How to cover cucumbers from the cold in the open field: what to do, protect, help

The desire to get a crop faster sometimes turns sideways for a summer resident. Due to the vagaries of the weather, a hasty gardener often does not know how to shelter cucumbers from the cold in the open field. Delay in the upcoming frosts at night threatens with a complete loss of the crop.

Temperature conditions

Each garden crop has temperature thresholds, in violation of which the plant stops growing, can get sick and die. The summer resident needs to know at what air temperature of a heat-loving cucumber problems can begin, and the vegetable does not grow.

The table shows temperature thresholds (air, soil) and related problems:

Yield drops, plantings suffer from powdery mildewAt night temperatures below 8 °C more than 5 daysCucumber seedlings may dieBelow 12 °CCucumber seeds germinate poorly, seedlings stop growing, yellowed leaves appear6 - 8°C for 1 nightNo consequencesDaytime from 23°C, nighttime from 15°C

Air temperature	Soil temperature	Problem
Mean daily temperature below 15°C
Above 15°C	Seeds sprout within a week, seedlings are actively growing

Waiting for frosts

In spring, the problem of night frosts is especially relevant for summer residents who live in the city all week. All garden work must be done over the weekend and make sure that the cucumbers do not freeze.

Cucumbers in a greenhouse are easier to protect from freezing. If there is electricity in the greenhouse, you can put an electric heat gun. If not available, use other fuels and install frost protection:

• gas heater;
• diesel air heater;
• wood-burning stove for greenhouses.

Protecting cucumbers in the open field is more difficult. When planting cucumbers in the garden early with seeds or seedlings, it is worth equipping not ordinary ridges on the ground, but warm ridges that have recently been fashionable or easier to build - dung.

Dung Patch

Dung ridge in cold weather will provide not only heat, but also the nutrients necessary for growth. It must be done wisely. In the garden in the phase of its active burning, young plants can be destroyed.

You need to build a ridge of manure 2 weeks before sowing seeds. Manure needs to be folded into a high ridge, shed. To make it burn faster, you can cover the structure with cellophane.

When the ridge is working, it will be visible from the steam coming from it. After 2 days of active burning, seeds can be planted in holes filled with earth. The thickness of the soil should be at least 30 cm. As long as there is a threat of low temperatures, cover young shoots with a film or spunbond so that they do not freeze. Cucumber whips grown on manure rarely suffer from diseases.

Warm ridge

Warm ridge - an analogue of manure, only as a biofuel can act:

• food waste;
• leaves;
• branches;
• grass;
• tops.

Seedlings of cucumbers on an organic pillow, covered with a film on top, are not subject to frost. The effect of the design made is observed in a rainy summer. Organics overheat, release the necessary heat and nutrition for growth.

Decoratively decorated warm ridge will facilitate the care of cucumbers and at the same time decorate the summer cottage.

Warm bed advantage:

• convenient to fix arcs and covering material;
• the soil warms up much faster, so seeds can be sown earlier;
• less weeds;
• drainage in the form of large branches eliminates water stagnation, promotes the development of the root system;
• decaying organic matter heats up the soil at night, which stimulates night growth.

Arcs plus covering material

Cheap kits for summer residents, complete with plastic arcs and covering material, can protect cucumber lashes in cold weather, not only in a greenhouse.

By installing them in the spring over the holes, the gardener copes with the task of how to protect cucumbers during the May frosts. Saves seedlings from freezing dense covering material.

How can cucumbers hide from the cold in the open ground arcs and covering material, gardeners share on forums and in their videos. Their advice can help many save heat-loving plants.

You need to buy white spunbond to shelter plants from spring cold snaps. Optimum density of nonwoven material is 23 g/sq. m. Such strength is enough to protect from the cold and withstand the pressure of the wind.

Saving cucumbers

If you are unlucky and the frosts grabbed the cucumber leaves, you need to reanimate them. For such a case, each summer resident should have "Epin". A drug that will help if cucumbers:

• froze;
• the leaves turned yellow for some reason;
• which day it is raining and noticeably colder;
• attacked by aphids or other pests.

How to help cucumbers with Epin is indicated in the instructions. A single treatment restores the immunity of the plant. The main thing is not to use fertilizers for two weeks until the plant itself leaves. Be sure to buy a growth biostimulant.

Help the cucumbers with any popular remedy:

• Zircon;
• Narcissus;
• Charm;
• Silk.

With the help of these products, harmless to people and vegetables, you will quickly restore cucumber lashes. It is important that during processing the solution gets on most of the leaves.

Most vegetable growers face yellowing leaves. Experienced gardeners know how to feed cucumbers during an illness, how to save lashes from rot and pests.

Fertilizers

Long summer cooling is bad for cucumbers. The tips on the leaves brighten, the formation of ovaries slows down. In this case, they are fed with a solution of carbamide or urea.

The solution is prepared right before use. Bred 1 tbsp. l. drug in 10 liters of distilled water. The weather during processing should be dry, cloudy.

Reanimate this way several times. The interval between dressings is 3 days. When the leaves turn dark green, the rescue of cucumbers can be stopped.

Simple folk ways

For beginner vegetable growers, it will be interesting to learn how to care for cucumbers using simple folk methods. Did you know that the temperature will be below zero at night? What to do if there is no covering material at hand and time to build a shelter?

Pick herbs or branches, you can take straw and throw it on young cucumbers, and lower those that are higher and tied to the trellis. A layer of mulch will keep you warm. Remove it in the morning, but do not remove it from the ridge. It is needed for further care, will help retain moisture in the soil and will not allow the soil to freeze.

If somewhere in the barn there is an unnecessary roll of roofing material, you can use it. Build bags to shelter young cucumber seedlings. They will need to be removed in the morning, and at night they will serve as excellent protection against a slight sub-zero temperature.

You can help the plant during a period of prolonged bad weather with boric acid. Dilute a sachet of powder (5 g) in hot water and pour into 10 liters of water. Cucumbers can be sprayed with this solution after sunset.

This treatment will protect cucumber plantings from diseases that occur in bad weather:

• bacteriosis;
• powdery mildew;
• root rot.

Choice variety

Thinking about how to grow cucumbers in the open field is not necessary in spring, when it is time to sow seeds, but in autumn or winter. To do this, the summer resident needs:

1. In autumn, prepare a place for planting. Build a warm bed or greenhouse for early production.
2. Before spring, purchase covering material of the right size and density. For weather protection, a 35 micron spunbond is suitable.
3. Select cucumber seeds with characteristics that are suitable for the climate.

You can choose from the ten most popular, bred specifically for open ground:

1. April F1 - cold-resistant, mid-season, fruits are not small, used for making light salads.
2. Masha F1 is the queen of the market. This variety is loved to be grown for sale because of its precocity, good taste and excellent immunity. The fruits are tuberculate, good in marinades.
3. Zozulya F1 is a cold hardy, early ripening hybrid that gives good yields in the exhaust gas and protected ground.
4. Spring F1 - a hybrid has long been used by summer residents of different climatic zones. The variety is cold-resistant, fruitful, rarely gets sick, good in harvesting.

These varieties can be recommended to beginner growers. Having mastered the technology of growing cucumbers with seeds in the OG, you can expand the collection and study the methods of crop propagation through seedlings.

Conclusion

Using modern biopreparations and fertilizers, we grow cucumbers in any weather. Covering material, plastic arcs, PVC film will help to cope with spring cold snaps and summer bad weather.

Recommended