The chaotic growth of cucumber bushes on the beds can reduce the yield of these capricious vegetables. We will talk about how the formation of cucumbers can correct the situation and radically improve the condition of each cucumber bush.

Do I need to form cucumbers

Experienced growers have little to do with the question of whether to form cucumber bushes. Even in those cases when cultivating the culture in the open air theoretically permits to do without formation, practice often makes its own adjustments, forcing it to resort to cutting and garter of cucumber lashes.

However, especially the formation of cucumber bushes is relevant for varieties growing in greenhouses.It is necessary for several reasons:

1. Since cucumbers have a rather weak root system, excessive branching of the bush and excessive formation of ovaries, resulting in the absence of the formation of bushes, can bleed a plant, the yield on which will be insignificant and consist of defective and tasteless fruits.
2. The abundant green mass of the plant, not subject to formation, leads to excessive thickening and entanglement of the lashes, which complicates the access of fresh air and sunlight and leads to a noticeable deterioration in the quality of cucumber fruits.
3. The great thickening of the unformed green mass makes it difficult for the insects to access the flowers, preventing full pollination.
4. The previous factor also provokes the rapid spread of infection throughout the green mass if it appears on the plant, which can lead to a complete loss of the entire crop.
5. Pruning and garter of the cucumber bush is also useful by significantly facilitating procedures such as watering, top dressing, weeding and loosening.

Did you know? Inhaling steam from pieces of cucumber thrown into boiling water can calm the nervous system of a person who has experienced severe stress.

Benefits of Shaped Shrubs

Ridding cucumber lashes from the problems described above is the main advantage of well-formed bushes. As a result, productivity increases and care for cucumber plantings is facilitated.

This happens as a result of:

• optimizing the load on the root system;
• a significant improvement in the ventilation of the plant with fresh air;
• improving the illumination of all deciduous tiers and ripening fruits;
• increase comfort when caring for plants in the garden;
• disease prevention, which is to limit the contact of cucumber lashes with soil;
• facilitate collection of ripened fruits.

How to properly form cucumbers

The formation of cucumber crops should be carried out not only in a timely manner, but also competently, taking into account the cucumber variety and the place of its growth.

One stalk in a greenhouse

In closed ground, single-stem tall tall cucumber plants, which reach a height of more than 1.5 m, are most often grown. These stems in a vertical planting must be tied to supports around which the stem is twisted.

Did you know? Pieces of cucumber laid in aluminum utensils, interacting with this material, emit a smell that most annoying insects are very afraid of.

For the competent formation in an enclosed bush, consisting of one stem, it is required:

1. After about a week from the time of planting, attach the sprout to the vertical support.
2. Eliminate shoots and flowers on the lower tier of the lash, where the first 2 true leaves are located.
3. Simultaneously with the extension of the stem and the appearance of the next leafy pair on it, remove the flowers and shoots located on the side.
4. When the lash reaches a height of half a meter, leave on it not 2, but 4 sheets.
5. With the appearance of their shoots on the lateral processes thus formed, they should be removed immediately to prevent excessive plant thickening.
6. When the lash reaches the height of the support, pinch the main tip, and after it grows a little, cut off completely.
7. Since developing lateral shoots have a mechanical effect on the stem, in order to avoid breaking it off, build an additional support and tie the stem to it.

In the open ground

Cucumber culture in the open air has much more room for its development and growth than in the cramped space of a greenhouse. It follows that the pruning and garter of the bush on the street are not as relevant as indoors.

Nevertheless, a rather weak cucumber root system is not always able to fully supply overgrown green mass with nutrients. Much depends on the cucumber variety.

For example, hybrid varieties develop better and yield a greater yield when they form one tall stem. And here it is necessary to carry out activities similar to those that are carried out when cutting and tying lashes in a greenhouse.

Important! Although during the development of the whip it is customary to free the plant from empty flowers and antennae, some experts recommend leaving a few "extra" male flowers for more complete pollination.

For this purpose, the initial removal of the lateral processes is performed behind the third sheet. And the top is shortened when the stem reaches the height of the support. Low-growing varieties do not need to shorten the top, and they do without a garter.

Formation Features

As already mentioned, the method of forming lashes largely depends on the cucumber variety.

Parthenocarpic cucumbers and hybrids f1

Heterose cucumber hybrids are characterized by the presence of exclusively female flowers on the bush, forming the ovaries primarily on the main lash. In this regard, parthenocarpic varieties and f1 hybrids require compulsory formation mainly in the form of a single-stem bush.

For this:

1. 14 days after planting the seedlings in the ground, they are tied to twine, descending from the trellis, located horizontally.
2. At the same time, their upper part remains free in order to be able to wrap the twine.
3. Upon reaching the main stem of the trellis top, it is tied there, and the top is pinched.
4. Antennae, shoots and flowers on the side are totally eliminated up to the 3rd leaf from below.
5. The remaining lateral sprouts are pinched after 3 leaves grown on them.

In long-fruited cucumber varieties, in addition to removing the mustache, flowers and shoots to the 3rd leaf from the bottom, the main stem is also shortened when it reaches the height of the horizontal trellis. Several processes that later grew in the axils of the leaves left are bent over the trellis so that they grow towards the ground.

Upon reaching a distance of a meter from the ground, pinch them. The fruits of cucumbers are first tied on the main stem, and later on additional shoots.Cucumber varieties pollinated by bees are formed in the same way as single-stem hybrids.

Bunch cucumbers

Cucumber varieties, in the axils of leaves of which more than 5 fruits are formed, belong to the bunch (bunch) type of fruiting. These plants are most often formed in a single-stem version, since excessive thickening from the side shoots causes depletion of the bush, ultimately reducing its yield and fruit quality.

For the correct formation of this bush, it is necessary, after collecting the ripened cucumbers, to carry out total pinching. Upon reaching the main stem trellis height, it is thrown over the trellis. When it grows down, and about a quarter meter remains to the ground, it is cut off. With this growing method, the entire crop focuses on the main stem.

The second method involves the elimination of lateral shoots up to the trellis while simultaneously shortening the main stem and wrapping it around a horizontal trellis. A pair of stepchildren on the upper segment of the stem must be maintained, thrown over the trellis, shortened with 2 ovary leaves and fixed in the direction of the ground.

Important! Whichever method of forming the bush is chosen, initially it is absolutely necessary to completely blind the lower level of the lash, removing all antennae, flowers and shoots up to the 3rd leaf from below.

This method allows you to collect cucumbers first on the main stem, and then on the side shoots of the upper tier of the bush.

Indeterminate cucumbers

If the previous methods demonstrated the formation of single-stem cucumber bushes, in the case of indeterminate varieties, several full-fledged stems are formed at once, since in such varieties the crop concentrates mainly on the side lashes.

For this:

1. The main stem is shortened behind the 5th leaf.
2. A pair of side stepsons from the upper tier of the whip is directed in opposite directions, tied up and then stepson.
3. As they grow, these lateral processes are thrown over the trellis, and when they, lengthening towards the soil, the already grown ones reach a distance of 1 m from them, they are cut off.
4. The lashes uniformly shrubs on both sides and will give the main crop on the bush.

It is possible to form indeterminate cucumbers and somewhat differently. Immediately after the 6th leaf, it is necessary to pinch the top of the main stem, since most of the barren flowers are concentrated there. This operation stimulates the growth of lateral offspring, which are shortened after the appearance of the 3rd leaf.

Aftercare for cucumbers

The competent formation of cucumber lashes is an important, but not the only condition for the formation of a high crop. Much depends on the subsequent care of the formed cucumber bushes.This requires:

1. Maintain optimum temperature on beds (in open ground and in greenhouses) between + 24 ° and + 28 ° C during the day and between + 12 ° and + 15 ° C at night. At temperatures below + 12 ° C and above + 32 ° C, the quality of pollination of flowers sharply decreases. A long-term influence on a culture with temperatures below + 10 ° C may even be detrimental to it.
2. Properly water cucumber crops, remembering that excess moisture affects the plant as negatively as its lack. When the lashes grow before flowering in the open ground, it is enough to water them once every 5 days at the rate of up to 7 liters per 1 m². In hot and dry weather it should be watered more often, and at the stage of active flowering and fruiting in hot weather, up to 12 l of water per 1 m² is required. It should be borne in mind that cold water cannot be used for cucumber irrigation - its temperature should not be lower than + 25 ° C. In addition, it should be defended, when watering, it should not fall on the leaf surface of the green mass.
3. Fertilizing with fertilizers is also important.. When building green mass, the plant needs nitrogen in large quantities, and during flowering and fruiting, potassium and phosphorus are more needed.
4. The cucumber crop responds very gratefully to weeding and loosening the soil. During the earthing up of moist ground, parts of the stems sprinkled with soil can form additional roots, which contributes to an increase in the yield of the bush.

Useful Tips

Experienced vegetable growers advise:

• the bush must be released on time from the abundance of empty flowers, although for full pollination it is sometimes useful to leave a few additional male flowers;
• when processing cucumber bushes, it is preferable to use a sharp knife to eliminate shoots and leaves;
• the appearance of an excessive number of empty ovaries indicates too frequent watering;
• during the harvest, cucumbers should be carefully separated from the lashes so as not to damage them;
• must be removed leaves located too close to the ground;
• the growth of new shoots must be controlled weekly;
• if the cucumber lashes exceeded the height of 18 cm, it no longer makes sense to start forming a bush;
• at the end of summer, the lashes can be removed from the supports, cutting off the shoots without ovaries, and spread on peat and wood ash fertilized soil, which prolongs the fruiting of the crop.

What cucumbers do not need shaping

Breeders managed to breed many hybrid cucumber varieties that completely dispense with the formation of a bush.

The most popular F1 hybrids represented by varieties:

• Pace;
• Valdai;
• Sarovsky;
• Bouquet;
• Izhorets.

These varieties, possessing a powerful main stem, have weaker lateral lashes of relatively short length, which eliminates the need for their shortening. Flowers of both sexes on such bushes are formed simultaneously on the main stem and on the lateral lashes of the first order, so the fruits are formed harmoniously on the whole cucumber bush.

Cucumbers belong to those plants whose uncontrolled growth of green mass adversely affects crop productivity. But competently and timely formation of a cucumber bush directly contributes to a full-fledged harvest of high-quality fruits.