Why cucumbers are soft in the greenhouse and in the garden: what to do

Cucumbers are rightfully considered one of the most popular crops among Russian gardeners, but there are problems when growing them. Cucumbers in the greenhouse often become soft and this makes the taste worse. Such fruits are unsuitable for cooking. Before dealing with this problem, you need to find out the cause of its origin.

Why are greenhouse cucumbers soft?

When growing seedlings in greenhouse conditions, it is difficult to maintain the microclimate that plants like. This is the first reason why the crop grows of poor quality. For a stable harvest, you need to constantly maintain the required level of humidity and temperature.If the greenhouse is too hot or cold, then the ovaries stop forming.

Turgor in cucumbers also decreases due to improperly organized watering. Cucumbers do not like excess moisture in the soil, but its lack also negatively affects plants.

Common causes of fruit softness:

• Close proximity to tomato beds.
• Diseases.
• Lack of nutrients in the soil.
• The bushes are closely planted with each other.
• Lack of sunlight.
• Hot and dry weather.

Many gardeners forget that most "cucumber" diseases appear due to watering beds with cold water from a hose. The first thing to remember when growing seedlings is that watering should only be done with sun-warmed water.

What if cucumbers grow soft?

If cucumbers begin to dry out in the garden, then urgent measures must be taken so as not to lose the entire crop.

How to deal with a problem in a greenhouse:

• Water the cucumber beds with a decoction of onion peel. To do this, you need a small bag of husks and 5 liters of water. Pour the husk with water and bring to a boil over low heat. Wait until the broth cools down and strain it. Water the beds with warm broth.

• If possible, then planting tomatoes next to cucumbers is not worth it. Tomatoes prefer dry air, unlike cucumbers. But if this is not possible, then they do "shading". The essence of this method is that the roof and walls of the greenhouse are painted with whitewash. This measure lowers the air temperature in the greenhouse.
• Small-drop sprayers are placed on the beds. They turn on several times a day.
• The windows in the greenhouse are periodically opened to ventilate the room.

• Fungal diseases often provoke a decrease in fruit turgor. If a fungus has appeared in the greenhouse, it is urgently disinfected. At the initial stage, you need to make a solution of copper sulfate, chalk and wood ash (1 tsp of vitriol, 3 tbsp each of ash and chalk). Dilute the mixture in 1 liter of water. The resulting solution is treated with all the lesions of fungi, and the plants themselves are sprinkled with dry lime.

Growing cucumbers in a greenhouse, you need to carefully monitor every little thing so that the yield is at its best, and the cucumbers are tasty and crunchy.

Why do soft cucumbers grow in the garden?

Soft cucumbers often appear on the beds.Most often this happens if the plants are in the sun all the time, especially if there is a heat for a long time. Due to the high temperature, the cucumbers begin to wither and become soft. Therefore, you need to choose a place for planting seedlings in such a way that in the evening or in the morning the plants are in the shade, and not all the time under open sunlight.

The bushes are regularly inspected to exclude the possibility of diseases. This is the second reason, after improper watering, which spoils the entire crop. If the leaves begin to dry out, spots appear on them, and the ovaries have ceased to form, then the plants are treated with chemicals. This will help get rid of diseases in a few days.

What diseases can be?

Cucumbers are getting soft due to crop diseases.

Diseases of cucumbers:

• If the cucumber flesh has become soft, then the cause may be hiding in the infection with root rot.Root rot is characterized by yellowing of leaves, reduced yields and wilting of fruits. Rot occurs due to overdrying of the soil, excessive moisture in the beds and overheated soil.

• If prickly cucumbers have become soft, then powdery mildew may have become the culprit. Sour kefir will help to cope with the disease. Dilute a package of kefir in 1 liter of water and pour the bushes with the resulting liquid. Whey is used instead of kefir.
• Fusarium wilt of the bush contributes to the appearance of soft fruits. In order to cope with the disease, you need to prepare garlic infusion. To do this, finely chop 100 g of garlic cloves and pour 1 liter of water. Infuse for a day, then strain. Before spraying plants, dilute in 9 liters of warm water. Cucumbers are sprinkled with garlic infusion every 2 days.

Combat crop diseases immediately. If fungi appeared on the site, then it is easiest to deal with them at the initial stage, when they did not have time to form their colonies and not destroy the entire crop in the summer cottage.

Features of cultivation

In order to avoid a decrease in turgor in cucumbers, you need to adhere to the rules of agricultural technology.

How to grow cucumbers in a greenhouse:

• The bush is formed into one stem and tied to a support so that the fruits do not lie on the ground.
• Pinching helps limit branching and vegetative growth.
• Hives should be placed in the greenhouse so that the bees can pollinate the inflorescences naturally.
• If the soil in the area is rough, it must be loosened before watering.
• Irrigation is carried out only with warm water in the evening.

When cultivating seedlings in greenhouses, the soil is regularly updated. If this is not done, then over time it accumulates less and less nutrients.And their lack leads to a deterioration in the yield. Saving on cover material for greenhouses is fraught with the fact that it will be cold in them and cucumbers will not be able to grow normally.

Another condition that is desirable to comply with is the introduction of top dressing. The first dressing is applied before planting seedlings in a permanent place. Then during flowering and fruiting. Depending on the condition of the bushes, the amount of fertilizer applied to the soil varies.

Recommended