fertilizing. As for mulch for cucumbers, its use helps solve a whole range of problems. It prevents moisture from evaporating, protects the soil from weeds, and prevents the occurrence of unpleasant diseases such as root rot or blackleg.

In the greenhouse you can use peat, old humus, sunflower husks or pine nut shells. These additives will not only protect the soil, but also nourish the seedlings.

Mulching with straw or freshly cut grass is not recommended. This backfill is good for potato beds; in a cucumber greenhouse, grass will contribute to the proliferation of insect pests. In addition, a damp herbal environment causes root rot, which is detrimental to cucumbers.

You can start mulching immediately after germination or transplantation of seedlings into the greenhouse. Peat or other material is distributed over the soil in a thin but dense layer. The entire space between the plants is filled. It is important to ensure that the mulch does not come into contact with the stems. Before backfilling, all weeds must be removed.

During the season, organic mulch is added several times; it successfully replaces mineral fertilizers. You can water the plants at the roots or by sprinkling, thoroughly soaking the entire soil. This type of moisture allows nutrients to penetrate the soil, nourishing the roots of the cucumbers.

An alternative could be mulching with covering material. The simplest and most affordable option is thick polyethylene film, preferably opaque.

It is convenient to use in open beds. Cover the ground with film or breathable non-woven material before sowing seeds, further warming the beds. After planting the cucumbers, holes are cut around the plants through which watering is carried out. The film reliably covers the soil, protecting cucumbers from night cold, pests and weeds. You can water the plants much less frequently; this is especially convenient for people who do not have the opportunity to care for their plantings every day.