Cucumber seedlings stretched out: what to do, how to plant

In regions with a cold climate, it is impossible to plant cucumbers directly into the ground. The only way to grow vegetable plants is seedlings. And here it is important that the seedlings of cucumbers do not stretch out, otherwise the seedlings will die when planted in the ground, and the work will be in vain.

How to properly plant cucumber seedlings

Planting cucumbers for seedlings begins a month before moving it to the soil of a greenhouse or garden.

Before the procedure, seeds are prepared in the form:

rejection of material with quality selection;
disinfection with a solution of potassium permanganate;
bubbling;
germination with placement in a damp cloth or layers of toilet paper;
hardening.

For better germination, take seeds that are two or three years old. The quality of seeds decreases with each year of storage. Sorting seeds, select larger ones. Then the seeds are dipped in s alted water. Those that sink to the bottom will give strong shoots. Those that pop up are thrown away - they are hollow.

Barbotage is chosen when they want the cucumbers to sprout quickly. To do this, an aquarium processor is placed in water with seeds, which saturates the humid environment with oxygen. It is enough to keep the planting material in the container for 18 hours.

Disinfect the seeds with a one percent solution of potassium permanganate for thirty minutes or an hour in a jar of garlic pulp.

Seeds should be germinated at room temperature in a humid environment.

Hardening procedures are carried out only when planting is carried out immediately in open ground or a greenhouse.

Now prepared cucumber seeds are ready for planting. First you need to place the soil substrate from humus and peat, taken in equal amounts, and a small amount of sand and soddy soil in a glass or pot. A week before placing the seeds of cucumbers in the ground, it is spilled with boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate. This will allow you not to be afraid of plant infection with pathogenic microorganisms.

It is not worth deepening the seeds of a vegetable plant. It is enough to place them inside the soil one and a half to two centimeters.

When growing, follow:

room air temperature;
illuminance;
wetness of the earth in a pot.

If at first, cucumber seedlings need warmth and humidity, then the temperature is reduced. The stems will be thinner if there is not enough light.

Why cucumber seedlings are stretched

Weak cucumber seedlings happen for a number of reasons:

Cucumbers don't like shading. They need a lot of light. Even on the windowsill, the shoots are stretching, which indicates that they need additional highlighting.
Without observing the temperature regime, cucumber seedlings will not be strong. In the early days, before germination, the temperature is high, and then it is reduced. By stretching, the stems signal that they are hot.
The stalks of cucumbers stretch strongly upwards and with excessive waterlogging of the soil.
Those who use the seedling method must know how to plant cucumbers. The distance between plants should not be very close, otherwise the seedlings will not have enough food and light. With dense plantings, it is clear why the seedlings of cucumbers are strongly extended.
Diligent gardeners try to stuff seedlings with fertilizer and get elongated seedlings of cucumbers.

The reason that vegetable seedlings have weak and long stems is ignorance of the rules of vegetable farming. And what to do if the seedlings of cucumbers are very stretched out, you can get advice from experienced specialists. This is Oktyabrina Ganichkina, who will help novice gardeners grow cucumbers in seedlings.

How to grow cucumber seedlings so that they do not stretch out

So that the seedlings do not stretch out when they are indoors, it is necessary:

reduce air temperature to 16-18 degrees Celsius;
put seedling boxes in well-lit windows;
add fluorescent lamps to increase illumination;
arrange seedlings spraying with excessively dry air;
plant the seeds in separate cups or pots, two or three each;
water seedlings only with warm water, not lower than 25 degrees;
sprinkle soil regularly in the container to stimulate the growth of the root system;
organize top dressing with wood ash infusion or potash fertilizers.

If you know how to plant the seeds correctly and take care of the seedlings competently, then there will be no problem why the seedlings of cucumbers are very long and what to do about it.

What to do if cucumber seedlings are stretched out

Overgrown seedlings of cucumbers - this is not a reason for frustration. We need to think about how to fix the situation so that the seedlings become strong.

Elongated stalks of seedlings can be carefully placed in a recess that you make in the ground. Sprinkled with earth, they will take root after a while.

Save from pulling seedlings transfer of containers to a well-lit place. Additional lighting is organized with fitolamps, installing them on top five to seven centimeters from cucumber seedlings. Boxes with elongated seedlings are put on the loggia for a day, bringing them into the room in the evening. It is important that the air temperature is not lower than 12 degrees Celsius.

Elongated seedlings require a change in watering. Switching from cold water to warm water will allow you to make adjustments to the growth of the stems of a vegetable plant. It will stop stretching.

Tight stems lack nutrition, hence the long seedlings. It is necessary to correct the situation quickly, otherwise the seedlings will die. To do this, transplant them into separate cups. Since picking is painful for cucumbers, the procedure is carried out carefully. Carefully pull the stem along with the root from the container, supporting it, and place it in a pot, sprinkled with nutrient soil. Do not forget about watering, abundantly moistening the soil. The seedling will take root only after a few days. But now it won't stretch.

Seedlings will stop growing if you pinch the stem over the second true leaf.

An elongated plant will gain immunity if you feed it with a solution of wood ash, taking a tablespoon of fertilizer in one glass of water.

When cucumber seedlings lack nutrition, moisture, light, they will become overgrown and it will be more difficult to transplant them into the ground.

Is it possible to plant overgrown cucumbers in the garden and how to do it

With the strongest elongation of the stem on cucumber seedlings, they are transferred to the ground differently than strong seedlings.

Best of all, if the cucumber stems are stretched out, continue their development in greenhouse soil. Three to four days before planting, the containers are transferred to the greenhouse. But the temperature for cucumbers, both in the air and in the soil, should be comfortable. From plus twenty to plus fifteen degrees respectively. Seedlings of cucumbers in the greenhouse should be covered from the burning rays of the sun. As soon as the plants adapt to greenhouse conditions, they begin to transplant them into prepared beds.

Prepare holes in the ridges, placing them at a distance of thirty to fifty centimeters from each other. It is not recommended to increase the planting density, otherwise the planted seedlings will outgrow, weaken and die.

It is known what to do in a greenhouse with stretched seedlings. It must be dried before planting, and then carefully pulled out of the cup along with the root. Having twisted a ring from a long stem, lay it in the hole. After the seedlings are deepened, they are sprinkled around the stem with earth, carefully tamping it down.

Mulch is laid in layers around the planted bushes to retain moisture in the soil. You can replace it with black film.

It is clear what to do when the seedlings of cucumbers stretched out. But if flowers appear on it, then they are cut off. Planted with buds, she will die. Thin, she does not have so much strength to withstand the fruiting of the bushes. Most often, elongated seedlings drop flowers themselves. Seedlings need to gain strength after transplantation, get stronger in order to give a crop of greens a little later.